A Durango woman arrived home in May to find her Westside Mobile Park home engulfed in flames.
After spending four months living in her daughter’s trailer, Mariselva Ponce de Leon and her neighbors have successfully raised enough funds to replace her ruined mobile home.
Although Ponce de Leon’s story has a happy ending, Durango Fire Protection District took another step on Monday to try to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future. Firefighters partnered with the Community Language Resource Group to host the city’s first-ever Latino Community Fire and Safety outreach program.
“We’re trying to breakdown language barriers,” said Olivia De Pablo, the language justice coordinator for the Community Language Resource Group, which approached the fire department about holding the event. “When (Ponce de Leon’s) house burned down they didn’t know who to call, they didn’t know what to do; some of them called me.”
John Constan, education coordinator for the fire department, said he reached out to businesses in the city like Walmart and Home Depot for donations of fire and safety equipment.
Constan said he received more than $1,000 worth of donations in the form of fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors that were given away to attendees.
“We're not just saying, ‘Here’s your fire extinguisher,’” Constan said. “They can ask one of our great interpreters some questions, get information, get help and then they can go get some pizza.”
Fire Marshal Stephen Rinaldi explained why mobile homes may have a higher fire risk than other building types.
“(Mobile homes) are more susceptible to fire in some cases because of the lightweight construction,” Rinaldi said. “Plus, they’re wrapped in that metal shell which holds heat in so it allows the fire to spread a little bit quicker.”
De Pablo, who previously knew the Ponce de Leon family, reached out to other Westside Mobile Park residents as well as Facebook and WhatsApp groups for Durango’s Latino residents to promote the event.
After their children tried on firefighting gear and posed for pictures next to a fire engine with the Durango Fire Protection District’s canine mascot, Sparky, the roughly 40 attendees received instructions in Spanish about the installation, maintenance and use of fire and safety equipment.
Translated into Spanish courtesy of Pedro Gonzales, a firefighter paramedic, and Aaron Orr, a fire instructor, along with several other interpreters from the Community Language Research Group, attendees were instructed on:
- What height to install carbon monoxide detectors (whatever level most people breathe at, around 5 feet in most rooms, bed level in bedrooms).
- How long fire extinguishers remain operational (as long as the pressure gauge is in the green, up until around 10-12 years).
- Where in the home to install smoke alarms (in every bedroom, somewhere on every floor of the house outside of a bedroom, and not in kitchens or bathrooms where smoke or steam could cause false alarms).
- Other useful information about fire and safety equipment.
“I’ve been living in this country for so long and I still learned things I didn’t even know,” Susana Chavez, a Westside Mobile Park resident, said in Spanish. “We learned that we can call them (Durango Fire Protection District) and they can come to do inspections to make sure things are OK and it doesn’t cost us. We don’t do a lot of things because we’re afraid it will cost us money.”
Chavez said she also appreciated the Durango Fire Protection District's efforts to meet her community’s specific needs.
“I appreciate (Durango Fire Protection District) for building that relationship, making sure we feel safe to call them and knowing that they have the best interest of our community,” Chavez said.
