(Ed.'s Note: This missive was posted on Facebook by former Brownsville Fire Department Chief Carlos Elizondo. Elizondo, a defendant on felony charges of stealing money from the firefighters union and charged with favoring an ambulance service with which he had personal and perhaps, financial, ties, makes his case that he was a victim of a political vendetta by the city's elected officials. Judge for yourself.)
By Carlos Elizondo
Many concerned people have reached out to me and their questions all share the same concern. Why does the City of Brownsville only have 7 ambulances and Harlingen has 16 ambulances? Before my appointment as Fire Chief in 2016, there were only 6 ambulances to service a population of over 200,000.
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Within 2 weeks of my being appointed as fire chief, I added the 7th ambulance with the help of City commissioner Jessica Tetreau.
This station was located at the Port of Brownsville to service the city 24 hours / 365 days. I also equipped every unit within the fire department (i.e. fire administration, training division, fire marshal's office) so that they could respond to emergency calls when all ambulances/fire trucks were out of service due to the overwhelming call volume.
Now Fire Chief Jarrett Sheldon sits at home and so do the extra men and women in those departments (fire administration, fire marshal's office, and training division) who could help in responding to the overwhelming need for emergency calls.
What has happened since my removal?
The answer is simple, a political vendetta by (Commissioner Ben Neece).
Neece collaborated with Jessica Tetreau and Joel Munguia to sign off on a fictitious report where they lied and refuted the increasing demand for the City of Brownsville ambulance service. The city ambulances were not able to respond to calls and lives were being lost, at times people had to drive themselves or their loved ones to emergency departments because there were no ambulances available and the fire trucks could not transport them.
Some people arrived at the hospital dead.
Fast forward three years and now the current fire chief is now begging for help from private ambulance providers to come and help slow the death toll. The fire chief and the current City of Brownsville commissioners could have helped diminish this problem.
Our Brownsville firefighters are dropping like flies and many have contracted the COVID 19 virus and this has put an extra strain on the 911 system. This has caused numerous amounts of individuals to be left on the side of the road or in front of their homes to die because there are no ambulances available to help them.
Ask yourself this question, why the double standard now? Did lives not matter back then?”
By Carlos Elizondo
Many concerned people have reached out to me and their questions all share the same concern. Why does the City of Brownsville only have 7 ambulances and Harlingen has 16 ambulances? Before my appointment as Fire Chief in 2016, there were only 6 ambulances to service a population of over 200,000.
Within 2 weeks of my being appointed as fire chief, I added the 7th ambulance with the help of City commissioner Jessica Tetreau.
This station was located at the Port of Brownsville to service the city 24 hours / 365 days. I also equipped every unit within the fire department (i.e. fire administration, training division, fire marshal's office) so that they could respond to emergency calls when all ambulances/fire trucks were out of service due to the overwhelming call volume.
Now Fire Chief Jarrett Sheldon sits at home and so do the extra men and women in those departments (fire administration, fire marshal's office, and training division) who could help in responding to the overwhelming need for emergency calls.
What has happened since my removal?
The answer is simple, a political vendetta by (Commissioner Ben Neece).
Neece collaborated with Jessica Tetreau and Joel Munguia to sign off on a fictitious report where they lied and refuted the increasing demand for the City of Brownsville ambulance service. The city ambulances were not able to respond to calls and lives were being lost, at times people had to drive themselves or their loved ones to emergency departments because there were no ambulances available and the fire trucks could not transport them.
Some people arrived at the hospital dead.
Fast forward three years and now the current fire chief is now begging for help from private ambulance providers to come and help slow the death toll. The fire chief and the current City of Brownsville commissioners could have helped diminish this problem.
Our Brownsville firefighters are dropping like flies and many have contracted the COVID 19 virus and this has put an extra strain on the 911 system. This has caused numerous amounts of individuals to be left on the side of the road or in front of their homes to die because there are no ambulances available to help them.
Ask yourself this question, why the double standard now? Did lives not matter back then?”