Three community volunteer fire stations in Cantemir, Ungheni and Leova districts were equipped with special intervention trucks, with support of the Austrian Development Agency and UNDP. The firefighting trucks and related equipment were offered to the community volunteer fire and rescue stations in the localities of Baimaclia, Pîrlița and Sărăteni, which will serve about 55 rural communities with a total population of over 80,000 inhabitants, IPN reports, quoting a press release of UNDP Moldova.
The vehicles, with a capacity of 1,600 liters each, will be used to both extinguish fires and in other exceptional situations, even in communities with difficult roads. The trucks are equipped with hydraulic engines, high-performance motor pumps and are worth a total of about €225,000.
“We do believe that our fire trucks donation will help firefighters better handle unique situations, such as natural disasters or man-made fires! The Austrian Development Cooperation will continue to support in Moldova actions meant to increase communities’ resilience to prevent disasters due to climate change in short, medium and long term,” said Gunther Zimmer, Counselor & Head of the ADA Coordination Office, Austrian Embassy in Chisinau.
Dima Al-Khatib, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova, noted that based on several assessments, it is already acknowledged that the Republic of Moldova is highly vulnerable to climate change considering its economic structure and geographic features. Empowering and equipping the local communities is central to managing climate and disaster risk as well as are the multi-stakeholder partnerships.
The mayor of Pîrlița village Ludmila Nistor said this donation gives their communities more security, confidence and hope that they will see fewer fires than before, and losses of property and the number of deaths will decrease. During the first nine months of this year alone, firefighters in Ungheni district performed 435 operations.
With financial support from Austria within the UNDP project “Disaster and Climate Risk Reduction”, volunteer firefighters and rescuers, who will work at community stations in the three localities, will be trained how to intervene in cases of fire with special equipment and vehicles and how to ensure safety of people during emergencies.
