Nebraska firefighter with Mexican roots sparks act of ‘international goodwill’

Mayor of Zacapu, Mexico, Mónica Valdez Pulido (in pink jacket on right), tours South Omaha and its Plaza Latina store on the 24th Street commercial corridor, during a visit last week to Nebraska, which marked a donation and new alliance between Columbus, Nebraska, and Zacapu. The mayor listens to owner Tony Vega, who is standing next to Columbus Fire Chief Ryan Gray. Also pictured, Yesenia Peck of Hispanic Chamber (in center), and, to her right, Karina Perez of Centro Hispano Comunitario de Nebraska. (Courtesy of Plaza Latina)

BELLEVUE, Neb.  — When Columbus firefighter Aaron Perez saw his local department ready to toss out technically outdated yet still useful firefighting gear, his thoughts drifted to bombero counterparts in his Mexican hometown of Zacapu.

Firefighter Aaron Perez and one of his children. (Courtesy of Eli Rigatuso, Bellevue University)

It took nearly two years and some international maneuvering, but now those protective jackets, pants, boots, helmets and air tanks are headed to the city of about 75,000 in the mountainous state of Michoacan, Mexico — to be used by a volunteer team Perez said relied on donations to build their station and a hodgepodge of items for body protection.

“This is about a good humanitarian act where we have equipment we have to dispose of that still has a lot of life in it and can be of use to people who need it,” said Perez, who has lived in Nebraska since age 8 when his family emigrated from Zacapu.

Cultural pride

Perez joined Columbus Fire Chief Ryan Gray, the Omaha-based Mexican Consul and a few dozen others last week at a reception at Bellevue University that marked the donation — and a celebratory visit by the mayor of Zacapu, Mónica Valdez Pulido. 

While in Nebraska for four days, Valdez, who in Mexico is known as la presidente municipal de Zacapu, finalized details for the delivery, met with officials involved and visited local communities where many natives of Michoacan have settled.

At a time when many immigrants feel threatened and unwelcome by policies of the Trump administration, Nebraska Latino leaders embraced the cross-border collaboration and act of international goodwill as an occasion to spotlight cultural ties and pride.

Yesenia Peck of the Nebraska Hispanic Chamber of Commerce speaks at an event last week marking a donation of fire equipment from the Columbus Fire Department to Zacapu, Mexico. (Courtesy of Eli Rigatuso, Bellevue University)

“May this moment inspire us all to keep building bridges of collaboration, friendship, and brotherhood,” Yesenia Peck, of the Nebraska Hispanic Chamber Foundation, said at last week’s reception.

Peck called the occasion more than just a transfer of equipment. 

“It is a powerful reminder that when communities come together, even across borders, we can create lasting impact,” she said, and in this case, support those who risk their own well-being to help protect others.

Valdez — the first woman mayor of her city, in a nation led by its first female president — told the group that she looked forward to a continued alliance with Nebraska and Columbus, whose population of about 25,000 is now more than 26% Latino. 

Saving lives, protecting their own 

Statewide, about 12% of Nebraska identifies as being Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census, with the bulk of those being of Mexican descent.

The mayor of the Mexican city of Zacapu, Mónica Valdez Pulido, right, was in Nebraska visiting with Nebraska officials, business people and communities. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)

Valdez pointed out new partnerships built in the process with Omaha-based Mexican Consul Jorge Ernesto Espejel Montes, whose office represents the Mexican government in Nebraska and Iowa, and Karina Perez, executive director of Columbus-based Centro Hispano Comunitario de Nebraska, a nonprofit formed in 2009 to help connect the influx of immigrant families to their new communities. 

Columbus now has two Latinas on the City Council, both of whom were in the audience.

Also attending the Bellevue reception was Omaha’s first female fire chief, Kathy Bossman, and Sergio Robles, the Omaha Fire Department’s public education specialist.

Valdez called the gift and partnership a “historic” occasion and noted that the  Zacapu bomberos are volunteers who fight fires and do so with inferior protective gear.

“With the right equipment, they’ll be able to continue to save lives but also to protect their own lives,” she said. The Zacapu team was arranging to pay to transport the gear from Columbus to Mexico.

Remembering his roots

Valdez offered a particular shoutout to Aaron Perez, noting that despite having grown up mostly in Nebraska, “he has not forgotten his roots.”

Perez, in an interview, recalled nearly two years ago when his Columbus Fire Department was preparing to get rid of the outdated equipment. Age put the gear outside acceptable U.S. safety standards, but Perez said it was still useful. 

He recalled photos and conversations from his parents’ recent visit to Zacapu. He said the city’s volunteer firefighting gear appeared to be “pieced together” from other places. What Columbus had to offer included an ensemble for about 40 firefighters, including bunker jackets, pants, boots, helmets, hoods, masks and breathing packs.

Guests at a reception last week in Bellevue that welcomed the mayor of Zacapu, in the Mexican state of Michoacan, saw a video of the city. (Courtesy of Zacapu officials)

Gray, the Columbus fire chief, said his current force includes 32 paid firefighters and eight reserves, who get paid an hourly rate when activated. Because of U.S. firefighting standards, options for expired equipment are limited, he said.

“Even though we may not be able to use it here, it doesn’t mean other places can’t use it to help fulfill their duties,” said Gray. “It really came down to the message of humanity and helping other communities.”

He said the City of Columbus views the donation of its taxpayer-funded equipment as an extension of its investment.

The effort was accelerated when Valdez took office about seven months ago, said Perez, who said she was more enthused about the idea than her predecessor. 

“I feel really thankful that our city, our department, and everybody else here was willing and able to do this,” said Perez, 34, who is hoping to return to his hometown soon to see the safety gear in action. 

Mexican heritage runs deep in Husker state

Asked to speak about the Mexican settlement in Nebraska, Omahan Cesar Garcia offered full disclosure: He is a native of Colombia.

He smiled, saying many assume he is from Mexico, which has the oldest and still largest share of the state’s Latino population. “And that is a big honor, an amazing thing,” he said, noting that he’s come to know Mexican culture and history better in the 27 years he’s lived in the state.

Cesar Garcia of Canopy South nonprofit speaks during a gathering highlighting a donation of fire equipment to Zacapu, Mexico. (Courtesy of Eli Rigatuso, Bellevue University)

Garcia, as executive director of nonprofit Canopy South, is based in South Omaha, where Garcia said his team works to build up housing, jobs and other opportunities in a community largely composed of immigrants, refugees and families of Mexican descent.

He spoke at an event last week marking the visit of a Mexican contingent led by the mayor of Zacapu, Mónica Valdez Pulido. That a Colombia-born Latino leader was describing the area’s Mexican immigration patterns provides insight into the expanding population in Nebraska.

The diversity was noticeable among organizers and attendees of the reception at Bellevue University. Speakers included Yesenia Peck, originally of Peru, and Karina Perez, whose parents emigrated from El Salvador originally to California.

Those in the audience included a representative of the local Guatemalan Consulate, along with a team from the Mexican Consulate, both based in Omaha. 

Later generations of Spanish-speaking immigrants were represented in the audience, part of the 12% of Nebraskans who, according to the latest Census data, identified as Hispanic or Latino.

A further breakdown of 2022 Census estimates, by the Office of Latin American Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, showed that Latin Americans make up about half of the 7.5% of the state’s population born in a foreign country.

Among those native born in Latin America: 62% are from Mexico; 14% from Guatemala; 7% from El Salvador; nearly 5% from Cuba; nearly 4% from Honduras and 8% from other countries in Latin America.

Garcia told the group that Nebraska’s Mexican population swelled in the early 1900s, as immigrants were lured largely by jobs picking beets in western Nebraska and in South Omaha’s meatpacking industry.

South Omaha was known as a landing point for European and Latin American newcomers as far back as the late 1800s. Garcia said many European families have moved to western and suburban areas, while many old and new Latino families remain. 

He told the group that Mexican and Latino culture is an economic driver in areas such as South Omaha and has become mainstream in various ways throughout the state. 

“There is no corner in the state of Nebraska where you won’t find a Mexican restaurant,” Garcia said. “It’s part of American culture.”

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