Fire & Rescue reunion

By Jim Powell, retired

On Saturday night, 22 October at the Helensburgh Hotel, 10 former members of 325 Fire Station Helensburgh and some of their partners held a reunion dinner organised by Ross and Pam Fagerstrom. It was a great night and many old stories were revisited. It’s well worth noting that we ex-firies represent a combined 198 years of Fire & Rescue experience!

Compared to the modern equipment and uniforms of today, our equipment in the 1970s and 80s would seem antiquated. We had no breathing apparatus and very basic head helmets; we had a simple first aid kit and our only rescue gear was a crowbar and our axes. We had no chemicaldetecting devices, no fire-fighting foam, only in fire extinguishers. We had a large extension ladder and scaling ladders, but no walkie-talkies for communications, only whistles and hand signals.

During our careers, we had to enter smoke-filled houses without breathing apparatus, and attending house fires and removing people from cars after road accidents were very dangerous rescue jobs. However, we were a very successful team and we gladly responded to any challenges that came our

Helensburgh

way to help our community in their hour of need.

Those present at the reunion were: Ross & Pam Fagerstrom, Kerry & Joan Gardner, Greg & Sue Greening, Jeff & Marie Collins, Murray & Roslyn Austin, Jim Powell & Jenny Donohoe, Noel Kinred, Basil Crowe, John Walker and Les Kiddle.

We all had a most enjoyable evening and hope to have more old members at our next Fire Fighters reunion.