Middlesex firefighters donate old equipment to Belize firefighters

May 25, 2022

Updated: January 23, 2023

The rear loading ramp doorway of a CH-47F Chinook U.S. Army Reserve helicopter from Fort Eustis frames Brantley Eubank of Urbanna, right, as he thanks a military crew member for his service. The occasion was the 2021 Wings, Wheels and Keels (WWK) last September at Hummel Field airport in Topping. (Photo by Tom Chillemi)

by Tom Chillemi –

Area fire departments are donating firefighting equipment that no longer meets regulations in the United States to the Caribbean nation of Belize.

Since 2016 the Belize Heroes program has been recycling outdated, but usable, firefighting equipment. Belize Heroes was started by Archibald “Mac” McFarlane, who has worked for Hanover Fire and Rescue for 13 years and is a former Belize firefighter. Since 2000, McFarlane had been collecting old equipment on his own and shipping it to his homeland.