April 29, 2024

CENTAM SMOKE ENDEX

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras  — The multinational exercise CENTAM SMOKE ended with a closing ceremony awarding the five participating countries’ firefighters at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, April 26, 2024.

April 26, 2024

El Salvador sends the first female firefighter to participate in CENTAM SMOKE

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras — A female firefighter from the Fire Department of El Salvador was the first to participate in CENTAM SMOKE at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, from April 22-26, 2024.

Aug. 11, 2022

USAF, multinational partners train for fire emergencies in Honduras

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras — Firefighters with the 612th Air Base Squadron, a unit under the 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern), the air force component of the United States Southern Command, will host a new iteration of exercise CENTAM SMOKE, a biannual training exercise to enhance firefighting and rescue capabilities, August 8 – 12 at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras.

March 28, 2022

USAF, multinational partners train in fire emergencies and rescues at Soto Cano AB

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras — Firefighters with the 612th Air Base Squadron, based out of Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras will conduct a new iteration of exercise CENTAM SMOKE, a training exercise to enhance firefighting and rescue capabilities, March 28 – April 1.

Sept. 7, 2021

U.S., Central American firefighters train for fire emergencies together

Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras — U.S. Air Force firefighters with the 612th Air base Squadron, based out of Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, hosted another iteration of CENTAM SMOKE, a five-day multinational firefighting training exercise August 23-27.

April 13, 2021

Sergeant Sánchez: A firefighter’s journey to recovery

Soto Cano Air Base — On one of his days off from duty, traveling from the city of La Esperanza to Gracias, in the department of Lempira, Honduras, Sergeant Brian Sánchez, a firefighter with the Gracias Lempira Fire Department was involved in an auto accident. While stuck underneath the overturned vehicle, he lost consciousness. Local search and rescue officers and passersby spent hours using all available resources to lift the vehicle to rescue him. He was then taken in the back of a pickup truck to the nearest medical facility. Upon arrival at the hospital, doctors determined he required immediate brain surgery - a service that is not available in a town that small. A decision was quickly made to transport him to the Medical Center in Tegucigalpa.  

April 6, 2021

U.S., Honduras, Costa Rica train for fires

Soto Cano Air Base — Joint Task Force-Bravo’s 612th Air Base Squadron hosted a new iteration of exercise CENTAM SMOKE at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras March 22 - 26, with the participation of 19 firefighters from Honduras and 5 from Costa Rica.

Feb. 10, 2020

Central American, US firefighters grow competencies, partnerships

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras — Like past years going back more than a decade, Joint Task Force-Bravo welcomed 25 Central American firefighters from Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras to be trained during a biannual iteration of CENTAM SMOKE – a firefighting exercise that runs five days at Soto Cano Air Base.

Aug. 26, 2019

25 Central American firefighters graduate from U.S. Air Force led exercise

Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras — Joint Task Force-Bravo, 612th Air Squadron firefighters trained with 25 firefighters from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and Costa Rica at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras during Central America Sharing Mutual Operational Knowledge and Experiences (CENTAM SMOKE), a biannual exercise held on base, August 19 - 23.

Aug. 20, 2019

Central American firefighters sharing operational knowledge with U.S. counterparts

Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras — The Joint Task Force-Bravo’s 612th Air Base Squadron will be hosting a multinational firefighting exercise at Soto Cano Air Base, August 19-23, with the participation of 25 firefighters from Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica.