Kenyan partnership goes from strength to strength

摘要

At a special presentation at Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS) HQ in March, Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller handed over the keys for a donated fire appliance to His Excellency, Honourable Peter Munya, the Governor of Meru County, Kenya. The appliance, previously used in Bedfordshire for hazardous materials and heavy vehicle rescue incidents, was recently retired from the fleet but far from ready for the scrapheap. The new addition to the Meru County Fire Service is bolstering a fleet of appliances in Kenya donated by Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service over recent years, in a partnership which grew from a simple request for information. In 2009, the Onset Trust, a church-related charity in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, approached Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service asking for assistance with purchasing a fire appliance to send out to Meru. Meru, a town in Kenya with a population of more than 500,000, had, at that time, no fire service and fire deaths were common. The fire and rescue authority decided to donate a fully equipped appliance that was being decommissioned along with additional PPE in the form of tunics, leggings, boots and helmets etc.