Protecting Firefighters on both banks of the Nistru

On 8 December 2017, UK FIRE AID partners Operation Florian and EASST donated to the Serviciul Protecţiei Civile şi Situaţiilor Excepţionale al MAI a modern fire appliance sponsored by the US Embassy of Moldova and large quantities of PPE and equipment destined for firefighters on both banks of the Nistru with support of the UK Embassy to Moldova and made possible by the UK’s Conflict Security and Stability Fund.

The PPE will replace existing clothing which does not provide adequate protection for firefighters.

Present at the donation event, British Ambassador Lucy Joyce said, “We are happy that 15 villages in Moldova have already received training and equipment. It gives us great pleasure to provide further support and to extend the intervention to Transnistria. It is an important contribution that will improve fire response capacities, saving more lives and properties on both sides of the Nistru river”.

The fire appliance driven through the snow across Europe by Florian volunteers, and sponsored by the US Embassy, will be operational in the Moldovan town of Leuseni.

The donations to Tiraspol sponsored by the UK Embassy included over 300 items of PPE to provide better protection to firefighters when responding to fires, road traffic collisions and other incidents. In May 2017, a first-ever donation was made to the Fire Safety Unit of Tiraspol involving one modern fire appliance and a 10-day training course on road crash rescue and other operations. Read More.

This initiative will continue into 2018 with valued support from the UK government’s Conflict Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) and full cooperation from stakeholders on both banks.

Bruce Hoad and Julie Utting would like to extend special thanks to East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, our team of volunteers, the UK Embassy to Moldova, the Fire Safety Unit of Tiraspol, and the General Inspectorate of Emergency Situations of Moldova.