The Bomberos de Chile, who late last year awarded Lion Apparel a three-year contract to provide its 6,000 firefighters with new personal protective equipment and Lion TotalCare services, received the first delivery of 500 suits. Lion Apparel is the world's largest supplier of protective clothing worn by firefighters.
Per the contract, the Bomberos de Chile will order 2,000 suits per year for three years. The Bomberos chose Lion's traditional Body-Guard turnouts in black with lime-yellow reflective trim.
Rod Vargas, who is from Chile and owns Global Fire Store - a Lion Apparel distributor based in Florida, put Lion in touch with Codigo 33, a Santiago, Chile-based distributor of personal protective equipment (PPE).
"As a native of Chile, I take great pride in assuring that the firefighters in my native country have the best protective clothing in the industry," Vargas said.
The Bomberos de Chiles technical evaluation process included a detailed assessment of the PPE products and proposed service offerings for the repair and maintenance of the gear.
The tender stipulated cleaning and repair services be performed in Chile and supported by the PPE manufacturer. Lion's TotalCare division performs inspection, cleaning and repair services on PPE. Lion has authorized Codigo 33 to provide cleaning and repair services like those provided by Lion TotalCare.
"The Lion bunker gear met all of the technical features requested in thebid process," said Sr. Miguel Reyes Núñez, president of the Junta Nacional de Bomberos de Chile.
"Lion also possesses an ample market share of the world market and a solid brand name, as well as having a local representative in Chile, Codigo 33. This assures proper post sales service."
Reyes said the new PPE was a long-tendered request by its volunteer firefighters, whom are willing to sacrifice so much to serve their communities. "The least we could do as an institution was to provide them with the proper PPE," said Reyes.
The new Lion PPE will bring the Bomberos de Chiles PPE up to date with international standards and increase its ability to respond for required services and increasingly complex emergency situations.
"We feel that with Lion we have made the best decision based on the well-known, high international prestige of this manufacturer, which assures us an excellent level of quality and comfort to the end user," Reyes said.
