Bulawayo, (New Ziana)-The City of Bulawayo Fire and Ambulance Service Unit has started training firefighters from five Rural District Councils (RDCs) in the southern parts of the country.
The RDCs, namely Tsholotsho, Kusile, Matobo, Insiza and Hwange, have since seconded recruits for the training. In a statement, the BCC said a total of thirty firefighters, six of whom are female, commenced training on Monday with each local authority having six members.
“The City of Bulawayo provides technical support to rural local authorities. In the past, the Bulawayo City Council had to travel more than 100 km to attend some emergencies in the nearby local authorities,” it said.
“The equipping of the rural local authorities is expected to improve the country`s disaster management with the government also having procured fire tenders for rural local authorities.”
The training of RDCs personnel follows that of BCC firefighters by a UK-based firefighting charity Operation Florian, whose partnership with the BCC is proving transformative for emergency response capabilities, equipping local firefighters with modern techniques and cutting-edge knowledge to handle crises more effectively.
Operation Florian, a fire and rescue service charity dedicated to protecting communities worldwide, has trained over 800 firefighters since 2011, including from Zambia and Botswana, and has donated about 50 vehicles and 8 containers of vital equipment to Zimbabwe over the past few years.
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