NPS/Reine Wonite

Los Diablos fire crew working a prescribed burn in the Chisos Mountains

An International Partnership
Big Bend National Park’s Fire Management program has benefited for sixteen years from the assistance of Mexican Nationals, living in villages immediately across the Rio Grande from the park. Nearly 40 men participate in a wildland firefighting program that began during 1990 and expanded in 1997. The remoteness of the park from other firefighting resources in the United States created the need to find resources nearby.The firefighters are assigned to hand crews known as Los Diablos. This program has served as an example of cooperation between agencies of the two countries.

In 2002, a “breakout” year, the Los Diablos Program responded to wildland fire resource orders providing 116 firefighters while assisting on eight wildland fires/severity incidents covering 103 days. With assistance from Department of Homeland Security, the Customs and Border Protection Agency, the Diablos are eligible for parole into the United States on an annual basis to assist any emergency firefighting effort in the company of Big Bend National Park staff.