VIDEO: Ten firefighters from Belgium are spending the week with the Fresno Fire Department.
“We have a small organization in Belgium that tries to bring firefighters to the U.S. to visit the fire department and to do some hands-on training, to do ride along to see how the job is done over here and to make a comparison on how we do it,” said Marc Opstal who is a Battalion Chief in Belgium.
This is the fourth visit for firefighters from Belgium. The first group visited in 1999.
Both Belgium and Fresno firefighters are learning from each other and exchanging ideas every day.
They discuss what they have in common and what makes things a little different back at home.
“One of the biggest differences is the way the fire stations are spread out throughout the city. We have less fire stations, longer response times, and we also don’t use fire engines as first responders,” said Chief Opstal.