Chilean Firefighters Aid Venezuela After Devastating Earthquakes

Following two devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, a contingent of 45 firefighters from Bomberos de Chile's USAR group deployed to La Guaira. The team left behind their jobs and families, traveling via FACH aircraft with 12.5 tons of equipment. They arrived fully self-sufficient, equipped with their own camp, water, and food to avoid burdening the crisis-stricken nation. Upon arrival, they encountered widespread destruction, with over 800 collapsed buildings and emergencies evident throughout the region. The Chilean firefighters collaborated closely with Venezuelan rescuers, assessing damaged sectors building by building and producing structural reports to guide other teams. They provided honest emotional support to families searching for loved ones and contributed bilingual personnel to the international response cell, which operated under United Nations standards and was led by a Chilean firefighter. A significant achievement of the mission was the rescue of Hernán Gil, a security guard trapped beneath eight collapsed floors. He was located using sonar, and a tunnel was excavated. After five days, a probe allowed for hydration, extending the rescue window. When the initial tunnel became impassable, the Chilean team partnered with a USAR team from Florida, USA, who excavated a perpendicular tunnel while the Chilean team maintained Gil's life support through the original one. On the eighth day, Hernán Gil was able to crawl to safety, marking the last documented live rescue in La Guaira. The mission involved 3,300 rescuers from 60 international teams operating cohesively, and the 14 successful rescues were a collective effort. The Chilean team returned with a reinforced conviction that the capabilities developed in Chile, stemming from its own seismic experiences, are most valuable when shared internationally. This includes Chile's seismic culture, engineering expertise, and a volunteer force that became the first UN-classified USAR team in Latin America in 2017. Sharing these resources is seen not just as a gesture but as reciprocating aid and honoring the lessons learned from their own natural disasters.