Obsolete fire kit shipped to Portugal

SOUTH Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has shipped life-saving kit to Portugal in response to a plea from volunteer firefighters.

Dozens of pallets of unwanted tools, clothing, hose reel fittings, ropes and lines were sent to the Albufeira service.

SYFR group manager Andy Strelczenie said: “The equipment we’ve donated had reached the end of its operational life here, but it’s brilliant that it will continue to be put to use by our international colleagues.

“Firefighting is a profession which knows no borders and when the request came to help our colleagues overseas, we were only too happy to help.”

Nine in ten firefighters in Portugal are self-funded volunteers who rely on equipment donations. The Albufeira fire service serves a large area of the Algarve.

Nuno Correira, from the Albufeira service, said: “We are so grateful to our friends in South Yorkshire for this equipment.

“It will be hard for people living to the UK to appreciate what a donation like this means to firefighters in Portugal.

“It’s completely overwhelming and the equipment really will make a big difference, not just to firefighters in Albufeira, but across the whole of the region.”

SYFR has previously donated obsolete equipment to Kashmir and Moldova, while officers have delivered training in Ghana and parts of eastern Europe.