Caaguazú Firefighters Operate Without Landline, Denounce State Neglect

The Volunteer Firefighters Corps in Caaguazú, Paraguay, is facing a critical operational crisis, struggling to respond to emergencies due to the prolonged absence of a functional landline telephone service. This communication breakdown, which has persisted for months, was starkly highlighted during a recent house fire incident.

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The low line has had intermittent problems for several years, and so far in 2026, it has remained practically out of service.

Adding to the communication woes, the fire department has not received state contributions for over two years. This suspension of funding forces the volunteer corps to sustain their essential services through public collections, personal contributions from volunteers, and limited municipal assistance. The president of the Caaguazú fire station, Arnold Portillo, explained that the landline issues have been ongoing for years, becoming practically unusable in 2026.

Despite repeated complaints filed with the state telecommunications company, Copaco, the fire department has only received broken promises. Portillo stated that the company consistently blames faulty wiring and promises technician visits, yet the line remains either non-operational or functional for only a single day before failing again. In response to the landline failure, the fire department established a mobile phone number for emergency calls.

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We are accustomed to often being told that the firefighters arrive late, but there are situations like this where we cannot even receive all the calls because the system collapses.

However, this mobile line proved inadequate during a period of multiple simultaneous emergencies, including the house fire, a traffic accident, and a reported fatality. The single phone line became saturated, leaving callers unable to get through. Portillo acknowledged the validity of public complaints, emphasizing the unacceptability of an emergency service lacking a permanent, free line for receiving calls. He lamented that situations like these, where calls cannot even be received, contribute to the perception that firefighters arrive late, when in reality, the system itself is failing.

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The Caaguazú fire station, like other fire departments in the country, has not received state contributions for more than two years.