False firefighters ask for donations from motorists in the Algarve

There have been many alert messages recently appearing on social networks: fake firefighters approaching drivers to ask them for a donation to allegedly ‘buy an ambulance.’

In fact, information regarding these ‘fake firemen’, usually wearing a vest with the inscription “Firefighters Veterans”, stopping vehicles at traffic lights and roundabouts, has been popping up on social media for a couple of years now: false firefighters approach drivers to ask them for a donation in the context of buying a new ambulance vehicle for the bombeiros.

Polígrafo SIC recently contacted the Volunteer Firefighters of Lagos, where the above photo was taken, to verify the veracity of these complaints/comments. The commander, Márcio Regino, confirms that several people have reported the existence of these requests for donations, wanting to confirm that they were really from the Lagos firefighters’ initiative. “I told them that, in fact, they are not our requests. We do not collect donations on the street or road, approaching motorists when they stop. Anyone who wants to help the firefighters in cash can do so by addressing the corporation directly, and we give the respective receipt for this donation” said Márcio Regino.

The Commander of the Lagos Volunteer Firefighters also states that he made a complaint to the local GNR station that this situation is not new: “As I was told, they are volunteers from the Association of Veterans of War. They wear a kind of uniform with the same colors as ours, they say it is to buy an ambulance and some of them talk about ‘firefighters’ in a general sense. Which leads people to think that this is a pedestal of ours. But it is not”.

The president of the Algarve Delegation of the Portuguese Association of Veterans of War, Nuno Emídio, confirmed to Polígrafo SIC the realization of several petitions and also the existence of some irregularities : “I am called several times to complain about the way these petitions are made . They are not organized by us, even those that take place in the Algarve.

Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/