Several fire engines left Greater Manchester this morning to begin a three-day journey to the Ukraine-Poland border. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) is joining a national convoy to deliver thousands of items of kit and equipment to support firefighters on the frontline and is donating two fire engines and a hydraulic platform, which are no longer in use by the service, to the cause.
Volunteers from GMFRS, along with Merseyside and Lancashire, are heading to Kent, where the convoy will set off tomorrow (March 19). In total, eighteen fire engines are being donated, as well as thermal imaging cameras for finding victims, generators, lighting, hoses, rescue equipment, and thousands of sets of PPE.
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Ahead of the engines leaving from Leigh, GMFRS chief fire officer Dan Russel told the Manchester Evening News : "I'm incredibly proud of the service's contribution, which is forming part of the UK-wide effort which will see fire engines and equipment from many different fire services being donated to support firefighters in Ukraine.
"I think this is the fire and rescue service at it's best - helping people, supporting communities and it's great to be joined by colleagues from Lancashire and Merseyside.
"The generosity from the people of Greater Manchester has been incredible. We raised over £32,000 last week through running car washes on every fire station in the city-region. We've got many members of the public turning up at fire stations, having packaged goods up to be shipped to Ukraine. It is a tremendous effort."
GMFRS is working with UK charity FIRE AID and International Development (FIRE AID), and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), which is coordinating donations of more than 5,000 items of fire and rescue equipment and PPE. More than 40 UK fire service personnel will join FIRE AID volunteers as part of the team driving the vehicles across Europe, where it will be received by the Polish State Fire Service and transferred to Ukraine.
When it reaches Ukraine, the equipment will be used to support firefighters, emergency services and volunteers who are battling together on the front line, often using old or worn equipment.
A number of people from the local Ukrainian community turned up to wave the fire engines off.
Bohdan Ratycz, who works as an international trade adviser, described the initiative as "absolutely fantastic".
He added: "It's a great gesture. We thank the Greater Manchester Fire Service for their work and I know for a fact that the fire engines going over will be used on active duty in Ukraine because what we're seeing on a daily basis is rockets coming into residential areas - destroying buildings, maternity hospitals, breweries, factories, and the firefighters are overworked.
"I think there's a big and huge thank you to the British public for their generosity, with their offers of help for refugees, their support for Ukraine and its fight for independence. A big thank you to the government as well for the lead they've taken in the conflict and I think they've been trying hard to persuade other countries to be more proactive in the sanctions."
Speaking about the turn-out from the local Ukrainian population, Dan added: "It's absolutely wonderful to see them here supporting us and for us as a service, it's about stepping into that space and doing what we can for a very difficult situation. Firefighters out there are dealing with some very difficult building fires, collapsed structures, horrific conditions, so we're hoping it will go some way to help what they're doing out there."
