Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) have donated a fire engine and several tonnes of spare equipment to firefighters in Ukraine.
The engine and firefighting equipment have recently been decommissioned from the fleet and following a request from the Home Office and National Fire Chiefs Council, the team at HWFRS are passing the kit on to firefighters in Ukraine who are dealing with the impact of the Russian invasion.
Area Commander Ade Elliott, said: “The Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority continually invests in new fire engines for the Service, which this year has resulted in one older fire engine being available for donation to this worthy cause.
“The timing of this coincided with an appeal from the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) asking for fire engines to be donated to the Ukrainian Fire Service.”
The equipment left the UK last week, and the fire engine will be driven in convoy with 21 other vehicles donated by UK fire services to Poland, via France and Germany.
Chief Fire Officer Jon Pryce added: “The commitment and offers of support from our staff to assist in this initiative has been outstanding and we are pleased to do anything we can to help Ukraine’s firefighters during this very difficult time.
“I’m proud that HWFRS has donated a fire engine and a considerable amount of surplus or end of life equipment, with two of our firefighters driving over to Europe to deliver it.
“I’d like to thank Station Commander Paul Roberts from our Training Centre and Watch Commander Mark Andrews from Herefordshire (West District), who volunteered to make the long and tiring journey to Poland.
“This has been a superb joint effort by many of our staff and I’m pleased that we have been able to do our bit to help the NFCC and national charity Fire Aid. It will be a long journey, but I have every confidence that the staff we’ve selected will do a great job in representing HWFRS.”
Upon arrival in Poland the HWFRS team will hand over the fire engine and equipment to Polish firefighters, and after providing some training on their use, they’ll return to the UK.
