Fort Buchanan firefighter shares expertise in Panama training exchange

Fort Buchanan Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Fire Chief Héctor Rivera spent a week in Panama on personal time for a professional exchange with Panama Canal firefighters, sharing firefighting expertise in Spanish to help strengthen instructor qualifications, live-fire training and accreditation programs.

The trip was not an official Army training mission. Rivera participated in a personal capacity, drawing on 18 years of experience with the Fort Buchanan Fire Department.

The exchange followed a request from Panama Canal firefighters for qualified instructors to bolster their professional accreditation program and reconnect with U.S.-recognized certification standards similar to those familiar to Canal firefighters during the long-standing U.S. presence in the former Canal Zone. “I have been able to provide the instruction,” Rivera said.

Rivera’s qualifications as a fire officer, fire instructor and fire inspector enable him to provide instruction at lower certification levels. During the visit, he shared professional knowledge and discussed National Fire Protection Association standards and practices familiar to him through his career as an Army firefighter.

Language played a central role. Many professional accreditation courses and technical materials are primarily available in English, creating challenges for some firefighters in Latin America. “We’re speaking the same language,” Rivera said. He noted that delivering instruction in Spanish, alongside common professional standards and terminology, created a shared foundation for the exchange.

Rivera has previously shared professional knowledge with firefighters in Colombia and the Dominican Republic. His experiences illustrate how the bilingual workforce, professional expertise and regional familiarity at Fort Buchanan, the Army’s home in the Caribbean, can help build relationships with counterparts across the Western Hemisphere. They also highlight people-to-people connections between Puerto Rico and Panama, where shared language, professional experiences and personal relationships provide a foundation for engagement that extends beyond institutions and connects with communities and professionals across the region.