Edmonton firefighting gear featured in Ukrainian conflict coverage
A firefighter in Ukraine wearing personal protective equipment, or bunker gear, emblazoned with Edmonton, was recently featured on international news coverage.
On Saturday, a CNN reporter was reporting live from an explosion near Lviv in front of a line of firefighters, one of which was wearing Edmonton bunker gear.
Firefighter Aid Ukraine, an Edmonton organization providing critical firefighter gear to Ukraine for nearly a decade, believes the jacket is likely one of many donated to first responders.
"We've been doing this with Ukraine for almost eight years," said Kevin Royle, founder of the project and a serving Edmonton firefighter.
"Lviv was one of the very first communities we supported, and they've received some support continuously," he said, adding that first responders in that area of Ukraine also recently received aid from the fill-a-plane campaign.
Royle told CTV News Edmonton typically, markings are removed from gear before it is shipped, but may have been missed as donations were processed.
The organization receives equipment being replaced that still has service life from businesses, fire services, and municipalities, Royle said, to donate to Ukraine for firefighters and emergency crews.
"It's fantastic that, that equipment is being used for the purpose of keeping someone safe so someone goes home after being involved in a situation like that and they can perform their duties," Royle said.
"We've received lots of images of our equipment being used in evolutions, in scenarios, but not in war," he added. "At first, I wasn't really surprised. But the next feeling was kind of a little bit of sadness because it was being used in that situation."
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