Resuscitating the Bulawayo fire service: Operation Florian talks to ZDDT

In fulfilling this mandate, ZDDT recently held an introductory meeting with a fire fighting and rescue services charity organisation from the United Kingdom, Operation Florian.

Operation Florian was founded as a charity in 1995. It is operated entirely by volunteers and is financed by fundraising and other donations. The charity uses all of the money raised to convert into aid for less fortunate countries. The vehicles are donated to the charity from UK Fire Services after they have served all of their operational life in the UK. It is in this vein that Operation Florian has been assisting the city of Bulawayo for the past two years.

During the meeting, ZDDT News Correspondent, Ntando Sibanda (NS), was accorded an opportunity to conduct an interview with Operation Florian Project Manager in Zimbabwe, Anthony Burscough (AB).

Following are parts of the interview that ensued:

NS: How did you engage the Bulawayo City Council?

AB: Back in 2008/9, we had a chance meeting with Shepherd (Ndlovu) and he told our organisation about a possibility of some help Bulawayo because Shepherd was a fire fighter in the city many years ago. So, for that initial discussion, I brought bought on board and that is how we started.

NS: What is the ultimate goal of this union?

AB: The ultimate goal is to resuscitate the fire service. We are moving down that road. We got a new fire fighting appliance last year and a container full of equipment. We then brought two fire appliances this year and another container, next year maybe more fire appliances. We are looking at a package of how to get equipment to the other fire authorities as well.

NS: From your assessment, how soon can this goal be achieved?

AB: We have made a start in that there were 9 students from all the other fire authorities. We can go really big, depending on the commitment of the other authorities. We are all volunteers and we give our services for free, so it will also depend on how many team members we can get. Potentially, if things work according to our plans, we will bring a larger team next year.

This union between Operation Florian and the City of Bulawayo was facilitated by Shepherd Ndlovu, a former fire fighter in the city. He is now based in the City of Lancashire as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Fire Safety and Risk Management, at the University of Central Lancashire.