On 30 November 2007, USAID Mission Director, Michael T. Harvey will make a ceremonial transfer of firefighting equipment to the Sector for Protection and Rescue of the Ministry of Interior in Vranje. The equipment, acquired through USAID’s Contingency Planning program, will help improve the Protection and Rescue Sector’s capacity to respond to fires in South Serbia (such as wildfires that affected the region this past summer and apartment / house fires that are common in the winter months). Predrag Maric, Head of the Sector for Protection and Rescue, Ministry of Interior, will receive the equipment and the program’s director, Michael Pillsbury, will also address the audience.
On 30 November 2007, USAID Mission Director, Michael T. Harvey will make a ceremonial transfer of firefighting equipment to the Sector for Protection and Rescue of the Ministry of Interior in Vranje. The equipment, acquired through USAID’s Contingency Planning program, will help improve the Protection and Rescue Sector’s capacity to respond to fires in South Serbia (such as wildfires that affected the region this past summer and apartment / house fires that are common in the winter months). Predrag Maric, Head of the Sector for Protection and Rescue, Ministry of Interior, will receive the equipment and the program’s director, Michael Pillsbury, will also address the audience.
The event will include the ceremonial handover of the equipment and an exercise in firefighting and the evacuation of an elementary school. The firefighters will demonstrate the use of the equipment by evacuating school children and other personnel from a pretend fire that has broken out in the school and show how the equipment can be used to save lives.
The donated equipment includes protective suits and breathing apparatus for firefighters, compressors, and lights that help firefighters during nighttime responses. It will be used by units of the Sector for Protection and Rescue based in Vranje and serving the Jablanicki, Pcinjski and Toplicki Districts, which cover a number of municipalities participating in USAID’s Contingency Planning and Economic Security program: Prokuplje, Kursumlija, Leskovac, Medvedja, Vranje, Bujanovac and Presevo. The total value of the donated equipment is $185,000.
Natural disasters and other environmental accidents that have affected Serbia in the last several years have shown that first responders at the local level play a key role in preventing and responding to a crisis. This summer's wildfires throughout Serbia caused mass destruction of forest preserves and grasslands. The current situation in Serbia requires first responders to rely on their own expertise and capacities in the immediate aftermath of a crisis. The better trained and equipped they are, the more capable they are to respond effectively.
USAID’s Preparedness and Planning program aims to support municipalities in preparedness planning and disaster management capacity towards a sustainable and systematic approach to emergency response. It supports efforts that address preparedness, response, recovery and prevention.