By Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post

AURORA, Colo. — Firefighters in Sahuayo, Mexico, won't have to fight fires anymore without gloves or protective gear.

The Aurora Fire Department gathered about $50,000 worth of gloves, used boots, coats, pants and other equipment over the past year from departments statewide to give to the 20 members of the volunteer department, which serves 60,000 people in central Mexico.

Thursday, an Aurora man whose nephew works for the Mexican fire department collected the equipment to take back to Sahuayo.

"They are very bright people like, all firefighters, but not very well equipped," said Damian Alcazar, who grew up in Sahuayo and spearheaded the effort.

Alcazar visited his Mexican home last year and saw the department didn't have much. Its lone pumper is from 1971, and the Sahuayo fire department has an annual budget of $100,000, he said.

So Alcazar contacted the Outreach Emergency Services Program. That's where the Aurora Fire Department came in. Capt. Mike Stanley and other Aurora firefighters who are members of the program, which helps train firefighters in other countries, began collecting equipment for their colleagues south of the border.

Stanley said one of the things collected was latex gloves. Sahuayo rescue teams, if they had the gloves, used them multiple times, which is not safe.

"We try to share with departments that are less fortunate,'' Stanley said. "There's a kindred spirit when we see another fire department from another country.''