A delegation led by Caerphilly Borough Council Mayor Vera Jenkins and deputy leader Colin Mann has visited Serbia as part of an initiative to handover surplus fire engines from South Wales.
The handing-over ceremony was attended by top officials from the Interior Ministry, together with the Mayors of five Municipalities in Serbia, who were to benefit from the equipment.
This is part of the Blazing to Serbia project, where various equipment that has reached the end of its useful life here in South Wales, is handed on to the Serbian Fire Service, which has worked for many years with very basic equipment.
Six fire engines were driven across Europe to Serbia by volunteers last autumn and five more have been transported to Serbia since Christmas. This makes a total of 12 Fire Engines since the project started.
Councillor Mann said: “These last five fire appliances were handed over to the Serbian Fire Service at an event held at Ruma Fire Station, which is the only fire training centre in Serbia.
“This initiative has happened due to the efforts of firefighters at Caerphilly Fire Station. In 2008 Firefighters from South Wales sponsored a team of Serbian firefighters to compete in World Rescue Cymru.
“This event, which attracted teams from all over the world, showcased extrication best practice and allowed the Serbian team to learn from more developed countries. Thanks to firefighters from South Wales, the Serbian Fire Services now has a greater ability to safely extricate injured people from vehicles that have been involved in road accidents.”
“This is a magnificent imitative,” said Vera Jenkins, who was accompanied by her consort. “Rather than scrapping the equipment which has reached the end of its life here in South Wales, the engines, breathing apparatus sets and other equipment is now being usefully employed by another service which would otherwise have no access to this level of equipment. This is helping the firefighters in Serbia to give a better service to their communities.”
This scheme, which has been led from the start by Station Commander Steve Logan of Caerphilly fire station, has involved over 50 volunteers, including young firefighters, from across the service. All costs for the project are met by the fund raising efforts of the volunteers.
Everyone who visits Serbia as part of the Blazing to Serbia project is expected to give up their own time and to meet their own travel and accommodation costs.