A humanitarian trip to Nicaragua was a bust.
A team of Good Samaritans from 91原创, who were taking emergency vehicles and equipment down to Central America, didn鈥檛 make it.
Nicaragua or bust鈥� it was a bust, said 91原创 City resident and Burnaby firefighter Erik Vogel.
He was heading up the Operation Nicaragua convoy from 91原创 to Chinandega, Nicaragua, 鈥� about an hour outside the capital of Managua. They left Oct. 4.
They were driving two decommissioned ambulances, which had been donated to the project. They were also taking a bunch of first aid and emergency responder supplies, as well as baseball uniforms.
鈥淭he Mexicans refused to let us drive through,鈥� Vogel said. 鈥淧retty choked with the Mexicans right now.鈥�
It was an eight-day round trip and they covered 5,000 km. Vogel admits he was prepared, given the age of the ambulances, to run into some mechanical problems along the way.
But that wasn鈥檛 really a hurdle they faces.
鈥淭he ambulances ran great. No major breakdowns,鈥� he said, noting bitterly, 鈥渨e could have been there by now.鈥�
The reason given for denying them access through Mexico, according to Vogel, was that 鈥渃ommercial鈥� vehicles are not allowed.
鈥淥ur registration papers still say commercial on them,鈥� he shared with the 91原创 Advance.
It didn鈥檛 matter that the vehicles were privately owned, or that they were being donated, or that they had 鈥渁 ton of supplies鈥� they were planning to drop off in the earthquake zone, Vogel said.
鈥淲e tried two different border crossings and argued for three days,鈥� he added.
But their fight was futile.
鈥淲e gave up and returned home,鈥� Vogel said.
One ambulance has already been taken to Kamloops and the other goes up Wednesday to be warehoused.
Operation Nicaragua shipped fire trucks in the past, but the process was filled with exceptional challenges. They thought driving these vehicles down would help alleviate some of the problems.
So, what happens next? Vogel said it鈥檚 unclear.
He believes Operation Nicaragua will try to raise funds to ship the ambulances next year, but has been warned by a broker in the U.S. that 鈥渋t鈥檚 a horrendous procedure to import them.鈥�
In the meantime, all the safety and emergency gear inside, he claims, can鈥檛 be shipped, so he鈥檚 not sure what might happen with that.
鈥淲e gave some to paramedics who were collecting donations on the roadside,鈥� Vogel said. 鈥淲ish I gave them everything, but we expected to get permission on the Monday (we were told to try Monday at a different office).鈥�
鈥� Stay tuned for updates on this evolving story
