BBC News Online: UK: Northern Ireland

Firefighters raise money for US victims

NY firemen have been looking for their dead colleagues

Motorists across the province were asked to give a minimum of £3 for a fire hose car wash on Saturday.

Most fire stations took part in the fundraising event.

All of the money raised will go to the New York Firefighters Benevolent Fund for the families of more than 300 officers killed and injured in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Aftermath

Graham Lowry of Knock Fire Station in Belfast said: "Every firefighter in Northern Ireland, who watched the terrible events of last week unfold on television, felt a deep sense of empathy and kinship with the New York Fire Department.

"We wanted to something, even if it only a token gesture, to show our support for those directly affected by this tragedy."

Mr Lowry said that the fire service in Northern Ireland had had to deal with the aftermath of bombings and other atrocities over many years.

But he said it was impossible to imagine the sheer scale of the tragedy in America.

"Almost 300 firefighters lost their lives in the course of doing their jobs and we feel we have a duty, as well as a deep desire, to show our sympathy and support through raising what funds we can for their families," he said.