West Sussex firefighters travel across Europe to donate kit to North Macedonian crews
The team took three fire engines on a 1,600 mile journey across Europe
Six firefighters from West Sussex travelled over 1,600 miles to deliver a trio of fire engines to North Macedonia.
The international mission carried out by Operation Florian volunteers saw the group drive 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.”