A fire engine donated by the fire service that covers Ledbury is on its way to help firefighters on the frontline in Ukraine.
An appliance from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) set out on Friday to join a convoy of 21 other vehicles donated by UK fire services.
It was expected to arrive in east Poland today (Monday March 21), where the HWFRS team will hand over the trucks and equipment to Polish firefighters, and provide some training on their use before flying back to the UK.
The donation of the fire engine, which has recently been removed from Hereford & Worcester’s fleet, follows the donation of several tonnes of PPE and rescue equipment last week.
Area Commander Ade Elliott, the service’s assistant director assets, has helped put together the HWFRS relief support to Ukraine.
He 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.
Helping firefighters in Ukraine
“The Fire Authority supported officers in agreeing that we would donate the vehicle and two van loads of equipment, and work rapidly started to get it ready for the journey to Poland, where it will be handed on to Polish firefighters who will arrange the onward deployment into Ukraine.”
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’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.”
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