SUNDERLAND — When fire gear passes its acceptable lifespan per national standards, fire crews often have to decide how to safely dispose of gear that endured smoke and flames.
According to Mike Zeoli, deputy fire chief in Sunderland, the decision is not as simple as tossing the expired gear, which is often still in good condition, into a landfill, due to the potential of carcinogens on the equipment.
“So, what do you do with it?” he said.
Instead, the Sunderland Fire Department donated about $35,000 worth of extra gear that was past its lifespan to Malabon City in the Philippines.
From small items like boots, hand sanitizer, gloves and face shields to larger equipment like a thermal imaging camera, a fan for extracting smoke and a hose, firefighters in Malabon City will use the equipment as a boost to their emergency response.
The idea for the international donation first formed when Zeoli spotted an email from the charity, “Bomberos Y Rescate No Limits Servicio Voluntario A.C.” in his inbox.
“I talked with a few people from the charity, and it just strengthened my resolve in who they were and what they did,” Zeoli recalled in his office.
Volunteers with the charity explained to Zeoli that the organization delivers gear to firefighters in need of support and protection sometimes as fundamental as helmets.
“Especially since I became deputy chief here, my focus has really turned [to] the safety of my firefighters, and not just my firefighters, but all firefighters. … Anything that I can do to protect firefighters, I want to do,” Zeoli said.
On Dec. 15, a volunteer with the charity drove from North Carolina to Sunderland, where firefighters filled the van up to the windows, Zeoli remembered, beaming.
He said the Fire Department plans to continue donating and aims to spread the effort beyond Sunderland to other towns in Franklin County and as far as New Hampshire and Vermont, where other fire officials must also decide the best way to dispose of their gear safely when it exceeds its acceptable lifespan, but remains functional.
When asked why he plans to encourage other fire departments to donate to firefighters continents away, Zeoli’s answer was simple.
“Safety — the safety of firefighters and the good that the fire service does wherever it is,” he said.
Although Sunderland and Malabon City may not often appear in the same sentence, Zeoli described the population of firefighters as an international community. Whenever he travels, he stops to buy a shirt from that town’s fire department.
“It’s a family wherever it is, whether it be locally, in this department … the area, the country and honestly the world,” Zeoli said. “We’re all doing the same thing.”