KABUL, Afghanistan — The last time the Kabul fire brigade fought a major inferno, dedicated firefighters and helpful civilians snuffed out the blaze with buckets of water and shovelfuls of sand.

After two years in recovery following 23 years of war, the Kabul fire service might now be able to pump a few thousand litres of water thanks to a brotherhood of Canadian firefighters.

Canadians have fixed a few trucks and donated such gear as fireproof clothing to Kabul's fire department, but the city still has only six working fire trucks for more than two million residents. Even a typical, small Canadian city of a few thousand people has more trucks. The entire fire department in Kabul has 14 lengths of hose, less than half the amount required to cover a city block.

In the yard behind Kabul's main firehall, the rusted, burned-out and stripped hulls of former fire trucks outnumber the working units three to one. Many came under rocket and machine-gun attack while fighting fires during the darkest days of the civil war in the 1990s. Anything decent that survived was stolen long ago. Deputy fire chief Khalil Rahman suspects the equipment was sold to cities in Pakistan.

"This is our central firehall, so we're still in better shape than the others," said Rahman. "But we have six vehicles. We should have 90."

Kabul also is supposed to have five fire stations. Three are abandoned wrecks, another is partially ruined and a fifth is being built by the Canadians in the southwestern part of the city near the main Canadian base in Afghanistan, Camp Julien.

Capt. Theo Powers, a Canadian army reservist and a firefighter from Windsor, Ont., turned the restoration of the fire department into a project for the Civil-Military Co-operation unit of the Canadian contingent in Afghanistan.

The military and the federal Canadian International Development Agency have dedicated $130,000 to renovate the firehall and to buy hoses, nozzles and tools for repairing trucks. Canadian military mechanics recently repaired three fire trucks, doubling the number of working units.

Several towns in British Columbia donated firefighting gear to Kabul in an effort organized by Bob Beckett, chief of the Langford fire department near Victoria. Rahman's men received 70 sets of the familiar yellow fireproof pants, jackets and helmets worn by Canadian firefighters.

"There is a strong sense of fraternity, strong sense of comraderie," said Beckett, whose home fire department serves 22,000 residents and has 10 trucks and far better equipment than his Kabul counterparts.

"We all understand the risks and what is involved in what we do," he said. "Culture, religion, it doesn't matter - a firefighter is a firefighter. We all have a fundamental respect for what we do."

While the donated clothing was a small step for a department with few tools, Powers said it broke an important psychological barrier.

"They said, 'Now we can stand proud because we look like firemen,' " said Powers. "It was quite a decent donation. It really went a long way to help these fellas. It probably would have cost $80,000 to buy the kit new."

Sitting at his desk at the firehall, Rahman was impatient with questions about his gratitude. He pulled out a document showing a long list of the foreign promises that have been made to his department. Even the Canadian pledge of cash for equipment, he said, has produced only $9,000 so far.

"Listen, we are very happy, even if they only give us a pen," Rahman said.

"But different countries have been making promises for three years. Only Canada has given us anything. Our department is getting better daily, so we are very grateful. But it would be even better if we were given the stuff that is being used in foreign countries now. All of our trucks are from the 1950s. We can fix them and we will have to, but these things are totally expired."

Powers, who will return to his regular job at the Windsor fire department later this month, admits the Kabul brigade needs longer-term solutions. After the Canadian help is fully put in place, the department still will have no breathing equipment and only 70 suits for 180 men. The fire department at full strength should have 350 on staff.

"This is basically a Band-Aid to get something going again so they have the ability to do basic service," Powers said. "There will still be need after this."

Beckett said he is ready to mobilize another drive to help Rahman equip his brigade.

"We'd love to do more, we're just waiting for word on what we can do," he said.