Yuma F.D. may soon handle Mexico calls
http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_18811.p...
BY BLAKE SCHMIDT
Aug 30, 2005
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. ? Yuma firefighters might soon be allowed to respond to emergencies in Mexico if a proposed plan gets the go-ahead.
Yuma Mayor Larry Nelson and other city officials were in Yuma's sister city south of the border Tuesday coordinating such a plan and discussing
security issues.
Nelson said the city of Yuma's legal department is currently exploring the possibility of the "inter-operability" agreement, which would eliminate the
liability barriers of responding to emergencies in Mexico.
As part of the agreement, the radio and telephone capabilities on both sides of the border would be updated to allow for better cross-border
communication between the two cities' emergency response teams, Nelson said.
The agreement would create a system similar to that on the border in Nogales, Ariz., which has cleared liability issues when the Nogales Fire
Department responds to emergencies in its sister city, Nogales, Son., Yuma City Administrator Mark Watson said.
Watson, who was in San Luis Rio Colorado for the first time, said he felt safe during his daytime tour of the city, which included a press conference
at the police headquarters, a tour through the Bose maquiladora plant, and a tour of city council facilities.
Watson said talks with San Luis Rio Colorado officials also touched on tourism coordination and possible training for San Luis public workers.
Last month, five members of the San Luis Rio Colorado Fire Department traveled to Yuma for exercises with the Yuma Fire Department, Watson said.
Watson said it also makes sense for the Yuma Fire Department to respond when needed in Los Algodones, Baja Calif., since Algodones' volunteer fire
crew is not prepared to respond to "dire fire emergencies." Mexicali, which is 60 miles away, is the town's only back-up.
At a news conference outside of San Luis police headquarters Tuesday morning, the Mexican city's mayor, Jose Palafox, said that security is the "No. 1
theme" for San Luis.
Within the last few weeks, San Luis Rio Colorado's police department has set up new highway checkpoints in attempts to crack down on alien and drug
trafficking and stolen cars coming through the city; it has beefed security around the city's nightclubs, where recent reports of violence and
underage drinking have been a problem; and made a truce with a local gang which drew criticisms from officials in Yuma.
Nelson said that as Yuma's sister city, San Luis Rio Colorado plays an important role in Yuma's issues of security and public safety.
"We make sure our police departments work very closely," Nelson said.
Nelson said it is important to coordinate security issues with the city that provides the labor for Yuma's $1.3 million agricultural industry.
"It is a huge concern for us to make sure this city is safe so we can get people across to do work for us ? legally, of course," Nelson said.
Nelson said the San Luis Rio Colorado community has a $500 million economic impact on Yuma.
San Luis Rio Colorado Police Chief Luis Villalobos said the Mexican city has all the typical security problems of any border city, but that its
problems are multiplied due to its geographical position.
"We are on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, but we are also on the border between Sonora and Baja California," he said, adding that the city is
a crossroads for many drug and alien smugglers.
Villalobos added that it is the responsibility of parents in Yuma to monitor their kids, many of whom have been coming to San Luis Rio Colorado
because of a lower drinking age, which is rarely enforced.
"We want people to know they can't keep coming here if their activity continues to be criminal," he said, "There is a law here."
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