A Burnaby safety equipment supplier is doing its part to support firefighters fighting the wildfires in northern Alberta.
Pickering Safety, located at unit B2-5279 Still Creek Ave., packed up seven boxes full of supplies to be sent to firefighters in Alberta. The boxes contained everything from underwear and socks to safety goggles and disposable respirators and masks.
“To all the firefighters in Alberta. We would like to thank you for all your hard work and efforts in fighting this terrible fire in Northern Alberta. Your efforts are not going unrecognized,” read a note on one of the boxes.
Pat Pickering, who co-owns the store with her husband Kirk, said when an old neighbour contacted her about donating supplies, she couldn’t say no.
“We have a lot of empathy to the situation up there,” she told the NOW. “Our son is a Burnaby firefighter, and we know what these guys have to go through, and apparently they haven’t got much, and we felt it was our obligation to help out.”
Pickering said she’s heard a lot about the help the residents who were forced to flee their homes have been receiving and decided someone needed to lend a hand to the first responders who are on the ground.
“(My son) could be in that position, and I would want somebody to help him,” she added.
The donations were among a large shipment of supplies collected by Surrey resident Leslie McKellar, Pickering’s former neighbour.
The four shipping containers, full of goods for firefighters and residents, were expected to be on the road this week.
