How Hoffman Estates firefighters got out of storm-damaged Cabo
In the days after Hurricane Odile struck Los Cabos, Mexico, the wedding party of Hoffman Estates fire Lt. Tom Mangiameli contended with dwindling food and water supplies, no electricity and the growing threat of looters roaming the area outside their hotel.
The situation deteriorated further Wednesday when the large gathering of family and friends — including 16 active Hoffman Estates firefighters — lost all communication with those back home via their cellphones.
But with the experience and resourcefulness of some former military members among their ranks, the party made its break for freedom under cover of darkness early Thursday morning.
Dividing into six separate parties, they paid local people to drive six vans. Leaving the hotel at 4:45 a.m., they slipped out of Los Cabos and were taken to different evacuation flights bound for different parts of the U.S.
One group landed in Phoenix.
“The guys who arrived in Phoenix let us know right away that they were back,” Hoffman Estates Fire Chief Jeff Jorian said.
And it was from them that he learned the entire escape plan and that everyone was safely out of Los Cabos and in transit back to the various parts of the U.S.
“We're very happy. We're excited!” he said.
Altogether the group at the wedding in Cabo San Lucas included about 50 people associated with the fire department — both active and retired members as well as their families.
During the anxious days before Thursday's resolution, the remaining 74 sworn members of the fire department covered all the missing shifts, while voluntarily passing on overtime pay, Jorian said.
Once communication broke down Wednesday, the department's main sources of information were the offices of U.S. senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk.
Kirk spoke to the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., Eduardo Medina Mora, on Thursday to request all possible assistance in rescuing Illinois residents, Kirk's press secretary Danielle Varallo said.
She said Kirk also urged the Mexican government to act on Gov. Pat Quinn's offer of assistance from the Illinois National Guard.
But Christina Mulka, a spokeswoman for Durbin's office, said their office got word Thursday afternoon that some evacuation flights had begun from San Jose de los Cabos International Airport, Los Cabos Airport and La Paz Airport to Tijuana, Mazatlan, Mexico City and Guadalajara.
Durbin's office advised that Illinois residents requiring personal assistance from the State Department should call (888) 407-4747 from the U.S. and Canada or (202) 501-4444 from elsewhere. The email address is OdileEmergencyUSC@state.gov.
U.S. citizens in need of urgent assistance and unable to get through at the numbers above can call the emergency number of the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana at (619) 692-2154. When dialing from the U.S., dial 011-52 before the phone number.
Illinois residents inquiring after a friend or family member in Mexico can visit tfa.state.gov/ccd/ and select 2014 Hurricane Odile from the drop-down menu, entering as much information as possible.
The Hoffman Estates Fire Department's closest prior situation to this was when some Hoffman Estates firefighters went to New Orleans to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Jorian said.
But even then, they were the ones bringing aid and communication was never an issue, he said.