Courtesy: Town of Peace River
Over recent years, the Fire Department accumulated a large amount of old firefighting gear and equipment. This gear and equipment was no longer of use to the department because it had either expired, been replaced, or no longer met the required Canadian Standards, but was still in reasonable condition.
Rather than the gear and equipment just taking up space, or being thrown away, the Fire Department researched other options where it could be put to use by other departments around the world that have different required standards for firefighting gear or were under funded.
The Fire Department contacted an organization called Firefighters Without Borders (Firefighters Without Borders). This organization takes donated equipment from fire departments across Canada and delivers it to less fortunate, under-resourced departments in Canada and around the world.
The gear and equipment included:
• Sets of Bunker Gear, including boots, gloves, helmets, and protective balaclavas
• Sets of Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), including Masks and Bottles
• Assorted PPE
• Rescue Ropes
The Department boxed up the gear and equipment and sought a shipper to transport the equipment to the Firefighters Without Borders base in Calgary.
The Fire Department is very appreciative of local transport company Willy’s Trucking who offered to ship the donated equipment at no charge.
We were recently informed by Firefighters Without Borders that most of the equipment donated is being sent over to Ukraine to help their Firefighters.
The Fire Department will continue to look into similar donations in future years as gear and equipment is phased out and replaced.
