Generous donation helps Calgary firefighter send specialized equipment to firefighters in Ukraine
Specialized equipment no longer needed by the Calgary Fire Department (CFD) is being sent to firefighters in Ukraine thanks to a generous donation from an Alberta entrepreneur.
Capt. Dean Krupa with CFD volunteers with the local chapter of Firefighter Aid Ukraine in his spare time. For the last few months, he has been looking for donations to purchase 30 portable jaws of life —extrication equipment that is not accessible to many firefighters in Ukraine.
The price tag, including shipping, is $50,000.
“With the war effort that's going on there, those firefighters are still doing their job in conditions that I can't even begin to imagine,” Krupa said.
Debora Rice-Salomons, who runs Mountain View Events at The Heritage Centre, heard about the initiative from a young firefighter who attended a wedding at her venue.
From there, she had a meeting with Krupa and offered to front the money now and host a 1950s-themed Vegas casino night at her venue on New Year’s Eve to support it.
“Really was impressed with what this group is trying to do. And so, I felt it was really important for me to step up and help not only the Alberta community, but also the community of Ukraine firefighters,” Rice-Salomon said.
Krupa said her eagerness to help “just about knocked me out of my chair.”
Thanks to the donation, 17 crates of equipment and protective gear, weighing 9,000 pounds, has been packed up and is ready to be shipping to Poland any day now.
“These tools are even more valuable now for them. So, to be able to provide that for them, I can’t tell you what that means to me,” Krupa said.
Krupa and others with Firefighters Aid Ukraine will be flying to Poland in early November to bring the shipment to Ukraine.
They will also spend a few days training firefighter there how to operate the jaws of life.
“Being able to go to Ukraine as a Ukrainian and seeing what’s going on there right now and be able to do this project and help those firefighters, it’ll be life changing, I have no doubt,” Krupa said.
As for the New Year’s Eve fundraising event in support of Firefighter Aid Ukraine, tickets can now be purchased on Eventbrite.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.