INCIDENT RESPONSE UNIT STRUCTURES DONATED TO CHARITY
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is pleased to announce that, following a decision to decommission one of its vehicles, it is donating equipment formerly attached the vehicle, to the charity Humanity First.
Humanity First is a global charity that provides a medical response following natural disasters around the world. They provide developed world care in low and middle-income countries, with highly trained medical personnel offering their time for free, along with vital medical supplies. They aim is to provide the best possible medical care in the most ethically sound way, to affected people in some of the most hostile environments imaginable.
Building on the strong relationship Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service already has with Humanity First, from them working together in the past and having members of our staff who volunteer for the charity, it was agreed by Chief Fire and Rescue Officer Steve Lunn, to donate structures (large tunnel like tents) from the former Incident Response Unit (IRU) to them.
These structures will be a huge help to the charity in many ways, making their task so much easier when in countries offering aid to those that need it most. Having the structures available will allow them to have a more secure base available to them that can be erected in minutes rather than hours. This in turn will lead to them being able to offer help to more people in a shorter space of time, in a safer environment.
Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, Steve Lunn, said: “Following the decommissioning of the IRU, the Service felt it was a natural decision to donate the structures to an organisation that would be able to put them to vital use in helping others that are in need all around the world. Charities find it difficult to purchase equipment like this due to the costs involved and, with the important work that Humanity First carries out, we believe that providing them with this equipment, made perfect sense.”
Firefighter Kalpesh Diyar, a member of Humanity First said: “As a charity, all of our assets are acquired through donations and gifts. Our endeavour is to give as much as possible to those that need it. The structures that the Incident Response Unit carried are ideal for use to contribute towards a mobile hospital and shelter, and will be an enormous asset to the charity. We are delighted that Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service have allowed us to secure these structures – they really understand how much these will help and how appreciative everyone at the charity will be.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Interviews can be arranged with prior arrangement through Corporate Communications team. Images of the tent they currently use and the new structures being donated can be seen by clicking below:
About the Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency response, prevention and protection services from 20 stations across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Its headquarters is based in Birstall, Leicester.
The Service’s prevention, education, enforcement and inspection programmes have resulted in significant reductions in the number of incidents. In the last five years, fire related incidents have reduced by 32.6 percent.
During 2014/15, the Service attended 619 road traffic collisions, of which 155 were extrications freeing 194 people trapped inside their vehicles and completed 4316 home fire safety checks, fitting almost 4339 smoke alarms. Staff organised or supported almost 1590 events aimed at promoting fire and road safety and arson prevention, whilst also visiting 314 schools to deliver fire and road safety education to pupils.
Contact:
Dominic Halliday
Communications and Digital Media Administrator
0116 2292178
dominic.halliday@lfrs.org
