Anheuser-Busch makes donation to firefighters in London, but it isn’t beer

LONDON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — The East Bernstadt Fire Department received a massive donation of cans from Anheuser-Busch on Wednesday, but it didn’t contain beer.

East Bernstadt Fire & Rescue posted on Facebook around 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday that crews had received cases of “canned emergency drinking water” to keep firefighters hydrated.

“Proper hydration is critical to ensure the safety of our firefighters and keep them performing at their best,” authorities said. “Firefighters lose a tremendous amount of fluid during high-intensity response such as battling wildfires.”

The donation was made available through a partnership between Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). The fire council’s website said the program is part of “a longstanding tradition of providing emergency drinking water and supplies for disaster relief efforts.”

Anheuser-Busch officials said that since 1988, “the brewer has donated more than 90 million cans of emergency drinking water to communities impacted by natural disasters and other crises,” which led to the team-up with NVFC to create the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program in 2019.

The donation came in recognition of extensive wildfires in 2023 which led to a state of emergency being declared across south and eastern Kentucky , while multiple fire departments worked around the clock to battle the flames.

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Officials added that the program will donate 1.5 million cans of drinking water in 2024 “to help keep our wildfire responders hydrated as they protect and strengthen our communities.”

Fire crews said the donated supply of canned drinking water will “help maintain firefighters’ hydration during long incidents or disasters such as wildfires, which is a major safety concern for many departments.”

More information on the Wildland Firefighters program can be found here .

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