Wednesday, August 01, 2007

UK donates firefighting equipment to Macedonia

The British Embassy, in conjunction with the fire fighters Charity "Operation Florian" has donated fighting equipment to the Macedonian Crises Management Centre.

The donation comes following the Government's request for international assistance to help tackle the fires blazing across Macedonia. In addition to the equipment, four UK firefighters from the Greater Manchester County Fire Service and the Lancashire Fire & Rescue service, are visiting Macedonia and are providing technical assistance and advise to the Centre.

"We are pleased to come to Macedonia and assist the fire-fighting effort. We hope that this visit will help forge a long lasting partnership between the UK and Macedonian Fire Brigades," said Tony Burscough, a retired UK fire fighter and member of Operation Florian.

This aid operation was also supported by the British Airways, who generously provided four free tickets to the fire-fighters as well as an additional 800 kg of excess luggage to enable them to transport the much needed equipment to Skopje.

Operation Florian is the official UK Fire Brigade voluntary organisation for international work - providing equipment, training and other expertise to fellow fire brigades around Europe and the rest of the world.

Operation Florian has been in existence for 10 years and is made up of volunteers from the British Fire Service. Members provided their expertise and technical knowledge, free of charge.

No comments: