Albertans driving 11 emergency vehicles, firefighting equipment down to Mexico

It's quite the convoy – fire trucks, ambulances, a school bus loaded with equipment – all bound for Mexico courtesy of volunteers and donors in northern Alberta.

"My dream was to drive a firetruck to Mexico, " said volunteer Amanda Erechook while sitting behind the wheel of a former County of Grande Prairie unit.

"I’ve got sunscreen and aloe, in case the sunscreen doesn’t work."

Her journey and nearly two dozen Rotary Club volunteers is called “Highway to Mexico.”

Rotarians have been raising funds from northern Alberta cities like Grande Prairie, Edson and Peace River for two decades.

Those efforts have seen more than 100 fire and emergency vehicles, all once used in Canada, refurbished through donations and then delivered to towns in and around Mazatlan.

"What we have in here is we have a full line of equipment," explained coordinator Rick Conrad.

There is also gear for fire crews to wear in the heat of battle and a refurbished compressor unit that powers a “jaws of life” unit.

"I don’t know what they would do without these vehicles. A lot of these small communities have never had a fire department, so for them to get a truck and then equipment, it’s a huge thing for them," said coordinator Felix Seiler.

The travel expenses alone for the group amounts to $50,000. After a week of driving, the volunteers get seven days of rest in the Mexico sun.

The program started as a donation of wheelchairs and a school bus. But after 20 years The Highway to Mexico has delivered about $1 million in life-saving donations.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk