Canadian Firm Offers Firefighting Cooperation

A Canadian company has expressed readiness to cooperate with Iran in training firefighting staff and supplying fire equipment to help control wildfires in Khuzestan Province.

SafetyBOSS is a safety services and oil well firefighting company based in Alberta, Canada. The company became most famous by leading the effort to put out Kuwait oil fires caused by Iraqi military forces during the Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990–28 February 1991).

Khuzestan’s Crisis Management Organization held a meeting with the company’s representative on Sunday to discuss collaboration on development of firefighting facilities and rescue operations, IRNA reported.

Khuzestan is highly prone to wildfires.

According to Kiamars Hajizadeh, director of the provincial CMO, since the beginning of the current fiscal year (started March 21), more than half of the fires have occurred in woodlands and pastures of the southern province.

“Given the high rates of fire incidents, it is essential that a fire equipment manufacturing factory be established in the province,” he said.

Hajizadeh stressed that CMO’s main target is to enable the production of fire equipment in Khuzestan instead of importing them.

“Arvand Free Trade-Industrial Zone Organization (spread over Khorramshahr and Abadan) is ready to offer opportunities to foreign investors in the production of firefighting tools,” he said.  

“Certain firefighting tools are currently being assembled in Khuzestan but training and supply of modern fire extinguishing technology are the primary needs of the oil-rich province.”  

Adel Mola, environment deputy at the provincial office of the Department of Environment, said over 500 hectares of Khuzestan’s ranges and forests have burnt in fires since the beginning of the year and the crisis is expected to worsen in the coming year, posing greater risk to the region’s natural environment.

“Khuzestan is home to 12 protected areas and the fires can seriously damage the region’s sensitive flora and fauna,” he said, adding that these areas have to be given priority in the control and prevention of wildfires.