Rural firefighters in Australia were forced to beg internet users for donations to buy face masks after the prime minister announced the government wouldn’t fund them because volunteers “want to be out there” fighting fires.
The plea for donations went viral after Copacabana Rural Fire Brigade Treasurer Joe Arena said the firefighters were in need of financial support because they couldn’t afford to buy face masks for volunteers.
The heartbreaking request followed shortly after PM Scott Morrison said the volunteers “want to be out there” when attempting to justify reasons why the government isn’t going to fund them.
“Our brigade has been desperately trying to protect homes and property – completely exhausted – and I’m horrified to say this, using RFS-issued dust masks to protect our airways,” Arena said in his post.
“In defense of the RFS, these are unprecedented conditions, on a scale no one could have anticipated, but we have no choice but to go out and fight fire with what we have.”
Following generous donations, the RFS thanked the public for contributing and said they hoped there’s enough money to purchase “one for every seat on our heavily used bush trucks.”
Thanking the netizens for donating towards the common cause on Facebook, the rural brigade wrote:
“We would like to thank everyone who supported our appeal for the purchase of face masks for our firefighters.
“We are humbled by the generosity of the community, and we have achieved our original objective and will use any excess funds to purchase masks for neighboring brigades. Thank You!”
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Replaced!