By Lorne Matalon for Fronteras
BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK – There is one group of people with permission from the United States government to freely, and legally, cross into the United States from Mexico and back without passing through a formal border crossing. It’s a crew of firefighters from Mexico that US authorities say are among the best in the world in fighting wildfires, as they’ve proven time and again across the country.
It’s early morning in Big Bend National Park. Horses ferrying an exclusive group of firefighters from Coahuila state in northern Mexico are moving quickly across the Rio Grande into west Texas. This time, there’s no fire. They’re in for a day of training.
They are known as Los Diablos, or the devils. Twenty years ago, they told rangers in Big Bend National Park that if US authorities allowed them to help fire fires in the Park, they would work “like the devil.” Since then they’ve been true to their word, many times over.
“Yo estoy contento por cooperar aca en (los) Estados Unidos.”
That’s Alejandro de la Cruz, 53, lanky, with jet black hair and hands that testify to a rugged life in this harsh, remote section of the border. He says he’s happy to be working with his American counterparts. The firefighters have work visas that allow them to cross the border & travel to wildfires without going thru a formal border crossing.
De la Cruz’s partner Gerardo Oreste, switching easily between Spanish & English, says he’s just happy Los Diablos can cross instantly when they’re called in.
“We feel OK because we help you guys and you guys help us too.”
The US helps by paying between 17 and 19 dollars an hour for the work, a princely sum by Mexican standards, but a bargain according to Park Ranger Matt Graden. I mentioned to Graden that Los Diablos seem to be extremely humble. Graden says they ought not to be.
“They’re amazing, they can mobilize in four hours from their village across the river. They can be here in four hours. That’s unheard of to ask anybody to be able to do. So that’s pretty professional right there. And when they show up they know exactly what to do. They don’t need someone to tell them what to do. And they’ve got great leadership. They’re awesome. They might be humble but they are highly professional, highly trained and really skilled and incredibly hardworking.”
That said, Los Diablos are worried about being singled out in interviews, concerned they may become targets in Mexico where extortion is a problem for anyone thought to be earning a decent living. Instead Los Diablos prefer to let their actions speak for them. And that list just for last year alone is impressive.
In July they helped control a wildfire in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, in September they were in Sisters, Oregon and in October they fought fires spawned by Hurricane Sandy in New York.
Gabriel Oreste says he’s just happy to help.
“Ayundando ellos tambien…”
Oreste works with John Zubia, a fire manager at the National Park Service. Zubia says he’s grateful for the courage regularly displayed by Los Diablos especially at the start of wildfire season.
“We’re out in middle of nowhere so when we need firefighters that actually walk into the back country, these guys are it.”
The National Park Service to the Department of Homeland Security call Los Diablos an example of efficient bilateral cooperation. The irony is that at the very spot Los Diablos cross legally into Texas, a state-of-the-art border crossing building has sat empty on the Texas side of the Rio Grande for more than a year, waiting for a delicate diplomatic dance between Mexico and the United States to conclude. The crossing is expected to open soon.
So the day of training has come to an end. The sound you hear are horses crossing over from Boquillas, Mexico passing by me here on the American side to pick up the firefighters, Los Diablos, as they make their way back & there’s a box being loaded onto a horse full of supplies bought at the supply store, at least one example of cross border cooperation.
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