The Foothills Fire Department is giving new life to a cache of their older equipment.

Over the last 10 years, much of their equipment has had to be taken out of use, since it no longer meets National Fire Protection Association and Occupational Health and Safety standards.

At an announcement event on Thursday, March 24, Deputy Fire Chief Scott Young explained they’d be handing it over to the Fire Industry Repair & Maintenance (FIRM) to be redistributed.

“The hope is that it can be repurposed to places like eastern Europe and South America. I think this is a great way of helping out our brothers in other countries where obviously they’re harder hit.”

Though the gear no longer meets Canadian firefighting standards, it can be put to good use in other countries with different regulations.

Jonathan Fesik with the FIRM says they’ve been sending equipment to Ukraine for a few years now, though the conflict has heightened their need for this kind of equipment

“Many of the Ukrainian small villages and fire departments are using coveralls and gardening gloves, so, believe it or not, this will be a great relief to them.”

It’ll be inspected, cleaned, and repaired by the FIRM where necessary.

It covers most of the firefighting necessities, says Young.

“There’s about 100 SCBA’s, which is your self-contained breathing apparatus, so that’s the pack, the mask, and the bottle… there’s also about 60 sets of turnout gear, which is the structural firefighting gear which includes your pants, gloves, helmets, and jackets. We also have about 2000 foot of hose. Some of it is leaking, it’s burst, we can’t use it anymore, but obviously, this can be used in other countries where they don’t have the same standards.”

It’s expected to arrive in Ukraine in mid-April.