Winkler Fire Department members are always on call, even in Mexico.

A number of members were in Queretaro, Mexico serving on a mission trip when an out-of-control field fire approached their residence.

"The six of us got back to our dorm and saw a fire burning nearby and made a joke about Winkler Fire coming to a call in Mexico," Kris Friesen explains.

However, after contacting the local fire department they discovered emergency responders were currently on another call.

In the mean time, the fire had ignited some pallets and tires near the building.

So the mission team got to work.

"We got out four or five buckets, a garden hose and had a lot of it out by the fire department showed up," Friesen says.

Had the Winkler team not jumped into action, he notes there could've been more damage to their building.

The Winkler members continued to assist the Corregedora Fire Department fight the brush fire until their pumper truck arrived and completely put the fire out.

"You just kick into firefighting mode and you don't realize you're in a different country," fellow member James Wiebe says. "You just do what you've been trained to do."

A few nights later the team visited the new Corregidora Civil Protection building which operates a fire/ambulance department with 16 full time employees and 14 volunteers, covering a population of 182,000.

Friesen notes they discovered the Mexican service uses much of the same equipment and techniques.

Wiebe says the experience was also chance to spread the gospel to the local fire department as well.

"God works in mysterious ways, sometimes you only realize it after the fact," Wiebe says.

The mission team was working with an orphanage called Casa Esperanza Para Ti
(The mission team visited the Corregidora Civil Protection's new headquarters)