The three Fire and Rescue Services in Wales have announced Ballyclare as the new supplier of structural firefighting personal protection equipment (PPE) to their firefighters.

The Xenon model PPE, which is manufactured by Ballyclare, has been chosen following an extensive All Wales procurement exercise, undertaken by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and follows a year of consultation with firefighters. The new PPE will be rolled out to firefighters in the Summer of 2020.

In a joint statement, the three Chief Fire Officers for the Fire and Rescue Services in Wales, said: “It is of the utmost importance that we provide our firefighters with the very highest standards of protection and we are delighted to say that this new PPE meets these criteria.

The Ballyclare Xenon PPE has been tested rigorously by our firefighters, alongside PPE from competing manufacturers and this PPE scored the highest marks with our firefighters and within the wider stringent requirements of the All Wales procurement process.

Pivotal to this project has been the successful collaboration of all three fire and rescue services in Wales and the willing involvement of our firefighters in this important process. We commend them on their contribution which has been undertaken with great professionalism and pride.

The procurement of this state-of-the-art PPE is yet another step towards Fire and Rescue Services in Wales realising their vision of becoming world leaders in emergency response and community safety.”