Fire department donates two out-of-service fire trucks to Tulancingo

Two fire-fighting vehicles that were about to be retired from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department fleet have been donated to Pleasanton’s sister city Tulancingo, Mexico.

The contribution was the result of conversations Pleasanton Mayor Jerry Thorne and Sister City Association president Rita Galvin had last April with Tulancingo representatives when they were there as part of the annual delegation visit.

But donating and transporting two fire trucks to a Mexican city wasn’t easy.

The two vehicles, a pumper and a brush firefighting truck had to be serviced and inspected by the department to make sure they were ready for use and travel. At the same time, ownership transfer and insurance paperwork had to be prepared and signed off by both Livermore and Pleasanton officials and their counterparts in Tulancingo.

Finally, the challenge of transporting the trucks and getting them across the border had to be resolved.

After a number of discussions and with help from the Rotary Club of Pleasanton, it was agreed the best way would be for Pleasanton representatives to transport the vehicles to the border near San Diego, meet up with Tulancingo representatives there and make the official transfer.

Jorge Victoria, president-elect of the Pleasanton-Tulancingo Sister City Association, and board member Dick Stafford volunteered (after some “coaching”) to drive the smaller brush fire truck. But, the larger engine would have to be transported on a flat bed.

Enter Bob Silva, former president of The DeSilva Group, Jim Summers, the Pleasanton company’s current president and Ron Chavez of Double D Transport who provided the service needed at no cost.

Both vehicles arrived at the transfer point on time and ownership was transferred to the Tulancingo Fire Department with Tulancingo Fire Chief Jesus Garcia vowing to put the donated fire trucks in service as quickly as possible.