REDFORD – On a windy day last Friday, embers from a fire in Mexico were carried over the Rio Grande and ignited several brush fires near the small border community of Redford.
According to Presidio Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Saul Pardo, the call for help came in at 3:30pm. Redford residents and travelers along the river road called 911.
Three Presidio firefighters, George Muñiz, Guadalupe García, and Ariel Salazar, answered the call. Upon arrival, the firefighters saw a total of three fires to extinguish.
Pardo said that Presidio firefighters were joined by reinforcements from the Marfa Volunteer Fire Department. Personnel from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) arrived with heavy equipment to make fire breaks to contain the fast-spreading blazes. Ojinaga firefighters were alerted and were on standby ready to assist. Pardo said the men on the scene made fire breaks and extinguished the fires before they got close to any structures. It took about four to five hours to extinguish the fires.
Pardo conveyed his thanks and appreciation to his men, to the Marfa firefighter volunteers, the Ojinaga Fire Department and to Tx-DOT employees who came to their assist.
Pardo also said that the Presidio Volunteer Fire Department is in need of volunteers. Anyone interested in joining this very worthwhile and much needed organization may contact him via email a : spar-do@presidio.tx.us or call Presidio City Hall at 229-3517 and leave a message for him.