West Sussex firefighters travel across Europe to donate equipment to North Macedonian crews

Thursday, 20 January 2022 19:31

By V2 Radio News Team

A trio of fire engines have successfully been delivered to firefighters in North Macedonia as part of an international mission carried out by Operation Florian volunteers.

The journey saw six firefighters from West Sussex travel over 1,600 miles through France, Italy and Albania before reaching their destination.

Operation Florian is a humanitarian charity that has been working in Macedonia since 2007. Their first ever donation was given to firefighters in the town of Sveti Nikole, which was then replaced during Operation Florian’s latest international mission in November last year.

The two remaining vehicles were sent to the towns of Novaci and Makedonska Kamenica, which brings the total number of donations to 27 fire engines.

As well as delivering appliances, equipment and firefighting kit were also given to the North Macedonian firefighters, who were then given essential familiarisation training.

Roy Barraclough, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Station Manager and Operation Florian Project Co-ordinator said: “This international mission is part of our ongoing work to improve capacity and resilience to fire services around the world.

“The fire appliances we recently delivered will strengthen previous equipment donations and the training given will provide vital fire cover, enabling the local fire service to respond to incidents within their communities and surrounding areas.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all supporting UK fire and rescue services for their donations of decommissioned equipment, which benefits communities far and wide.”

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