SPRING 2021
FIRECALL OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF DUBLIN FIRE, AMBULANCE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES
IN HONOUR OF ALL MEMBERS ST PATRICK’S DAY REMEMBRANCE
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13/04/2021 09/03/2021 09:44 10:41
EDITOR’S LETTER
Editor: Adam Hyland Consulting Editor: Dan Fynes Contributors: Dan Fynes, Mario Lodola, Ray McMonagle, Ger Ryan Designers: James Moore Anna Wesolowska Cover Credit: DFB Photography: Dublin Fire Brigade, Dublin City Council, Ray McMonagle, Trevor Hunt, Adam Hyland, Conor McCabe, Mario Lodola, The Wellcome Collection, Brian Collins, Harriet Wheelock, Penguin, Knopf, Virago Sales Manager: David Byrne Production Executive: Ciara Murray Publisher: Chesterfox Ltd, T/A Firecall Magazine, P.O. Box 6766, Dublin 2. Tel: (01) 432 2200; Fax: (01) 6727100 Managing Director: Gerry Tynan Chairman: Diarmaid Lennon Distribution by: Magazine Mailing Ashville Media Group Unit 55, Park West Road, Park West, Dublin 12 Tel: (01) 432 2200 Fax: (01) 676 6043 Publisher’s Statement: The information in Firecall is carefully researched and believed to be accurate and authoritative, but neither the Dublin Fire Brigade Sports & Social Club nor the publisher can accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Statements and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the publisher. Copyright ©2021 Firecall Magazine No part of this may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.
Dear readers, Welcome to the latest issue of Firecall. The restrictions on movement continue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the introduction of vaccines, we can look forward with hope to a time when normality will return and the usual events and activities we cover in this magazine can resume. For now, we are still adapting to new ways of doing things and one example of this is the Station Profile, which this time was conducted entirely over Zoom and phone calls. Huge thanks must go to S/O Ken Whelan and the crew of C Watch Rathfarnham for being so accommodating and willing to talk about life at No.8. We have now seen our second St Patrick’s Day go by under lockdown, but DFB members worked hard to make sure events continued with virtual and online activities, while on a different note, the annual commemoration of deceased members went ahead in a small but dignified manner at the Training Centre, and both are covered in this issue. It was very interesting to talk to mechanic Liam Moore about his passion for importing vintage fire trucks from the USA, and you may well recognise some of them from the many fundraising events and DFB Open Days he has brought them along to. Huge thanks to him for taking the time to talk about his collection. Also of huge interest is the treasure trove of historical artefacts and stories kept at the Royal College of Physician’s Heritage Collection, and Keeper of Collections Harriet Wheelock took time to go through the details and share some fascinating tales that I am sure you will enjoy. Lord Mayor Hazel Chu also shares her unique experiences of being Lord Mayor during an unusual time, and shares her thoughts on the future of this role within the development of the city, and I thank her for making time to talk. Mobilisation Officer Mario Lodola also gives a great run-through of the role and what it involves, for which I am very grateful, while Buzzer Leigh shares many a story from his time in DFB in our Retired Member Profile. Many thanks to both of them for their contribution. Other notable features include DFB members’ participation in the Jerusalema Dance Challenge that made it all the way to The Late Late Show, and the marking of International Women’s Day. All DFB members are busy at the moment, and as lockdowns continue the chances for activities are limited, but I would encourage anybody who wants to talk about any upcoming endeavours, or who has an idea for a story, to get in touch with me. This is your magazine, and you are all welcome to contribute. I hope you enjoy the read,
25 OVERSEEING THE CITY
Lord Mayor Hazel Chu’s HandsOn Approach
40 HIDDEN HISTORIES
The Royal College of Physicians’ Heritage Centre
56 IN WITH THE OLD
Vintage US Fire Trucks Find A New Home In Dublin
We are updating our mailing list. If your contact details are out of date, please email: adam.hyland@ ashvillemediagroup.com
FIRECALL SPRING
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SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
CONTENTS SPRING 2021
40 HIDDEN HISTORIES
RCPI’s Heritage Collection
46 MODEL CITIZEN
Miniature DFB Replicas from Brian Collins
48 ONLINE FUN
A Week of St Patrick’s Festival Competitions
56 IN WITH THE OLD
56
Importing Vintage US Fire Trucks
FEATURES 08 A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
Deceased DFB Members Honoured on St Patrick’s Day
14 SNAPSHOT OF HISTORY
08
25
A Strange Incident from 100 Years Ago
16 STEPPING UP TO THE CHALLENGE The Jerusalema Dance
25 OVERSEEING THE CITY
Lord Mayor Hazel Chu’s Hands-On Approach
30 THE FEMALE PRESENCE
DFB Celebrates International Women’s Day
32 RAPID TEST RECOGNITION FF/P Tom Larkin Wins Lord Mayor’s Award
35 OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
The Role of the Mobilisation Officer
16
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4TH JULY
Check out more features and news from past issues at FIRECALL.IE
52 REGULARS 01 EDITOR’S LETTER 02 CONTENTS 05 SECRETARY’S FOREWORD 06 DFBSSC UPDATES 10 DFB IN BRIEF 20 FROM WITHIN THE CIRCLE DFB Pipe Band Update
52 STATION PROFILE
C Watch Rathfarnham
60 RETIRED MEMBER PROFILE James Buzzer Leigh
63 LOCKDOWN TV
More Binge-Watch Recommendations
20
60
65 TRAVEL
Leinster Getaways Post-Lockdown
67 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 69 BOOKSHELF 71 TECHNOLOGY
The Latest Innovations for the Emergency Services
65 FIRECALL SPRING
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13/04/2021 23/02/2021 12:23 06/10/2016 09:48 17:24
FOREWORD
Honorary Secretary’s
FOREWORD
W
elcome readers to our spring 2021 issue of Firecall. At the time of writing, we are in the third wave of COVID-19 and another lockdown, but the dedication and professionalism of all DFB members over this challenging time has been incredible, and huge praise must go to everyone for their commitment. Hopefully, we have started to see the end of this pandemic, when a sense of normality can resume. In the meantime, huge thanks must go to everybody involved in organising the events and activities DFB Sports and Social Club have put together in recent weeks and months to help keep morale up when it is needed most, as well as all of the other DFB clubs keeping members busy. The St Patrick’s Festival competitions are a good example of this, and show how we can remain together as a community, even when restrictions mean we can’t mix as we once did, just as the Jerusalema Dance Challenge showed a willingness to get involved and not take life too seriously. It was also important that a ceremony took place to remember colleagues who have passed away, and I was pleased that a small but dignified commemoration could take place on St Patrick’s Day at the Training Centre. A number of DFB members, both active and retired, have passed away recently, and this show of respect helped to mark their passing and honour their lives. Our thoughts are always with their families. Also marked recently was International Women’s Day, and our social media team did great work in highlighting DFB as a viable career path for women in Ireland. This issue gives a snapshot of the work done to highlight women in the role of FF/P, and my thanks go to everyone involved in putting this impressive presentation together. While there have been few events to speak of recently, this issue sees some very interesting takes on older items, and I’m sure you will find the stories from the RCPI’s Heritage Collection, and the work of Liam Moore in bringing vintage American fire trucks to Ireland to be enjoyable reads. These fire trucks are familiar sites at our Open Days, and I’m pleased to see a new addition is on its way. Those interested in emergency vehicles but on a smaller scale will enjoy reading about the work of Brian Collins, who has created authentic model replicas of DFB ambulances and fire appliances with amazing attention to detail. I must thank Lord Mayor Hazel Chu for taking the time to share her thoughts on the City’s first citizen, and I’m sure you will find her take on the position to be very interesting. The Lord Mayor has traditionally been a keen supporter of Dublin Fire Brigade, and it is great to see Lord Mayor Chu continue to put the best interests of the city at the heart of the role. Thanks must also go to Mobilisation Officer Mario Lodola for outlining the role of the Mobi, to Buzzer Leigh for discussing his colourful career, and to C Watch Rathfarnham for taking time out to provide a station profile under new circumstances. Hopefully we will soon be able to move more freely and activities will once more begin to fill our calendars, and as 2021 continues, we can all look forward to sharing the stories from these events in these pages. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading this issue, and my thanks to all who contributed to it.
Dan Fynes
DAN FYNES
If you haven’t already done so, please order your new ID card by emailing idcards@dfbssc.ie with an attached headshot (on a neutral background), your name, pay number, station, watch and location. We are trying very hard to make sure that all DFBSSC members receive their copy of Firecall. Anybody who is not receiving theirs should email the editor Adam Hyland with their address: adam.hyland@ashvillemediagroup.com
SPRING 2021
FIRECALL OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF DUBLIN FIRE, AMBULANCE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES
IN HONOUR OF ALL MEMBERS ST PATRICK’S DAY REMEMBRANCE
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SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB UPDATE
WE TAKE A LOOK AT RECENT EVENTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB (DFBSSC).
I
n this update, I will give a review of all that has been happening with the Club over the last few months. Unfortunately, I must start with some sad news and pay tribute to a man who has been a hugely important figure within the Sports and Social Club for many a year. On behalf of the DFB Sports and Social Club, I would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Frank Nugent. Frank has been an integral part of the club since its earliest days and responsible for many a trip away with various sporting teams, in addition to his roles with the FBSAI. Since his retirement, Frank served on our committee as a representative for the DFB Retired Members Association (of
ST PATRICK’S DAY We wanted to mark this year by doing something new and by trying to involve and promote our social media pages, roughly keeping to the themes of this year’s St Patrick’s festival, Dhúisigh Éire (Awaken Ireland). The goal was that: “The Festival will connect our global family, to mark our national day, through remembrance, celebration, song, story, laughter and tears, exploring the unique ties that bind us as a people.” With this in mind, we ran a social media-based competition over six days around St Patricks Day. We had good interaction with the competition and it provided for some interesting comments on the pages. Some of the images sent in are included in this issue. Thanks to all who participated, and congratulations to the winners: John Keogh; Mark Shaw; Ray Mc Monagle; Dave Kavanagh; Maria Markey; Willie Bermingham.
MEETINGS
which he was also an active member), and his knowledge, experience and guidance will be sorely missed by us all on the committee and those that have had the pleasure of his company. Rest in peace.
EVENTS The World Police and Fire Games will be held in Rotterdam in July, 2022, when events will have returned after a long hiatus. Teams interested in competing should start thinking about submitting an entry and arranging practice now. Good luck!
For the last few months, we have been conducting our Committee meetings via zoom. Should you have any ideas or suggestion you would like brought forward to these meetings please don’t hesitate to contact your station rep or email myself secretary@dfbssc.ie
VENDING MACHINE HQ This time last year, we purchased a vending machine and located it in the reception area of HQ. The plan was to fill it with approved DFB merchandise and sell it to members and visitors to the station. Since the distribution of our packs in December, we have received a lot of interest from members looking to purchase extra DFBSSC facemasks and snoods, and in the coming weeks we
will fill the vending machine with some of these to purchase from there. The machine operates with a contactless card reader so purchases can be done electronically. Should you have any suggestions for merchandise to be sold in the machine, please let me know by email at secretary@dfbssc.ie
MONTHLY DRAWS The monthly draws continue to be popular amongst our members and the results for the first quarter are out. Please contact P McCann (C ERCC) to claim your prize of a 100 voucher. January: L Scully (A1); R Mullervy (C8); L Caffery (D13); R Elliot (C13); A Finn (B8). February: M O’Byrne (B8); R Boyne (A4); J McRory (A HQ); J Foster (A HQ); T Gallagher (B7). March: J Phelan (B ERCC); I Trimble (A4); D O’Brien (D6); D Brierton (B HQ); G Wilson (C5).
THANK YOU Lockdown has been difficult for us all, and we look forward to a return to normal whenever it is safe to do so. Until then, we will continue to work hard in your best interest. I would like to thank the Committee for their continued hard work during this time. Our committee members are available should you have a suggestion or idea you would like to share. Thank you for your continued support. Dan Fynes, Secretary, DFBSSC
SPRING 06 FIRECALL
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MEMORIAL
A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE This year’s St Patrick’s Day remembrance of deceased DFB members was smaller but no less poignant.
A
modern tradition on St Patrick’s Day is for serving, retired and visiting firefighters and officers to gather to remember and honour deceased colleagues. Normally, this takes place at No.3 station before DFB personnel make their way to O’Connell Street to start the annual parade, and as the COVID-19 pandemic meant there was no parade and no visiting firefighters this year, the remembrance of those colleagues who have passed away was instead held at the Training Centre in a small but dignified event. CFO Dennis Keeley led the remembrance ceremony celebrating their legacies in the company of members from the DFB Sports and Social Club and the DFB Pipe
Band, with the Irish flag hoisted to half-mast as the national anthem and the lament, The Sleeping Tune, were played. In a speech posted on social media, CFO Keeley said: “Traditionally St Patrick’s Day has been a great time for Dublin Fire Brigade to re-engage with and thank family, friends and visiting colleagues, and all our partner organisations for their ongoing support. “Today we gather to not only celebrate this St Patrick’s Day, but to remember and honour all our deceased members, those who have made such a valuable, indeed crucial, contribution to the safety of our society. “Our prayers are also with their families. We remember them and salute them. These were extraordinary people that we honour here today. They set an example for us all. May their shining example inspire all of us in our own lives.” The full ceremony can be seen here: www.facebook.com/ DubFireBrigade/videos/saint-patricks-day-remembrance-2021/
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MEMORIAL
IN REMEMBRANCE Eugene O’Donoghue; Noel Cunningham; Joe Brennan; Paul Knowles; Gerry Sweeney; Michael Gray; Hugh Kenny; Seamus Fagan; Terry Potts; Adrian O’Grady; Brian Joseph McGeehan; Mark O’Brien; Mick Kelly; Mick Shore; Donal O’Hannigan; William Murphy; Pat McDonald; David McLoughlin; Joe McGrath; Tony Archbold; Joe Riordan; Dan Lehane; James Landy; Paul O’Brien; Danny Davern; John Delaney; John Pender; Patrick Kavanagh; Michael Savage; Leslie Naghten; Frank O’Keeffe; John Grogan; Malachy Ryan; Noel Monaghan; Paul Carey; Noel Kelly.
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DFB IN BRIEF
DFB IN BRIEF A recap of Dublin Fire Brigade news and events over the past few weeks and months.
ABOVE: Working through a blizzard in January. BELOW: Conducting a training session using a water rescue sled in the canal around Portobello in February. ABOVE: Happy to share this image posted by Northants Fire and Rescue of an unusual rescue. RIGHT: Decontamination of our ambulances continues. ABOVE: It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of retired Firefighter Noel Monaghan in February. Noel was a stalwart of C Watch and served between 1971 and 2009. Our thoughts are with his family, particularly his sons Ken and Trevor, both serving members. RIGHT: Station Officer Dave Connolly joined with other frontline workers (and other DFB members) to take part in the Late Late.
10
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LEFT: A Tallaght crew after doing a traditional ‘rescuing a cat from a tree’ call out in March. BELOW: Using our new fibrelight ladder to get to a person in the Liffey near Heuston Station in February LEFT: Snow came in January to present postcard pictures like this one from Kilbarrack station. BELOW: Three fire appliances and around 15 Firefighters extinguished a fire in a derelict building on Coolock Lane in Santry in March.
DFB IN BRIEF
ABOVE: On-station training with our Hydraulic Platform in Dun Laoghaire in January. BELOW: With sadness, we learned of the death of retired D Watch HQ firefighter Paul Carey at the start of March. Paul joined DFB with the class of 1975 and retired in 2002.
LEFT: An ad filmed late last year for the Road Safety Authority with Antidote Films and BBDO Dublin was aired on TV and social media in March. BELOW: On the first day of the year, recruit firefighter Paul Curry saw his first domestic fire.
ABOVE: With great sadness we learned of the death of retired D/O George O’Rourke in March, who joined DFB in 1994 during the amalgamation with Dun Laoghaire. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, particularly his son John who is a serving member. RIGHT: Firefighter / Advanced Paramedics from Dolphin’s Barn and Blanchardstown use a Sked rescue stretcher to rescue a person from difficult terrain in February.
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DFB IN BRIEF RIGHT: C Watch HQ use their training to pitch a 10.5 metre ladder in the confined space of a laneway during a fire alarm investigation in the city centre in March. BELOW: The fire at an industrial premises in Kylemore in January that saw 8 units attend.
RIGHT: Firefighter Paramedics from Phibsborough and an Advanced Paramedic vehicle attended a person with an impalement injury in the Phoenix Park over the last weekend in February. BELOW: Attending a mobile home fire in Ballymun in January.
LEFT: Sadly we learned of the passing of Noel “Octo” Kelly in March. The Dolphin’s Barn firefighter trained in 1974 and retired in 2002, and was well known on the national cycling circuit. BELOW: Dolphin’s Barn firefighters attending a well alight vehicle fire in February.
12
ABOVE: We teamed up with An Garda to develop a papercraft gift pack for patients of Children’s Health Ireland, delivered on St Patrick’s Day to children at Crumlin, Tallaght and Temple Street hospitals. LEFT: It is with profound sadness that we learned of the death of retired Station Officer Frank Nugent at the end of March. Our thoughts are with his wife, family and particularly his sons Colm and Ian, both serving members.
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LEFT: In March, firefighters received upskilling in the use of abrasive wheels with new consaw blades and smaller battery powered grinders to be carried on our appliances. For being a star student, Firefighter Green was presented with the top of the class prize: A Starbar! RIGHT: We’d like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of retired Station Officer John Grogan who passed away in January after a prolonged illness. John retired from Rathfarnham Fire Station in 1992 following a 28-year career.
ABOVE: We were delighted to discover this 1:87 scale model of our old Tara Street headquarters meticulously created out of card and printed paper by John Whelan referencing the original plans for the building sourced from the National Library. BELOW: Dolphin’s Barn D Watch got an unexpected visitor in January when an injured swan dropped in
LEFT: Kilbarrack’s new recruit attends his first car fire in February. RIGHT: Rescue crane training at Finglas fire station in March
RIGHT: We extend our condolences to the family and friends of retired Firefighter Leslie Naghten who passed away in January. Leslie was a Firefighter in Dolphin’s Barn Fire Station, where his brother Alan was also stationed. LEFT: Firefighters from 5 units deal with cars alight in a scrap yard on the Greenhills Road at the end of March. RIGHT: Phibsboro B watch maintaining their hi-line skills in February. BELOW: It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of retired Firefighter/Paramedic Frank ‘Majestic’ O’Keeffe in January. A member of the class of ‘86, Frank retired in 2018.
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SNAPSHOT OF HISTORY
Pembroke Fire Station.
SNAPSHOT OF HISTORY Recounting a strange incident at a fire station in Ballsbridge 100 years ago.
T
oday’s frontline services get along very well, but looking back over the troubled history of the State, this wasn’t always the case, especially when the nation was caught up in Civil War. 100 years ago in January, a curious incident occurred that illustrated just how wild and dangerous life could be for those working to keep the city safe as various disparate organisations fought to take control. On 9 January, 1921, members of the British-formed Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary from Beggar’s Bush Barracks, armed with revolvers, raided the now defunct Pembroke Fire Brigade Station in Ballsbridge and threatened the lives of the firefighters on duty. The reason was never made clear, but the same group also stole a car from a neighbouring garage, which in a subsequent inquiry raised questions about whether alcohol had been a factor.
The firefighters reported the incident to the authorities, but on 15 January they were again visited by this group of Auxiliary men, who once more threatened those on duty, demanded that the men who reported them be brought out, and allegedly held a pistol to the head of the superintendent on duty. As with the previous week, they didn’t stop there, and this time they left the fire station and held up two Dublin Metropolitan Policemen and stole their arms and ammunition. They were captured soon after by their own commanding officer, General Crozier, who had no doubt been keeping a close eye on them, and were apparently court-martialled. The details of any further action taken by the Auxiliaries or the RIC is sketchy, but the incident was raised in the UK parliament when a Mr MacVeagh asked the Chief Secretary of the Commons and Attorney General for Ireland Mr Denis Henry about it. Mr Henry assured him that “severe disciplinary action” had been taken, but gave no further details. This was followed up a few weeks later when a Mr Hayward asked the then-Chief Secretary to Ireland Viscount Greenwood if the court-martial had taken place, and whether Crozier (who had by now resigned over what he saw as the official condoning of the actions of the Auxiliaries at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday) had given evidence. In reply, Greenwood said that there had been a full official inquiry that showed the allegations of twice threatening the firefighters with revolvers couldn’t be substantiated due to a lack of evidence. The ‘group’ of Auxiliaries also seemed to have been whittled down to just two men, both cadets. Further questions in parliament were answered with assurances that “they are looking into it”, but it seems that no further action was taken other than to use the two cadets as scapegoats who may, or may not, have been reprimanded for their actions. As more serious events unfolded over the course of 1921, this incident was forgotten, and by the next year the Auxiliaries were disbanded as the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. It’s an interesting snapshot of history from 100 years ago, and a reminder of just how precarious life could be during a time when the country teetered on the brink of violence every day.
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13/04/2021 09/03/2021 14:52 17/02/2021 09:49 09:20
JERUSALEMA CHALLENGE
Stepping Up to
THE CHALLENGE FF/P Ray McMonagle talks to Adam Hyland about DFB involvement in the dance craze raising spirits during lockdown.
O
ne of the more uplifting sights of the most recent phase of the pandemic has been the Jerusalema dance challenge that has gone viral across the globe. Originally hitting our shores when the Swiss police challenged their Irish counterparts to match their efforts, gardaí took on the task with gusto and produced an eyecatching video that showcased their commitment to community spirit, but DFB members were more than keen to join in, and were part of a routine that was aired on the Late Late Show in February. Though suggestions had been made within the DFB about doing their own version, the TV appearance proved to be a perfect way to take part.
Forming part of the multi-agency routine in the RTE studio.
SPIRIT
“We had seen the Garda dance and it was certainly one of the best videos out there in terms of raising community spirits,” says FF/P Ray McMonagle. “It really showed what they were about in terms of community, the place they fill in Ireland, and they put their own spin on it with the Irish dancing and the horses that were the star of the show. “There were a few leaks on social media showing Gardai dancing on rooftops, so we sort of felt something was coming down the road, and we were almost braced for it. There were a lot of people suggesting that maybe we should do our own version and there was some interest in the job. I started to get a lot of calls and texts about it, but without anyone really coming forward themselves to volunteer to take part.”
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JERUSALEMA CHALLENGE
Stephen Brennan, Alex Daly and Kevin Conroy getting ready to hit the dancefloor at RTE.
Stars in the making.
Nicola taking a photo op in the RTE studios.
Nicola in full swing.
Management was approached and backing received, with the proviso that it must take place during volunteers’ free time, as the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and general day to day duties obviously meant resources were needed elsewhere. That request was made on 2 February, with Ray tasked with gathering members happy to take part and show off their moves, but coincidentally, the very next day RTE got in touch asking DFB to be part of a multi-agency version
“When some people see us, it is usually because it is one of the worst occasions in their life, whether it is a fire or an accident, so we want to show that there is another side to us” of the dance to appear on the Late Late Show that Friday. Time was of the essence. “That invite forced our hand, and to be honest it got us out of a hole to some degree because it meant we didn’t have to find enough people willing to take part to do our own version of the dance,” Ray tells me. “News of the invite came through on the Wednesday afternoon, so there were lots of calls and texts and lots of ‘I’d love to, but…’ conversations, and in the end we did find five people who were happy to do it. We actually
had a few more than that, but could only take five, and for some the time restrictions ruled them out. One or two jumped at the chance while some had to be gently persuaded. I was delighted with the uptake we finally did get because, at first, I thought it would be nearly impossible to get the numbers with such short notice, and I ended up having to practice myself the night before we got the volunteers on board, just in case. “You might ask why I didn’t put myself forward,” he adds. “I did consider it, but I thought back to
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JERUSALEMA CHALLENGE
my recruit class when for a while I got slagged because I was all right hand, right foot – I had absolutely no coordination, so I didn’t think I was up for it. “By Wednesday night we had our group of participants – S/O Dave Connolly, and FF/Ps Alex Daly, Kevin Conroy, Nicola Sheil and Stephen Breen - but the routine was to be pre-recorded on the Thursday, so the volunteers didn’t have much time to practice, to watch the YouTube videos and get the choreography down, but they managed it.” There was an unexpected connection to DFB at RTE when it turned out the choreographer Stuart O’Connor, who also choreographed the Toy Show, was the son of the late Phibsborough D/O Seamus “Raff” O’Connor.
RECORDINGS
The first of four pre-recordings took place on Thursday 3 February at 6pm, with another filmed later that evening, with Alex, Kevin and Stephen taking part in the rooftop and plaza versions, while Friday saw a pre-recording at noon in the studio featuring Nicola, and another at 6pm featuring Dave. The results were viewed by millions across the country on Friday 4 February, with many more watching
Gearing up for the start of the plaza segment of the routine.
Looking on at the rooftop version.
on YouTube after that, showing DFB’s willingness to contribute to community-led events that help brighten these dark days. As it turned out, after the prerecordings, B Watch were on duty that night, meaning Nicola, Alex and Stephen were all in work watching it when it came on TV. The banter can only be imagined.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
“As firefighters we are very community spirited and we like to
get involved with what is going on in the community,” Ray says of the importance of taking part in such efforts. “We are seen as jovial at times, and we are always ready for a challenge, so we are always happy to take part in this kind of thing when we can. We are part of the community. Unfortunately, when some people see us, it is usually because it is one of the worst occasions in their life, whether it is a fire or an accident, so we want to show that there is another side to us. We want to give back to the community when we can. “The dance has gone viral now, and everyone is trying their own version, but for us, it was a way of easing pressure for frontline workers – and that doesn’t just mean blue light workers – it includes all workers going out to work every day to provide services – it is a pressure relief, and gets the whole country involved. It meant a change in conversation, however briefly, from COVID to something more positive and uplifting. “Our members didn’t all perfect the moves or light up the stage,” Ray says, “but the thing about it is that it wasn’t about getting the moves down perfect, it was about taking part, enjoying a bit of fun. Something like this was needed to give a positive side to things and to boost morale.”
SPRING 18 FIRECALL
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13/04/2021 10:46
Piper Paul McNally and Drummer Paul Keyes at the memorial tribute to deceased DFB colleagues at the Training centre on St Patrick’s Day.
DFB PIPE BAND
From within
THE CIRCLE The DFB Pipe Band marked a low-key St Patrick’s Day and looks to the future, writes Mark Toner.
A
s we all know, not much has been happening either in the band or in society as the lockdown continues to play havoc with life. Small things keep the band going though, which hopefully keeps the interest burning for whenever restrictions lift and normal Monday nights’ practice and playing in Marino resumes.
TRADITION We couldn’t let the annual St Patrick’s Day festivities pass unmarked, and although we couldn’t assemble as a band to represent the Brigade,
we did manage to mark the day appropriately. A recent tradition instigated by DFBPB is to assemble outside No 3 Station before we proceed to the main parade start point, where a small ceremony is held and the names of all Brigade members who have passed away in the preceding year are remembered in a rollcall. On completion, a piper plays a lament in salute of our deceased colleagues and friends. This has become an important part of the annual 17th March outing and this year Piper Paul McNally and Drummer Paul Keyes took part in a ceremony in the OBI along with the
CFO and our friends in the DFB Sports and Social Club to continue the tradition. An idea of Drummer Tom McLoughlin was also acted upon, which saw a small band contingent present a bowl of shamrock to the Lord Mayor Hazel Chu at her residence in the Mansion House on St Patrick’s Day afternoon. Compliant with infection control precautions, the Lord Mayor graciously received our gift and allowed us to play a few tunes to mark the day for her and her young family. So, although we were once again halted in our march, we were at least able to mark the occasion and keep traditions alive, and indeed possibly initiate some new ones for future years.
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DFB PIPE BAND
RECRUITMENT Speaking of future years, that means you! It’s not easy keeping a band of volunteers with a limited pool to draw from in operation, then add in the schedule the band is requested to engage in. “Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine” as they say, and indeed it does take the efforts of every member of the band to ensure that even the smallest of engagements goes off without a glitch. While you might see only a solo piper or drummer in operation, in the background there may have been several other members, (and family of course), pulling in the same direction with logistical support, tuning, instrument adjustments and uniform issues to make sure the band’s best foot is put forward. In previous band roundups we mentioned that we are always looking for new members and this is still true, even though it may seem that activities are at a temporary standstill. We’re frequently asked how long it takes to learn the pipes? Are they a hard instrument to play? How long does it take to get my first set
Playing a tune while presenting Lord Mayor Hazel Chu with the shamrock.
of pipes?... sure I can’t read music, I’m too old to learn, are the drums easier? In case lockdown has given you pause for thought and you’re thinking now is the time to pick up that instrument you’ve always wanted to try, I’ll give you a whistle stop tour of the process and answer some of those questions.
PROCESS Firstly, no, it’s not easy because if it was easy everybody would do it and nothing worthwhile ever comes easy! But it’s certainly doable, for all ages and all abilities. The band is made up of almost all adult learners who came to playing their chosen instrument after joining the Brigade and thence the band, so age is no barrier. Budding pipers start off on a practice chanter, similar to a recorder, and it is here student pipers will learn the bagpipe scale, which is only nine notes long, the rudiments of music, and then they move on to learning some of the simpler band tunes. How long it takes to progress onto a full set of pipes is then completely up to the
individual and the time that they can commit to learning. There is no rush and everybody is free to learn at their own pace. The drumming pathway is much the same, and although friendly rivalry between the pipe and drum corps within the band will always focus on which is easier, in reality both take hard work and commitment. I know I’m supposed to try and entice you in the door in what is a veiled recruitment drive here, but we won’t sugar coat it either.
REWARDS Ask anybody who has ever travelled abroad on a band trip, attended a band party, marched with the band or played at any of the high-profile gigs which are the envy of many a pipe band, and they will tell you that advantages far outweigh the comparatively minor inconvenience. Many of our playing members and associate members and supporters have been with us since their first days in the Brigade. This speaks volumes and is testament to what the band has to offer. There is no need to worry about tutelage fees, uniform, instrument purchase, materials, or time - this is yours to give and you give what you can. Nor will you be on your own learning as we always have a small number of students in the pipeline. You only need to show up with enthusiasm and commitment and you’ll fit right in. As you can no doubt guess there is no physical practice until these restrictions end, but when they do, we will be back open for business, Monday nights in Marino at 2000hrs, building the band to represent future generations of DFB firefighters. Be part of it! If you feel you have what it takes, contact any band member for further information, or you can contact the band secretary directly via email at dfbpbsec@gmail.com or any via any of our social media platforms. Your level of involvement is up to you…
It’s yisser band!... Slán tamaill.
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COMMERCIAL FEATURE
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hose in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) or who are unemployed are now entitled to a Social Welfare grant of 1,000 to attend a Transport Management CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) course. Therefore, a payment of only 95 is required to become a qualified Transport Manager and pursue a career in the Road Transport and Logistics sectors. CPC.ie is commencing its next full and part-time Transport Management
CPC course in April to prepare students for the next exams on 30 June, 2021. “This course also allows the qualified person to set up their own transport business and to deliver four modules of the Driver CPC,” explains Tony Hynes, Course Director at CPC.ie. “As CPC.ie courses are educational and compulsory for essential services workers, we are continuing to run our courses in the Green Isle Hotel, Clondalkin, Dublin and other hotels
throughout the country. All COVID-19 protocols are adhered to, including a minimum of two-metre distancing between students, providing hand sanitisers and assured room cleansing,” he adds. CPC.ie students have achieved Ireland’s highest marks (99%) in their Transport Management CPC exam, and Tony would like to congratulate the 143 newly-qualified Transport Managers who received their results having sat their exam in December 2020, wishing them every success in the future.
TESTIMONIALS “Thanks to you (Tony) and the team once again. If it wasn’t for your expert guidance and infectious enthusiasm, I am sure I would not have persevered so that today I received my international RPTOL.” ‘Thanks very much for the help and for the course; it was fantastic I really enjoyed it. The delivery of the course was exceptional and I think my results reflect this.”
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FIRECALL SPRING
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Do you have an interesting story or topic to share, or would you like to submit an article for consideration for our next issue? We love to hear from Dublin Fire Brigade personnel both serving and retired – stories and memories from your career, interesting events, technology and training, questions, comments and much more besides.
For further information contact the editor on 01 432 2241 or email adam.hyland@ashvillemediagroup.com 1C_Call for submissions_JM_FC 23.01.indd 1
13/04/2021 10:27
LORD MAYOR
F
or most people, the last year has brought many changes to how and where we work as the COVID-19 pandemic meant closing offices and doing our jobs remotely. This has been no different for even the highest office in Dublin City, with Lord Mayor Hazel Chu faced with an unprecedented year in which the usual representative events have been limited, but it is something she has embraced, transforming the role of the Lord Mayor in the process. “It was unusual,” Lord Mayor Chu agrees, “because normally the Mansion House is used for lots of functions and events, and we go out to a lot of events in the community, but we couldn’t do that. The role is very ceremonial, so given the circumstances, I transformed it and with the support of the City Managers, we made it more policy-focused.”
HANDS-ON
Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu. Credit: Conor McCabe.
OVERSEEING THE CITY Dublin lord Mayor Hazel Chu talks to Adam Hyland about taking a hands-on approach during an unusual year.
One of these policies that the Lord Mayor took forward was the establishment of a Homeless Task Force, which saw her meet regularly with the Minister for Housing to see where reforms could be brought in. Though the solutions to such a large issue will not happen overnight, this has met with initial success, thanks to this more hands-on approach to the position of Lord Mayor. “One of the five tasks that we have asked for – the Day Service – is already under way,” Lord Mayor Chu tells me. “We are also creating a framework for an integration strategy at the moment, and in terms of COVID-19 and mobility, we have put in place more measures. There has been a lot more working with the City Managers on the policy side of things. So, it was completely different to other years, but it was something we had to do,” she adds. Using the position to get results through action rather than standing as a symbolic figure is something Lord Mayor Chu would like to see develop over time, and with this comes her view of another change that is needed. “I’ve spoken to previous mayors, the Chief Executive and other councillors
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LORD MAYOR
Lord Mayor Hazel Chu has changed the symbolic role with a hands-on approach. Credit: Conor McCabe
“All of the mayors have done an amazing job previously, but you have got to have a mayor who is elected by the people” about it, and I think it is time we saw a directly elected mayor in Dublin,” She tells me. “All of the mayors have done an amazing job previously, but you have got to have a mayor who is elected by the people, and their function should be to do something: essentially to run the city.” When I ask if she would be interested in taking on that elected role, Lord Mayor Chu is quick to answer: “Absolutely, if people would let me!” she says. “It is already something I am trying to set up, that the Office of Mayor’s mandate would be one that involves actually running things. That doesn’t
mean being power-hungry, but it does mean working with people, and a lot of what we do here in the Council and local government is working with various departments and people, so it wouldn’t be too big a change.”
PRIORITIES Holding office during a year when so many events were cancelled meant that the Lord Mayor couldn’t lead St Patrick’s Day - arguably the biggest day of the year as leader of the city – but Lord Mayor Chu remains philosophical. “I would never play down St Patrick’s Day as unimportant because it is very
important for the city,” she tells me. “I sit on the Board for the festival and am incredibly proud of the work we have done this year to transition it online. But having said that, it is just another day. There is so much more happening in this city and country at the moment, so as much as we miss it, we know there will be other St Patrick’s Days, and we have to look at the bigger picture. “People do ask if I miss having functions and guests to the Mansion House,” Lord Mayor Chu continues, “but I am in an incredibly privileged position. Anything that hasn’t happened this year isn’t a loss, it’s more positive to look at what we have been doing instead.” As head of the City Council, the Lord Mayor has traditionally been a keen supporter of Dublin Fire Brigade, attending events such as recruit pass out and other promotional campaigns to highlight the work of the fire service, and even though this hasn’t been possible for the most part, Lord Mayor Chu has shown great support for the organisation.
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LORD MAYOR “Even before I became Mayor, I had several tie-ins with DFB, and think they do a fantastic job,” she tells me. “DFB is frontline, an essential emergency service, and it’s everything that people should be proud of. The Fact that DFB is very open and transparent about the job, as seen with their Twitter account, is great. You can feel their presence and know you are being looked after in the city, and that is really important.”
“DFB IS frontline, an essential emergency service, everything that people should be proud of”
DFB SUPPORT This support was clear when Lord Mayor Chu was openly critical of the delays in delivering COVID-19 vaccines to DFB members, and advocated for the safety of the emergency services by directly intervening and asking the HSE for answers. “I was very annoyed about it,” she admits. “It’s obvious that DFB members should have been vaccinated early on. I get where the HSE is coming from in terms of categorisation, but I obviously don’t agree with a lot of it. DFB are frontline and carrying out essential services every day, putting themselves at risk, and so they need to be protected. “When I contacted the HSE, the answer I got was: ‘It is within the timeframe of the category we have allotted it for’ and I couldn’t take this for an answer, so I ended up calling them, and that proved more useful because I got a direct answer. But the whole thing was really frustrating. “The ball was dropped in terms of how DFB members were informed, or not informed, how they thought things were going to happen that then didn’t, and they were seeing posts online saying that other groups or organisations were getting vaccinated before them. That does form a sort of divisiveness. All I was asking the HSE for was a date, a ballpark figure that would at least make people happier knowing they could look forward to it. “From that whole saga I think there were definite learnings, including being realistic with people, not overpromising, and also the need for better communication.”
Lord Mayor Hazel Chu with her mother and ADC Martin McCabe of DFB. Credit: Conor McCabe.
CHANGE Going back to the point of taking a hands-on approach to her role, Lord Mayor Chu sees the need for change in the city post-pandemic. “Dublin is what I call ‘a donut with a hole in it’,” she tells me. “Everything used to be concentrated in the centre, but now everything is in the periphery, which is great because you have thriving villages, but the centre is empty. Obviously, lockdown plays a big part in this and there is no tourism, nobody going to offices, but what is our road map for what happens after that? “I sit on the Night Time Economy Task Force, and there is a lot to be done in terms of planning what Dublin city
will look like in the next year as we come out of the pandemic. There is a lot that can be changed when it comes to the city and this is why our Development Plan is so important, because we want people to feed into how we can look at the space we have in the city differently so that we can better use it.” Such issues are discussed every Friday on ‘Chu and Chats’, a live broadcast set up by Lord Mayor Chu, which helps to raise the talking points around plans and strategies so that everybody can be informed about the decisions being made regarding the city. “The reason behind the series was that after setting up the Homeless Task Force and our Integration Strategy, I realised
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LORD MAYOR
Attending the Winter Lights launch in Smithfield last year where members of the emergency services were honoured with their images projected onto the square. Credit: Conor McCabe.
“There has been a real willingness to get things done, and I am proud to say that I hope I have played some part in that” that we needed to start communicating with people about the work we were doing,” she tells me. “I work closely with the Housing Department, Integration Office and Transport Office, but how do I showcase the work being done? This is a way of showcasing it. “I was also asking myself: How do we answer the many questions that come into the Office about what is going on in the city? So, I went to the various departments and offices who were all very eager in fairness, and so far, we have had good discussions.”
SUCCESSION Lord Mayor Chu will be in office until June, but she has firm hopes that the changes she has made to the role will remain. “I do hope my successor continues with the hands-on approach, because there is certainly room for it,” she tells me. “There are a lot of councillors who would be very
good in the role. This house has seen a lot of mayors – 352 in fact – and every one has had a different approach. It just so happened that I came in during this period when I had to do the job differently.” With just a few months to go in office, Lord Mayor Chu looks back on her time with satisfaction. “It has been an unprecedented time to take on the job, and it is hard to say I enjoyed it because there was so much loss,” she admits. “But I am glad to have had the role. I got into this because I wanted to help in my community, represent people, and I am happy I got to do my job well, because if I had just been sent out to represent the Office at events, as great as that is, it wouldn’t have worked well in this current climate.”
ACHIEVEMENT Despite the challenges, there are many things for Lord Mayor Chu to be proud
of about her tenure, with the work done with the city’s homeless chief among them. “The Day Service is such a small thing but it is so essential,” she says. “When I was told it would be rolled out, I was delighted because it is something that is now happening. There is also better connectivity between the various organisations and the Department of Housing in how we work together and I am very proud of that,” she adds. “On a Council level, I think a lot of councillors have worked very well with me this year across parties, and we have been able to deliver on things that previously we weren’t even able to agree on. There has been a real willingness to get things done, and I am proud to say that I hope I have played some part in that.” More can be done, though, Lord Mayor Chu admits. “My mother gives out to me for asking too much of myself,” she says, “but in a way, I don’t think I have done enough, because there is always so much more to do. Again, going back to the Homelessness Task Force, there were five elements to that, so there are still those that haven’t been enacted yet, as well as other plans yet to be implemented, and I won’t be here when that happens, so I am hoping future Lord Mayors, even if they have different priorities, will continue the good work done this year. But do I think I have done enough? Not even close.” When I ask how she would like her time in the Mansion House to be remembered, Lord Mayor Chu is quick to quip: “Well, it’s not like I will be remembered for drinking the place dry! But in all honesty, I would like to be remembered for being constructive and trying to make the position of Lord Mayor a more hands-on role.” Mere ceremonial representation taking a back seat, proactive participation from the Mansion House coming to the fore, and the amount of great work being done at City Council level would suggest that Lord Mayor Chu has succeeded in making that change, and Dublin City will be the better for it if this becomes a permanent approach from those who come after her.
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1C_Unicef_JM_FC 23.01.indd 1
13/04/2021 10:33
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
H
aving taken on its first female recruit in 1994, Dublin Fire Brigade now has 59 female members wearing the uniform as firefighters, paramedics and fire prevention officers, with the opportunity to forge an exciting and rewarding career one of the many benefits of the job. Monday, 8 March was International Women’s Day, and to mark the event, some of DFB’s female members took part in a Q&A session on Instagram to answer questions and give details about the job to women interested in a career with the fire service, or who were just curious to know what it’s like to work within such a traditionally male-dominated profession. The members who took part were FF/Ps Amy Watters and Nicola Sheil, FF/AP Anne Bowler, Third Officer Barbara Cahill, A/C/ F/O Mary O’Brien, D/O Niamh O’Regan, Sub-Officer Siobhan Talbot, and Executive Fire Prevention officer Therese Tormey. Accompanying the “Ask a question” session, several posts were sent out highlighting these opportunities and the fact that gender does not play a factor in career development within DFB, one of which summed up the day, saying: “Women in a modern fire and emergency service is normal. The women of Dublin Fire Brigade inspire other women every day. This day is for you.”
AMONG THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WERE:
THE FEMALE PRESENCE
International Women’s Day saw DFB’s female firefighters answer questions about their role on the frontline.
Does the DFB fitness training differ for women? Every potential recruit must pass a physical screening assessment. There is no distinction between male and female. What’s your experience working in a very male-dominated career? Positive! But it is nice to have a locker room for a few minutes of peace and quiet every so often! What’s the biggest challenge for a woman in the DFB? Eating healthy. We often eat in a rush or at random hours between calls. Thankfully there are gyms in the stations to counteract this in our downtime. Also, fart etiquette isn’t a thing anymore!
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Some of the posts shared on social media promoting the roles of women in Dublin Fire Brigade
Can you wear make-up and gel nails? We have a dress code and no, we can’t wear make-up or have long gel nails or polish while on duty. From a health and safety view they can tear medical gloves. But all bets are off on nights out (remember them)! Are there many female ambulance or appliance drivers? Yes, maybe 20 or 30. Driving courses become available due to needs in your station or district. Do you feel a lot of pressure to be just as good as or better than your male colleagues? I think it is hard not to feel pressure in any minority. You just have to get stuck in and prove yourself like any recruit, male or female, when you start. What advice would you give a female hopefully heading into the next class of recruits? Keep training. Gotta be strong and fit going into recruit training. Swimming is also great for breathing apparatus preparation and crucial if you want to be a swift water rescue technician. Did people ever look down on you when you said you were or wanted to be a firefighter? Nope! Not looked down on at all. Some people are surprised, but always impressed!
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LORD MAYOR’S AWARD
RAPID TESTING RECOGNITION
FF/P Tom Larkin was recently given the Lord Mayor’s Award for his role in the fast-track COVID-19 testing of DFB staff.
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LORD MAYOR’S AWARD
“The single most important tool in DFB’s resilience throughout our response to the COVID-19 pandemic” FF/P Larkin was instrumental in initiating the system that saw DFB members able to get tested for COVID-19 as quickly as possible at the Rotunda, meaning a suspected case that proved negative could see personnel return safely to work within hours, rather than having to isolate and remain off duty while waiting for a test and subsequent result. In our summer/ autumn issue, ACFO Greg O’Dwyer described this system as “the big game changer”, detailing how personnel could be tested at 9am and have the results back the same day. “In the first three days of the system coming in, we were able to allow 50 people back to work,” he said at the time.
IDEA
FF/P Tom Larkin with the March Lord Mayor’s Award. Credit: Conor McCabe.
I
n March, North Strand FF/P Tom Larkin was honoured with a Lord Mayor’s Award for his work in helping to establish the fast-track COVID-19 testing facility for Dublin Fire Brigade members at the Rotunda Hospital. Held annually in previous years, the awards have recently been given on a monthly basis, with March focusing on candidates from the emergency services.
“I simply had a far-fetched idea and plan to get DFB staff tested quicker, which was successful,” FF/P Larkin said upon receiving the award. “At the start of the pandemic, I volunteered to work on a COVID-19 Crisis Committee and one of the issues we had was the ability to have firefighter/paramedics deemed close contacts or symptomatic tested more quickly. “The problem was not unique to DFB, it was a national problem, but it was affecting the health and welfare of staff due to increased anxiety for them and their families isolating for days awaiting a test, and it had the potential to affect our service.”
PLAN With his sister Suzanne, who works in the ultrasound department of the Rotunda Hospital, FF/P Larkin made an informal approach to Dr Carole Barry at the hospital, who supported the proposal of a fast-track system. This resulted in a
formal request being made to the Master of the Rotunda, Professor Fergal Malone, and Hospital Secretary Jim Hussey, by CFO Dennis Keeley. From there, DFB management finalised and implemented the testing process with the Rotunda, with the rapid testing of DFB personnel playing a significant role in ensuring a 100% service was maintained throughout the pandemic. FF/P Larkin also commented: “I intend to share the gift voucher with Suzanne, who was also an integral part of the chain, and thank Master of the Rotunda Hospital Professor Malone and his staff for facilitating DFB.” Speaking about the award, Lord Mayor Hazel Chu said: “I am delighted that this month’s award has gone to someone from Dublin Fire Brigade. I think I speak for the whole City when I say how proud we all are of the work the Fire Brigade have done, and continue to do, during this pandemic. Tom is a great example of someone who saw a problem and used their initiative to solve it. I was very impressed by his selflessness. Well done Tom!”
RESULT The DFB end of March Communications Bulletin summed up the achievement, saying: “The success of the partnership with the Rotunda Hospital for rapid testing of DFB personnel has been the single most important tool in DFB’s resilience throughout our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The staff at the Rotunda testing centre and laboratory have been extremely reliable and efficient in processing all requests from DFB, ensuring a rapid turnaround and the ability of our personnel to return to work as soon as possible.”
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MOBILISATION
T
Mobilisation Officer D/O Mario Lodola.
OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT District Officer Mario Lodola talks to Adam Hyland to provide an insight into the role and responsibilities of the DFB Mobilisation Officer.
he role of Mobilisation Officer, or “Mobi” as the position is colloquially known, has a long and proud tradition within Dublin Fire Brigade. Initially established more than 50 years ago, it is the role of the Senior Operational District Officer on each Watch and involves planning and overseeing the effective and efficient management of the delivery of a wide range of services to the public on a dayto-day basis. “When people outside of Dublin Fire Brigade hear of the Mobilisation Officer, they might think of somebody who gets things moving, and to some extent this is true,” D/O and Mobilisation Officer with C Watch Mario Lodola tells me. “The role has many responsibilities, but the primary one is the daily management of all operational Brigade resources, and to ensure DFB is maintained in a state of operational readiness at all times. I manage operational personnel and utilise available resources to ensure adequate Fire and EMS cover is maintained across the city and county at all times. “The Mobi also provides leadership and sets the standard across the Watch, providing a command and coordinating role that ensures each fire station across the city is fully crewed at all times.” He adds: “This sometimes requires overtime to fill these positions, and as you can imagine, this can make you very popular or unpopular!” Working not just within our own organisation but with other emergency and essential services including An Garda Siochána, Coastguard, HSE and Civil Defence means regular inter-agency co-ordination/communications is often required, particularly during protracted and larger incidents, or extreme and severe weather events. “We also have a commitment to the provision of Marine Emergency Response in the event of a fire or other emergency on a vessel at sea, when a request for assistance may be received from the Coastguard,” D/O Lodola tells me. “This requires DFB to provide significant resources including firefighters and paramedics, and my responsibility
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MOBILISATION The Mobi oversees the supply of personnel, appliances and special equipment for incidents, such as the FEU at the recent large fire in Kylemore.
is to coordinate activities and ensure this happens in a timely manner and as seamlessly as possible.” At large scale incidents, specialist equipment and other resources are often requested to attend by Incident Commanders and can be in use for a considerable time, and this can put undue strain or pressure on the system. “My role is to ensure this does not have a disproportionate impact or deplete our ability to respond to other incidents in our functional area,” D/O Lodola says. “Redeploying resources to different stations around the city to ensure resilience is maintained is a crucial element of that.”
BACKGROUND Ensuring the provision of all DFB services requires an extensive amount of skill and experience in frontline activity, planning and management, something D/O Lodola’s career to date has provided. Having served with the Irish Defence Forces for eight years, including seeing overseas service in Lebanon in 1982/83, he joined the fire service in 1987 and spent seven years with Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade before they amalgamated with DFB in 1994. “During this time, I was seconded to GOAL and had the opportunity to respond to Congo/Rwanda during the
Providing Fire and EMS capability for an exercise with RSA in Dublin Castle.
“The Brigade has a very rich tradition as an agile and problemsolving organisation”
humanitarian crisis in 1994,” he tells me. “This gave me great insight and experience dealing with international agencies and organisations in often very difficult conditions.” He transferred to B watch North Strand in 1994, continuing as a firefighter for seven years until promoted to Sub Officer in 2001 and subsequently Station Officer. Initially stationed on A Watch Phibsborough, he floated in fire stations across the city before settling in C Watch Kilbarrack, and “worked with a great team for five years”. During this time, he also completed a degree in Local Government and got involved with many different training courses and projects, both as instructor and student, to further his expertise and experience. “This included the development of procedures for incidents in Dublin Port Tunnel,” D/O Lodola tells me, “that initially involved attending an instructor training course with colleagues in Switzerland and rolling out training for Brigade personnel.” More recently, he led the development and delivery of the training programme for Station officers. 2009 brought promotion to D/O and “six enjoyable years on D Watch HQ”, with a short period as Mobi, but D/O Lodola saw the opportunity
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MOBILISATION
for further development. “I had an interest in enhancing my knowledge and understanding of fire safety in buildings and completed a Post Graduate Fire Safety Diploma in Trinity College, and in 2015 I moved to Fire Prevention,” he says. “The work in Fire Prevention was different to Operations and required a different skillset, but was extremely interesting and it allowed me to apply the knowledge I had gained on the course in Trinity. Some of the duties involved unannounced inspections of various types of premises, events and concerts, ensuring they complied with fire safety regulations and best practice. This also included nightclubs, public houses, nursing homes and hotels. “The interaction between Fire Prevention and Operations has increased significantly in recent years and is to be welcomed,” D/O Lodola points out. “The staff in Fire Prevention are a great team, a pleasure to work with, and always on hand to assist if required.”
MOVE Two years later, D/O Lodola made an unusual move. “After two happy years in Fire Prevention I felt it was time to
move on and wanted to move back to operations,” he tells me. “An opportunity arose, and I moved back as Mobilisation Officer on C watch. This was unusual at the time because it was the first time a District Officer had done this, but operations was always what I found the most enjoyable and challenging.” This means that while it is a challenging role, D/O Lodola enjoys the role immensely, and the involvement with DFB members it brings. “One of the more enjoyable aspects of my job is interacting with staff across the Brigade on a daily basis,” he tells me. “I provide support, guidance and direction to operational officers and fire and ambulance crews. This could include a fire safety or a child welfare issue that the crew is unsure about, or the provision of restricted medications for our Paramedics. The one thing staff can always be sure about is they will get an immediate decision on any matter or clarification sought – even if sometimes the answer is not always what they want to hear!” The Mobilisation Officer also needs to have a good working relationship with the Officers, and particularly D/Os on the Watch. “This ensures they maintain
regular contact and seek clarification if they have concerns about a particular issue at District level, or at a complex operational incident,” D/O Lodola explains. “This is one of the reasons the Mobi is such an important cog in a very large and complex organisation, and is available to all staff 24/7.” Also 24/7 is the need to keep the public and media informed of any developments or updates, whether they relate to an ongoing incident or a general enquiry about a previous incident, and dealing with media queries that can come in at any time of day or night is also part of the job.
ERCC Another major part of the role is working with the Eastern Regional Control Centre located at DFB HQ, which processes more than 150,000 999/112 emergency calls per year. Mobilising fire appliances in the Leinster region as well as Cavan and Monaghan, it also mobilises DFB’s EMS resources including the 21 frontline fire appliances, 14 ambulances, Advanced Paramedics and other specialist equipment based strategically around the city and county.
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Overseeing the provision of a first-class combined service to the public from the ERCC.
“This allows DFB to provide a firstclass combined service to the public,” D/O Lodola says, “and requires a significant commitment from our ERCC staff. My role is to ensure this runs as efficiently as possible and address any day-to-day operational issues that may arise. From time to time our resources are also requested by other fire services in adjoining counties, and this again requires coordination to ensure adequate resources are deployed and allows a safe system of work for all concerned.” As a Principle Response Agency, DFB plays a significant role in Major Emergency Management, and the Mobi has a number of key responsibilities if a Major Emergency is declared. Daily interaction occurs between the Mobi, senior management and many other sections of DFB. “We have a large fleet of ambulances and fire engines that are maintained to a high standard, and this requires timely facilitation to ensure operational resources are not depleted significantly if vehicles or equipment require servicing or replacement,” D/O Lodola tells me. “Unfortunately, from time to time some of our fire and ambulance crews do receive injuries or vehicles are damaged, and this has to be managed, recorded and investigated. The Mobi appoints a
District Officer to investigate and make a recommendation on how to mitigate this in the future. Our staff attend very sad and difficult incidents too, and it is important they have an available resource like our Critical Incident Stress Team (CISM), so the Mobi, when alerted, also ensures this is provided and may require crews to stand down for a period of time.”
CHALLENGES The past year has been a difficult year for DFB, but D/O Lodola is quick to praise his colleagues. “It presented significant operational challenges to all our staff and I have great respect and admiration for them,” he says. “The COVID-19 pandemic initially tested traditional thinking within the organisation, but our Officers and firefighters adapted and dealt professionally with providing reassurance to the public”. This often required working on fire appliances and ambulances in difficult conditions and turning up for work day and night even when safety concerns within the general population were heightened. To me, this was a true indication of their commitment and professionalism. “The Brigade has a very rich tradition as an agile and problem-solving organisation. We faced many challenges
across the organisation during the pandemic, and it is important post-COVID-19 to ensure that we rigorously assess our performance at all levels during this period in order to see if any lessons can be learned.” Other challenges also lie ahead, D/O Lodola points out. These include the proposed Metrolink across the city, which will involve significant planning and consideration from Fire Prevention and Operations regarding fire safety, operating procedures and tactical training. “The continued expansion of the city and county and the provision of a Fire/EMS response that the residents of Dublin have come to expect will need consideration in the future,” he adds. “People who previously worked in the city are now working from home, so it will be interesting to see how this will affect the city centre occupancy in the future.”
REFLECTION Having worked within the fire service for 34 years, D/O Lodola says that he has seen many changes within DFB through his various roles. “One thing that always amazes me is the quality of the firefighters and Officers that come through the system,” he tells me. “The standard of education has increased significantly within the organisation, and this is to be welcomed. However, managing expectations with regard to promotion will be a challenge in the future. We are lucky to have staff who often operate in difficult environments on a daily basis in a way that is professional, committed and practical when dealing with people who are sometimes very distressed. “The Brigade has a new cadre of recently promoted District Officers coming through, and I am looking forward to getting to know them and giving them the benefit of any knowledge and experience I have gleaned. After all,” he adds, “some of them will be the Mobilisation Officers of the future!”
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Kildare Fire Service
Central Fire Station, Newbridge, Co. Kildare Tel: 045 454 800 • Email: cfo@kildarecoco.ie kildare.ie/countycouncil/AllServices/EmergencyServices/FireService/ Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/kildarefireservice
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RCPI HERITAGE CENTRE
HIDDEN HISTORIES
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s Heritage Centre is a treasure trove of fascinating stories of medicine, murder and curious mementos.
I
n Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, the famous detective tells Dr Watson: “When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession.” The Pritchard referred to was notorious enough at the time that the author could assume his audience knew who he was talking about, and what he had done to be considered “the first of criminals”. The facts behind his chilling story may have been forgotten over time but they were recently unearthed among
the vast amount of records and artefacts of interest kept in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s (RCPI) Heritage Centre Collections by Keeper of Collections Harriet Wheelock. His story of murder and execution is just one of many in the Heritage Centre, which is a hidden gem for anyone interested in medical history and its sometimes dark or odd connections to history. Located at the RCPI building at 6 Kildare Street, it holds more than 50,000 items relating to the history of medicine and medical education in Ireland, including books, archives, photos, paintings and objects.
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One of the letters from murderer Dr Pritchard to Dr Butcher.
Old medical equipment on display at the Heritage Centre.
Unfortunately impacted by the pandemic, tours and research opportunities are currently closed to the public, but the Heritage Centre website features online exhibitions and recordings of talks on various topics, and there are plans in place to expand the display space within the building to accommodate bigger exhibitions in the future. For now, these records await curious eyes, and the inquisitiveness of historians and researchers is what led Harriet to the story of this Dr Pritchard.
MURDER
“I came across this story completely by chance,” she tells me. “We have a collection of about 200 letters that were written to an Irish surgeon called Richard Butcher who was working in the 1840s and 1850s and was famous for a particular knee operation. He wrote to doctors across Ireland and Britain, surveying them on whether they had carried out this operation, the results, and how they had carried it out, which he was particularly interested in because he had devised a tool called Butcher’s Saw. “The letters were categorised as letters to Dr Butcher but had little other information, but a couple of
years ago I started working through them to see if I could find more information, and one of the things I did was identify who the doctors were, which is quite easy to do because the medical directories published in the 1850s list every doctor in the British Isles. “I came across a series of letters from a Dr Edward Pritchard, and looked him up in the directory to find out who he was, and because there were quite a few letters, I decided to research him online. It turns out he was more interesting than I was expecting because he was a notorious murderer whose case shocked society in the mid-1800s.” Hampshire-born Pritchard trained in medicine in the Royal Navy before working in a practice in Yorkshire, at which time he wrote frequently to Dr Butcher and was quite complimentary about him. He moved to Glasgow in 1859, and four years later, things took a turn. After a fire at his house, the body of a servant girl named Elizabeth McGrain was found. The fire had started in her bedroom but there were no signs of any attempt by her to escape, so an investigation thought it possible that she was probably either
dead or unconscious when the fire broke out. “There wasn’t enough evidence for a prosecution,” Harriet tells me, “but two years later, Pritchard’s wife Mary Jane Taylor, the daughter of a wealthy silk merchant, and his motherin-law, died within three weeks of each other at the family home. Both had been treated by Pritchard, with the help of another doctor named Dr Paterson, who grew suspicious of their illnesses and refused to sign the death certificates, which Pritchard presumably signed himself. “An anonymous letter was sent to authorities, which led to the bodies of the two women being examined, and they were found to contain an extremely nasty poison called antimony. Pritchard was convicted of both murders and was executed in 1865, becoming the last person to be publicly hanged in Glasgow.” Arthur Conan Doyle, who had studied medicine and based his famous creation on his medical school professor Dr Joseph Bell, would have been familiar with the case, hence the reference in his story. “The letters themselves are clinical,” Harriet tells me, “but because of who he was, they become much more interesting. You wonder, if several years after Butcher received these letters from Pritchard, if he remembered their correspondence,
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The trial of Dr Pritchard shocked society (copyright The Wellcome Collection).
and how he felt to have written back and forth to a person who ended up murdering his wife and mother-in-law.”
TRIALS
The Collections also have a connection to another notorious murder case that came to light when a researcher approached Harriet about a Dublin-born artist called William Burke Kirwan. “Kirwan was an artist specialising in medical illustrations in the 19th century, which was common before photography was available. He would have been invited into hospitals, sat in on operations, and drawn these as well as illustrations of removed organs and body parts,” she tells me. “We have about 80 such illustrations in the collection, some by Kirwan, and when the researcher came to ask if we had any of his works, I was introduced to the story.” As the story goes, Kirwan and his wife Sarah went to Ireland’s Eye on a day trip. She went swimming, but supposedly drowned. “It wasn’t clear what happened, whether it was an accident or foul play,” Harriet says, “but there were signs of manual asphyxiation, so Kirwan was tried for the murder and convicted.”
The fact that it was revealed at his court case that he had a mistress and eight children living in Sandymount gave the prosecution motive, but despite being convicted of the murder, he wasn’t sentenced to death and was instead transported. Kirwan had a considerable defence led by barrister, MP and Home Rule advocate Isaac Butt, and was not short of character references, which probably saved him from the gallows.
“Kirwan obviously knew a lot of people in the medical profession and there were quite a lot of pamphlets published about the case, including not just doctors giving their views in court, but also character references, so he had a lot of influential people on his side, which may have helped,” Harriet says. “His illustrations tend to be quite popular to visitors because they are quite graphic,” she adds, “but there is certainly an interest in the gruesome side of his story, and we try to strike a balance between the sensational and the valid reasons for displaying such items in a medical history collection. He certainly is an interesting figure. “I’m sure there are more stories like those of Pritchard and Kirwan in our collections, it is just a matter of uncovering them. For instance, with Pritchard, if I hadn’t gone through those letters, we never would have found out about his notorious life. Certainly in the library there are many accounts of doctors giving evidence in court of poisonings, and for researchers there is a huge amount of records here that means they could get to uncover new information.”
OBJECTS OF INTEREST
It’s not just in the archives that you can find interesting stories, but in the many objects in the collections. As well as antique medical equipment and curios, there are some truly unique pieces of history. “The two most famous things we have are the diaries of Kathleen Lynn, who was Chief Medical Officer for the Irish resistance army in 1916, and Napoleon’s toothbrush,” Harriet tells me.
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Kathleen Lynn’s diary starts on Easter Monday 1916, in which she very casually starts off with ‘Easter Monday, revolution’ and goes on to talk about her role and experiences throughout the Rising. She kept this while she was in prison too, so it gives a fascinating insight into the events of those days and the aftermath.”
Dr Kirkpatrick, whose index details 12,000 registered doctors from the 1850s onwards.
NAPOLEON’S TOOTHBRUSH
She adds: “I have a love/hate relationship with the toothbrush because everybody always asks about it,” but the story goes that when Napoleon was captured after Waterloo in 1815, he was taken to St Helena by the British Navy. The doctor on board was Blackrock-born Barry O’Meara, and because he spoke French he could talk to the fallen Emperor and it turns out they got on very well. Napoleon asked for O’Meara to be his personal doctor while he was in captivity, and O’Meara agreed on the condition that he would not be asked to spy on the Frenchman for the British. “Napoleon gave O’Meara several gifts during this time, but because he was in captivity, he didn’t really have much,” Harriet says, “but he did give him snuff boxes and his toothbrush, which we have in our collection, and also a lancet O’Meara used to bleed Napoleon. The items we have from him passed through several Irish surgeons and in the 1930s were given to the College. “O’Meara was quite outspoken about the conditions Napoleon was kept in and subtly suggested that this
Napoleon’s toothbrush.
was making him ill and was intentional, and wrote letters to British papers about it, which didn’t go down well. He was dismissed from the Navy and they tried to get him to stop practising medicine, but he moved back to London and set up a dental practice. He displayed Napoleon’s wisdom tooth that he had removed in his shop window, alongside a letter from Napoleon verifying it was his and recommending him as a dentist. So that brought in a lot of business. “After Napoleon died, O’Meara also published an account of the time they had spent together – he had told O’Meara to keep a diary and when the Frenchman died he could publish it and make a fortune. It was an overnight bestseller and O’Meara ended up very wealthy.
Harriet Wheelock, Keeper of Collections at the RCPI’s Heritage Centre.
“This does tend to come up in quizzes about lesser-known Dublin: Where is Napoleon’s toothbrush? So now you know.”
ARCHIVES
The majority of the collections are from the College’s own records and archives, but since the 1860s many more items and records have been donated, so it continues to grow. “Large portraits were donated because people didn’t have enough room for them at home, for example,” Harriet tells me, “and as medical equipment changed, we started to get the more antique equipment donated, and we do still get donations if a doctor passes away. We also get archives from working hospitals so that we can provide access to their historical items, which most hospitals are not able to do themselves. “We have been very lucky to get some very interesting items donated, and we tend not to buy anything because it belittles the donations we have been generously donated.”
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I ask Harriet if she has a particular favourite among the many objects, and she tells me about Dr Kirkpatrick. “Dr Kirkpatrick was registrar of the College between 1910 and 1954, and the majority of the items we have are down to him because either he collected them and gave them to the College, or because he encouraged people to donate them. He collected a huge amount of information on Irish-born doctors, so we have 12,000 biographical files which we call the Kirkpatrick Index. He left his archive to the College, and as well as all of his medical notes and publications, he also left a small book detailing his family history research. Within that book, I discovered that we are actually distantly related. The book is my favourite item, because I appreciate the work he did for the College – I wouldn’t have this job without his contribution – but also was delighted to find out we had a personal connection.”
they have and how to go about doing the research, and post-pandemic that service will return, but you can also commission the Centre to do the research for you for a small fee. The Heritage Centre has also signed a deal with ancestry.com to digitise a lot of their records, which will be worked on after the pandemic ends too. This tracing service has brought numerous successes, and even helped to connect two separate researchers who turned out to be related. “When we are commissioned to do research, I always write up and keep a copy of the report,” Harriet tells me, “and on two occasions we had commissions for the same person from different individuals. Both were distant relatives researching the family history from different sides, so it was nice to be able to match them up.” This research has also resulted in the discovery of more dark tales involving doctors who met untimely ends.
TRACING FAMILY
IRA INVOLVEMENT
The Heritage Centre can also help anybody interested in researching their own family’s links to the medical profession in Ireland, with a number of records to help trace doctors. “Medical registration was introduced in 1858 so from that year onwards every doctor has to register every year, and any doctor who registered after that year is easy to find,” Harriet says. “They are in the register with their name, address and where they worked, so you can get quite a lot of information from that. We also have the Kirkpatrick Index, so if the person you are looking for is in there, that’s great, because a lot of the work has already been done for you. On top of that we also have quite a lot of published works such as histories of hospitals, collections of biographies of doctors, so any number of source materials to help you find out about the doctors in your family history.” In normal times, you could arrange an appointment to visit the Centre and Harriet would show you what records
“One of the more interesting ones we had was when I was asked to do research on an Irish doctor called Charles Pentland,” Harriet says. “He died in London in the 1920s. We had some information on him in the Kirkpatrick Index, with some newspaper cuttings about his death
which detailed that he was killed in a traffic accident right outside his London home. A lorry drove up onto the pavement and knocked him down. “From reading the articles and from other documents we had, it rapidly became apparent that Dr Pentland may have been targeted by the IRA. He had been in the British Army in WW1 and then worked in Leitrim as a doctor. In 1919 or 1920, a farmer came to tell him that he had seen IRA members training nearby, and he felt duty-bound to inform the police. The farmer was killed soon after, and Pentland left for London before he met the same likely fate. “I looked into first-hand accounts of military history and there are several mentions of Dr Pentland by IRA members, one of which said that they knew Pentland was in London and that ‘it was just a matter of time’.” From the curious to the macabre, there are countless stories to be unravelled at the RCPI’s Heritage Centre, and anyone who wants to delve into their family’s connections to the medical profession, discover more about medicine in Ireland over the centuries, or just learn about the many strange and fascinating stories behind the archives and objects held there, can look forward to the time when this pandemic ends and we can step into history once more.
Kathleen Lynn’s 1916 Rising diary.
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MODEL CITIZEN Model maker Brian Collins has produced beautifully detailed scale reproductions of Dublin Fire Brigade vehicles.
L
ockdown has meant that we are paying attention to the finer details in life, and for model maker Brian Collins, this is particularly true as he produces 1:76 scale replicas of some of Dublin’s most iconic vehicles. Recently, this has included models of a DFB ambulance and Scania fire engine that are outstanding in their attention to detail and authenticity. An importer by trade, Brian has developed his hobby and collection before embarking on his own business creating and selling them at trade fairs, through model stores and on his own website. Though he first started collecting in 1999, his interest in model vehicles goes back to his childhood.
“Like a lot of children, I was very interested in cars and trucks, but I remember having a Mercedes matchbox rigid truck with trailer, and that got me really interested,” he tells me. “Much later, when I got through school and college and started to work, that interest had stayed with me and I started buying model trucks, going to fairs and eventually looking at how I could turn my hobby into a business.”
BUSINESS The business started in 2008, with Brian showcasing his model collection for sale at fairs and building up a customer base, and he noticed a gap in the market for vehicles that would be recognised and cherished by the Irish market.
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MODELS
The DFB vehciles are the perfect addition to a display.
“I was looking for opportunities and saw that there were no vehicles such as Irish buses coming along from the likes of model manufacturers Corgi, so I approached Dublin Bus and got permission to make a replica model of one their double decker models, the Gemini Eclipse.” That was in 2013, when all 1,000 pieces sold out, and since then Brian has also produced Bus Eireann and Expressway models, but what will be of particular interest to Dublin Fire Brigade members are his models of a DFB ambulance in 2019 and his recent addition, a DFB Scania fire appliance, both of which are outstanding in their attention to detail. This adherence to the finer details comes from many months of groundwork put in to ensure he has every aspect of the vehicle exactly right.
DETAIL “I had previously approached Dublin Fire Brigade about making a model of a D/O Caravelle that at the time was stationed in Dolphin’s Barn,” he tells
me, “but it didn’t come to fruition because the manufacturer of the cast at the time only had it in a left-hand drive, and the vehicle was right-hand drive. Apart from increasing the cost, it was that little detail that wasn’t exactly right that meant I didn’t pursue it, because I wanted it to be exactly correct to the scale and to have the authenticity I needed. “So, I had to park that idea,” he tells me, no pun intended. “However, I approached DFB again in 2019 about doing the Mercedes ambulance and it went from there. At every stage of its production, from my taking photos of the vehicle to pre-production samples, HQ were happy with what I was doing, and the end product, when it was seen in HQ, was admired. Importantly, it proved that I had respect for the vehicle and the organisation in that I replicated it exactly as it should be, right down to the finest details. I had to make sure it was accurate and authentic so that it reflected the organisation, and the reaction from customers and from DFB when they saw the finished product and the level of detail involved was great. “I sent a few complimentary models to DFB HQ that they can use as gifts or presentations to various people and dignitaries, a small number to thank them for allowing me to use the vehicle, and the reaction was really good. It is important that I got permission to do the models, and important to show that they have been created with respect to the organisation and the vehicles they use.” With a day-to-day job as an importer – Brian jokes that you don’t get rich making models - who necessarily needs to have a huge attention to detail and accuracy, Brian admits that he is “a stickler for detail” and this can be seen in both the ambulance and his Scania fire appliance, the design of which involved a visit to Tallaght Fire Station to take detailed photos of the vehicle before sending his plans off to a manufacturer to cast the design.
LABOUR OF LOVE In all, the production of the two DFB vehicles took between six and eight months each, which Brian says makes them “a labour of love”. “It is very important that I get enjoyment out of making these models,” he tells me, “it’s a big interest for me, but it is also my business at the end of the day, and I put a lot of work into each model I produce.” That business has taken a knock because of COVID-19, which has put all trade fairs and shows on hold. “People do like to be able to pick the models up and look at them before buying,” he says,” so I am relying on people to go to my website and buy from there.” With the DFB fleet being updated regularly, Brian sees a lot of opportunities for the creation of further fire service models in the future. “I would like to do the new models that are rolling out for DFB,” he tells me, “as well as some of the older vehicles.” For now though, it’s a case of “watch this space” and Brian urges anybody interested in collecting model vehicles to visit his website. The ambulance is limited to 1,500 pieces and the Scania fire appliance to 1,000, so they won’t be available forever, but there is also a great variety of other iconic Irish vehicles in his collection. “As well as the Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann vehicles already mentioned, I also have a new Dublin Bus model coming into stock, and these would be of interest to anybody interested in Dublin City and its transport because Dublin Bus is an iconic brand and vehicle. They are highly collectible in themselves.” Brian’s model vehicles are available on www.briancollinsenterprises.ie, at Mark’s Models in the city centre, and RB Models in Clonmel.
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ST PATRICK’S DAY
Podge Thompson, Las Vegas 2009.
Greg O’Dwyer, Brendan and Boston EMS
Willie Bermingham, Home made parade.
ST PATRICK’S DAY SOCIAL A week-long social media competition kept the spirit of St Patrick’s Day alive and well.
Toronto Fire Fighter Association Grace O’Malleys.
T
he second St Patrick’s Day Festival has now passed without us being able to celebrate it in the usual way, but while parades, visits from international firefighters and trips abroad have been put on hold, members of Dublin Fire Brigade and their families have still been able to join in the fun online and keep the spirit of our national day going. Over the course of the St Patrick’s week, the DFB Sports and Social club set a challenge to its members to share their memories and photos by email, online and through social media channels, with a different competition each day and the chance to win an overnight stay for two with an evening meal in the Castleknock Hotel each day. To kick things off on Monday, 15 March, the theme was Favourite St Patrick’s Day memory. Tuesday asked for members’ favourite picture from a St Patrick’s Day Parade, while on the big day itself, the theme was Best Dressed. Thursday was Best Dressed in Work, on Friday people were asked to send in pictures and videos of their own home-made parade, while on Saturday it was time to send pictures from a favourite St Patrick’s Day spent away from home. There were a lot of photos sent in each day, generating a lot of comments and banter, so huge thanks must go to everybody who took part and helped to make the week that little bit more colourful, and congratulations to the winners who are listed in the Club Updates section. Here’s a selection of some of the images that were sent in across the various categories.
Mark Shaw.
David Adams, Travelling in style in 2016.
ABOVE: D watch No2 had their own all-day parade this year.
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ST PATRICK’S DAY From Gordon Lambe Chicago 2012, Big Jessie, Daz, Fester, Daffy, Dwarf & Charlo.
Dan Fynes’ favourite memory The four Fynes. Marching legend Gerry Sweeney (RIP).
FDNY Battalion Chief Danny Sheridan proudly sports his DFB shirt for St Patricks Day.
Dec Byrne and colleagues in New York in 2018.
Nial Tier.
Danny Dorney’s best memory.
Niall Murray’s memory from the 2002 New York trip.
Peter Sherlock, Getting ready for the parade at home.
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ST PATRICK’S DAY A cold St Patrick’s Day away.
Marshy’s memory.
Dave Connolly’s favourite memory.
Willie Bermingham, 2009 Boston trip.
Dave Connolly will always remember this parade.
Shane McGill Sr, Marching legend.
A St Patrick’s Day away - Aidan O’Sullivan in New York in 2018
Dan Fynes, family support
From Tomo Williams, when the dog went sick. John Keogh.
Paul Marsh, unhappy Paddy’s Day.
Dave Connolly.
D Watch HQ’s St Patrick’s Day was a little stretched.
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STATION PROFILE
STATION PROFILE C WATCH RATHFARNHAM
Rathfarnham Fire Station serves a wide area.
D/O Ken Whelan and the C Watch Crew.
THE CREW OF C WATCH RATHFARNHAM TALK ABOUT A CLOSE-KNIT UNIT THAT EXTENDS INTO THE COMMUNITY.
U
nder lockdown, it was unfortunately not possible to visit Rathfarnham Station, so this time around we tried something different and spoke via Zoom and phone with S/O Ken Whelan and the crew at No.8. It is immediately evident that this is a group of colleagues who enjoy working with each other, and are more than happy to be based at this one pump station where an atmosphere of positive encouragement pervades, enabling each member to hone their skills and pursue further development. “I’m very proud to be S/O on C Watch since 2016,” says Ken, who is now in his
27th year with DFB. “We operate a very positive environment with an emphasis on mentoring the crew through myself and the senior firefighters, ensuring a high level of operational readiness. “They are a very committed, tightknit group who have a very professional attitude to their work and serving the end user: the public. We really enjoy the unique challenges we face on a regular basis,” S/O Whelan tells me, “you get great job satisfaction from the knowledge that you have given 100%, and all of the crew do that every day.”
CREW Despite several members being in the job just a few years, the ten FF/Ps on C
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STATION PROFILE
“We operate a very positive environment with an emphasis on mentoring the crew”
Watch have a broad range of experience, from senior FF/Ps Brian Tracey and Philip Evans, who have been here for almost 20 years, down to the latest recruit, Anthony O’Meara, who joined in November 2020. As part of Alpha District, they cover a wide area and can expect to be called out to anything from industrial and domestic fires to RTCs, with several large shopping centres, industrial estates, apartment complexes, suburban areas and the M50 close by. “As a one pump station, every incident we attend, you are first on the scene,” S/O Whelan tells me, “so it’s terrific experience to work here. You do 50/50 between fire engine and ambulance, so it’s a great place to learn, a springboard to become experienced and bring that forward in your career.” The station’s proximity to the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains mean they are also called on to tackle wildfires. “Wildfire training is of particular interest to us because of our proximity to the areas affected on the southside,” S/O Whelan says. “We have new equipment available to us to respond to wildfires, such as drones. It’s an area of firefighting we are excited to be a part of.” As each member of the crew joins the Zoom call, their camaraderie is evident, with the usual banter and jokes showing that they genuinely get along.
As a one pump station, the work is divided 50/50 between fire and EMS calls.
“The whole dynamic is very good,” S/O Whelan agrees. “At any one time we have myself and seven other firefighters on duty, so we depend on one another, and that is why a positive culture is of vital importance. They get to start on the right foot in terms of attitude and confidence and that sets them up for their career. “Of course, when the bells go off and we go out, we are always operationally ready, and when we get on the scene, we can apply our training and use our teamwork and camaraderie to do our job, which is to serve the public effectively. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say.” As much as he enjoys his time at C Watch Rathfarnham, S/O Whelan will soon be leaving to take up a post as D/O. “I’ll be delighted to see the back of them!” he jokes. “No, I am very proud to have been S/O for this crew. It was my first station as an S/O and I feel privileged that I was given a permanent station. I have enjoyed every bit of it. You learn from every incident you go to if you go in with the correct attitude and application, and you can build on that as an individual, as a firefighter, as an officer and as a team.”
As well as those who joined the Zoom call, S/O Whelan also asked that I contact the crew members not on duty that day. “I was keen for all of them to give their input, just as they do every day on the job,” he says. Senior man FF/AP Brian Tracey also tells me about the mix of experience within the crew.
EXPERIENCE “Myself and Phil are the old heads here,” he says, “but I don’t feel like a senior man because I still feel excited about coming into work, looking forward to every day.” He adds: “I have never worked with a crew that is so on the ball, who know each other’s strong points so well.” FF/AP Tracey agrees with S/O Whelan that a one pump station is a great place to learn your trade. “I think everybody should have to serve in a one-pump station at some stage,” he says. “You are involved in every aspect of what is going on. Also, I think everyone who comes into C Watch here feels like part of a family and that is all you can ask for in a job.” As the other senior member of the crew, FF/P Philip Evans has moved
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STATION PROFILE
The crew are all happy with the amount of ambulance work required at No.8 Station.
across several stations, but is happy to now be settled at No.8. “When I got to Rathfarnham I said, you know what, this isn’t a bad spot to stay,” he says. Other members of the crew are also quick to point to the very positive atmosphere at No.8, as well as the benefits of working at a one pump station. “You get great experience on a dayto-day basis,” FF/P John McGrane, who has been at Rathfarnham for just over a year, tells me. “I love the togetherness of a smaller station. I have to say this is one of the best crews I could imagine in terms of positive experiences.” FF/P David Reilly is also relatively new to C Watch here, having joined in 2016 but moved from Tallaght just before the first lockdown and says: “I was just getting adjusted to the crew when the pandemic started, but I love it. The crew is very close-knit.”
“I love the togetherness of a smaller station. I have to say this is one of the best crews I could imagine in terms of positive experiences”
FF Gary Halpin, cousin of the late Ian “Frodo” McCormack, is also in his first years here, having joined C Watch at the end of 2018, and he too praises the experience of working at a one pump station. “I’m enjoying it here,” he tells me. “In such a small crew there is nobody I haven’t been on the ambulance with, and you get to know people very well as a result. Nobody feels jaded because there is a very enthusiastic atmosphere. The best thing to say is that it doesn’t feel like work.” FF/P Barry O’Reilly joined DFB in 2016, moving to No.8 six months later, and he too enjoys the experience. “Having so much time on the ambulance is a major advantage in terms of experience and expertise,” he says. “I didn’t think I would be that interested in the ambulance side until I started, but it is something I love. You are calling the shots yourself.” Newest member FF/P Anthony O’Meara, who joined in November 2020, also emphasises how easy it was to fit in. “I was nervous at the start because you don’t know how you are going to
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STATION PROFILE
fit in with such a tight-knit team, but straight away the lads made me feel at ease,” he tells me. “They were very accommodating and helped me through the first period, with a bit of slagging of course. I really feel like I have hit the ground running.” FF/P Rob Mullervy, who has been with C Watch for seven years, agrees. “I know I have my S/O sitting beside me but I am honestly very happy here,” he tells me. He is also keen to stress the positive atmosphere at the station. “You never dread coming into work here,” he says. “It is a very exciting job anyway, but the job is made so much easier when you have a great crew.” FF/P Mark Ryan, who has been here since May of last year, joins the conversation: “There is great camaraderie. It’s a great station and Watch to be on because you get so much experience working on the ambulance as well. We are like a family here, but without any of the drama.” FF/P Ian Nugent, who grew up around the corner from the station, joins the call. He is on mess duty, which leaves him open to a lot of slagging, as FF/P Ryan says the crew need to “leave their taste buds at the door”. “You could be Gordon Ramsay and they still wouldn’t be happy,” he replies. “But seriously, I get on great with everyone. Morale is very good. There is a brilliant community spirit here, and we get a lot of messages from people we have helped, a lot of thank you cards and messages of support”.
COMMUNITY The role of DFB within the community is something S/O Whelan stresses is very important. “Having worked across the watches and districts, I am taken aback by the well wishes we receive,” he says. “It is a huge morale boost to the crew to see their work is acknowledged.” The major community work is done through the hugely successful annual Open Day that in recent years has seen thousands of people visit the station, and S/O Whelan is keen for me to talk
No.8 Station plays an important role in the community.
to FF/Ps Tracey and Evans about this. Every year since 2015 it has raised much-needed funds for local charities, amounting to more than 30,000 in total. It was the brainchild of senior members of the crew, after a local woman called Alison Behan, aka “Cake Boss”, asked if she could help raise money for the station through a coffee morning. Instead, the Open Day idea was formed, with the nearby Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue team chosen as the first beneficiaries, and from there the event has grown. “We pick smaller charities because they are operating on a shoestring budget, and we know the money is going directly to where it is needed,” FF/P Evans tells me. FF/AP Tracey adds that the Open Day has really helped form a community spirit. “We pulled back the curtain on what we do, because the station has big gates and big doors, and you don’t get to see inside at what life is like, so we opened the doors and it really made a difference.” He too recalls how the idea for the Open Day began. “We were worried it might be a tough PR exercise to run, so we planned to keep it low key so we wouldn’t embarrass ourselves,” he admits. As luck would have it, the job itself provided some valuable publicity ahead of the event. “A week beforehand, we were finalising the details and we heard screaming coming from the forecourt,” FF/AP Tracey says. “When we ran down, we found a woman named
The crew pays particular attention to the maintenance of their vehicles and equipment.
Siobhan giving birth to her child in a Ford Mondeo. We helped deliver the baby, called Sky, and when we opened for the Open Day, Siobhan was the first person through the doors as our guest of honour. “The following year, Sky was the guest of honour, and we unveiled her birth cert in the muster area, where it remains to this day, with her place of birth saying ‘Forecourt, Nutgrove Fire Station’.” Despite it not going ahead this year, community interest is still very high, and FF/AP Tracey says the station is inundated with messages from community groups asking if they can visit when lockdown is over. “Once it is viable, we will give them all the time we can because we know how important it is to keep close ties with the community,” he says. Those close ties are mirrored within the crew of C Watch Rathfarnham, and even though we spoke over Zoom and phone, their sense of camaraderie and commitment to serving their community is tangible. I look forward to one day being able to visit them in person.
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VINTAGE TRUCKS
IN WITH
THE OLD Mechanic Liam Moore transports old US fire trucks to Ireland and puts them to good use in the community.
A
fter 32 years of service, Ladder 5211, a tiller fire truck equipped with a 100-foot ladder used by the Glen Cove Fire Department in New York, made its way out of the Long Island community and on towards Newark, New Jersey to cross the Atlantic and find a new home. A ceremonial send-off by firefighters, complete with police escort from Nassua County police, NYPD and Port Authority Police, saw the engine given the type of farewell usually only reserved for retiring Fire Captains at the end of their careers, but this particular vehicle,
decommissioned two years ago, was until recently a valued part of the Glen Cove FD team. “It could not have happened to a better truck,” said city of Glen Cove Fire Chief Marvin Tate as the truck left its hometown. “I don’t think anything like that has ever happened for another fire truck before.” The first Chief ever to drive Ladder 5211, Thomas Cross, also gave it its final run, driving it to the port as it left for pastures new. The send off was possible because of Dublin mechanic Liam Moore, who stepped in and bought the vehicle to add to his collection that started with the purchase of a 1967
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VINTAGE TRUCKS it worked, so I sent the money over and became the new proud owner.” Liam called on Joe Kelly, who runs the Midlands American Car Show, knowing he would know a thing or two about importing from the States, and while it wasn’t going to be cheap, he knew it would be worthwhile when he did get his hands on it. “I really enjoyed playing around with it and got some great years out of it,” he says, and three years later he saw another US fire truck for sale on Facebook – a 1970 Hahn pumper from the fire department in the town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
THE HAHN
The Mack truck from Torrington.
Mack pumper he obtained from the fire department in Torrington, Connecticut, in 2014.
BEGINNINGS “I was retiring and my father had just died and left me a few quid,” Liam tells me. “My wife also died around the same time, so there was money lying around and I was looking for something to do, and was going to buy myself a nice car, but I went to see a Ferrari and couldn’t get in or out of it, and in the end, I decided to look for something more unusual.” Having first looked at an old airport fire truck and deciding “it looked great but was a danger on
the road”, Liam gave up until his wife’s sister-in-law came across an online auction for an old fire truck. “She rang me and said she’d found exactly what I was looking for,” he says. “The only problems were that it was in America, and I only had 45 minutes to make my mind up because the bidding had already begun. I didn’t even see it, but she said it was operational, so I logged in and put a bid on it and won. I hadn’t even considered how to get it over here.” Once he did see the pictures of the fire truck, Liam said he knew he had made the right choice. “It was gorgeous,” he tells me, “it had everything, the chrome, the parts, and
“It’s a big, bulky, mean-looking machine,” Liam says, “but it was relatively cheap, and to be honest, people find it hard not to like vehicles like this. Irish fire engines are closed up but the American ones have everything open and visible so you can see all the tools and equipment. “Importantly, it worked well and I could drive it,” he adds. “They have to be operational for me to buy them because if the pump goes, for instance, you can’t drive it, so that would be no good, but it has everything going for it, and has a great engine.” With the arrival of each of these trucks, Liam says he spent a great deal of time just playing around with them and working hard on their upkeep, which is constant, and even though he had to take a few feet off his house to make room for them in his garden, he says the time spent on them is very worthwhile. “It really was something for me to do when I retired,” he says. “Because you can’t buy the parts anymore, myself and my two sons, who are both mechanics like me, had to make them ourselves, and that was great fun. “The American vehicles are all big and bulky, and we could play around with them to get them to work, although I find it hard to get my sons to help sometimes! The upkeep does keep me busy, and they are expensive when it comes to fuel, but they are great!”
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VINTAGE TRUCKS
Liam Moore with one of his beloved vintage fire trucks.
Families love to take a look at the old fire trucks.
CHARITY Apart from the fun Liam has, these old American fire trucks soon took on another role, and anybody who has been to the Open Days in Rathfarnham or Phibsboro, or to any of the other many local community fundraisers DFB has been present at, might recognise them as two of the main attractions that draw crowds of curious onlookers. This involvement started when FF/P Derek Riordan from Tallaght Fire Station approached Liam about bringing the vehicles along to DFB Open Days and other fundraising events. Liam agreed immediately, eager to share the fire truck experience with families and to help raise funds for charity, something which had a particular meaning for Liam as his wife had died of cancer at the age of 55, so he has been happy to be a part of fundraising events for cancer charities and other good causes. “My wife Helen would have been delighted to see me at charity events with the fire engines,” he tells me. “Derek knows everyone and is always happy to help anyone out, so sometimes you are on board with a charity event before you even know it yourself, but we really enjoy going to them,” Liam tells me. “It gets us out, and my son Liam really likes driving them to the events. Families can come along and children can get in the back of the truck and look at
The trucks are a real attraction.
all the equipment. Sometimes we are able to give a few people a spin in the truck. Everyone always enjoys looking at them, and they make a lot of noise, which everyone gets a kick out of. Both trucks have proved really popular at every event we bring them to, and we are always happy to have them at DFB events. We also have no problem getting someone else to drive them to these events because all we do is phone up DFB and they send someone along to bring it wherever they need to go. And we never charge for any fundraising event.”
LADDER 5211 With the great appeal of the Mack and Hahn vehicles, Liam was soon looking around for another old American fire truck, and that’s when Ladder 5211 from Glen Cove in New York came into the picture. “I saw this one up for auction but we actually lost in the bidding,” he tells
me. “However, the bidding process allowed for anyone to put in another bid outside of the auction, so myself and my contact over in America got in touch with the Glen Cove Fire Department, the company auctioning it on their behalf, and the mayor, and put in a better bid, because I really wanted it, and thankfully we made a deal.” Doing the deal was only the start of the process, however, as there was an enormous amount of red tape involved in organising to have the vehicle transported from its Long Island home through New York to New Jersey, then on to Europe before arriving in Dublin in April. “My friend Johnny Weldon is a former DFB member who now lives over in America and he did all of the groundwork in terms of going out and looking at the truck, making sure it was fitted out and ready to go,” Liam says. “He was my man on the ground over there and it would have been a lot
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VINTAGE TRUCKS
“Everyone always enjoys looking at them, and they make a lot of noise, which everyone gets a kick out of” harder to sort everything out without his help, so I am very grateful to him. Fire Chief Marvin Tate from Glen Cove was also very helpful, and I must say thanks to him too. Even though it took a long time to sort everything out, he told me that organising getting his beloved fire truck over to Dublin with a proper send-off was the biggest thing he had done in his career after 30 years in the job. “I also like the fact that the person who drove the truck out of Glen Cove to New Jersey for shipment was the first person to drive it when Glen Cove got it more than 30 years ago,” Liam says. “He is 82 now but they brought him out from Pennsylvania to bring it to the docks, and he was in tears driving it. You could see what it meant to him and to others in the fire department over there. That’s a nice story to have attached to it.” He admits: “I always wanted a ladder truck, ever since I had gotten the first one. We paid a lot for it, but we were very well looked after in terms of getting all the equipment included. The Glen Cove Fire Department made sure it was fully equipped with hoses and all of the paraphernalia. “It is a very good truck with only 30,000 miles on it and while it had a few mechanical issues to fix it was in good working order and again was fully
Ladder5211 gets a police escort through Glen Cove.
Ladder5211 starts its long journey to Ireland.
The Glen Cove FD pays tribute before the truck leaves for Ireland.
operational. If you look at a picture of it, it is very hard to tell which is the old truck and which is the new one brought in to replace it. “It’s gorgeous, and it has seen a lot of action and has some history. It was on standby for 9/11 at a location close to Ground Zero in case it was needed, and was at a few major fires in Glen Cove, one of which involved rescuing 12 people from an apartment complex fire in 1993 who wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for this truck. It saw a massive number of fires and a lot of action.” That incident was described by Glen Cove Fire Chief Tate as “the crowning moment for the truck”. Its involvement in so many incidents is what made it mean so much to the firefighters of Glen Cove, who posted a heartfelt goodbye to it on social media, saying: “Ladder 5211 has been more than a piece of fire apparatus, but a trusty comrade in service to the Glen
Cove Volunteer Fire Department for over 32 years. The chiefs and members of the department could not be happier that her legacy will be preserved and she will be used for charitable purposes in Dublin, Ireland.” While its former owners will be sorry to see it go, Liam is only too happy to get hold of it and continue its long life in service to the community over here. “We are looking forward to getting our hands on it,” Liam says. “I can’t wait to have a first look at it and spend a couple of days going over it to check it is all in order and working properly. I have to make room for it in the back garden! “But we are also looking forward to bringing it along to more fundraising events and DFB Open Days when they are allowed to start again after the pandemic. We always get a great reaction from the trucks, and this one will be no different, so we can’t wait to show it off!
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RETIRED MEMBERS
RETIRED MEMBER PROFILE James “Buzzer” Leigh Adam Hyland talks to Buzzer about his career, retirement, and living life to the full.
R
etired Sub Officer James “Buzzer” Leigh describes the idyllic setting of his home in Carne, Co Wexford as we speak on the phone. His home in the Canary Islands, which he bought in 2004, is just as idyllic, by the sounds of it, but after hearing about his long and colourful career in DFB, the impression is that he is more than happy to take a step back now and enjoy the fruits of his labour. With his father serving in DFB until just before he himself joined, Buzzer grew up very familiar with the life of a firefighter, and was well known to his father’s colleagues. It may have seemed inevitable, but he didn’t originally want to follow in his father’s footsteps. “I wanted to be a chef,” he says, “but I couldn’t get into the College of Commerce, so I did everything from working for CIE to security.” During the 1970s and into the 1980s Buzzer also served in the FCA’s 6th Field Military Police at the height of the Troubles and carried the battalion’s flag in the St Patrick’s Day Parade for ten years. After landing a job with Clery’s, he joined DFB at the second attempt in 1978, putting this partly down to his experience in the FCA and knowing how to carry himself at interview.
Buzzer at a retirement party with colleagues Christy Murray, Eddie Meaney and Paddy Delaney.
After training in Kilbarrack, he went to B Watch Tara Street to learn the ropes. Known initially as Junior Buzzer, he lost the “Junior” tag after an ambulance call out with Willie Bermingham, who dropped the Junior part for the first time. Between 1981 and 1988, Buzzer was also the union rep for Tara Street HQ and up to five sub-stations, in what he describes as “a very strange time” and enjoyed an ongoing back and forth with the then-spokesperson for Dublin Corporation via newspaper letter pages. He moved out to the then-new station at Blanchardstown, but after
two years, was called into the office and told he was moving back to Tara Street. “I asked what I had done wrong, and they said ‘nothing, you’ve been promoted!’” he tells me. After two years as Sub Officer on A Watch, he then moved to C Watch Dun Laoghaire after the amalgamation in 1994, and continued to enjoy the hands-on nature of the job. “Over my 19 years as a Sub Officer, I always wanted to go into the fires with my crew,” he says, “because I always felt worried waiting for them to come out. I know that sounds irrational, but when you live as a family, you act and react as a family.”
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RETIRED MEMBERS
Buzzer’s recruit class in 1978.
In 1999 he moved to North Strand, where he remained until his retirement in 2009. In all that time, he always went by the Buzzer nickname, regardless of his rank or seniority. “People did say to me that as a Sub Officer I should be called Sub Officer Leigh, or at least James or Jim,” he says, “but I always thought that if we were at an incident and there were ten units on the scene, there could be five Jims there, but there would only be one Buzzer, so you knew when you were being called.” For Buzzer, every station he worked at had its own unique personality, and he says he learned
Buzzer in action.
something everywhere he went from different people with different characters and skillsets, and from the experiences he had. “I remember one night in Tara Street getting a call from the Harbourmaster telling me there was a boat in distress coming into the Port,” he tells me. “That wasn’t so bad, but then he went on to say it was carrying chemicals, and these chemicals were not supposed to come into contact with water, so I knew that would be an interesting night.” He recounts one story in which he was seriously injured while working in North Strand. “While we were dealing with a diesel tank on fire on
Buzzer on the hook ladder.
a CIE bus, the back wheel exploded and sent myself and my colleague Ken flying across the road. We ended up in hospital because we were hit by shards of metal, and I remember saying to Ken that if only he was a little bit taller, I would have escaped undamaged, because he had been standing in front of me, but because he was so short, I got the top end of the blast.” Other incidents are also recalled with a laugh. “We did an ambulance case one time involving a woman who was giving birth at home,” he tells me. “We were busy delivering the baby when the priest came in and saw what was going on with the baby and mother. We delivered the baby and asked the priest if he would mind holding it while we cleaned the woman up. The poor man didn’t know what to do with the baby.” This delivery was one of nine Buzzer was involved in during his career. “That got me mentioned in the paper one time,” he tells me. “I was standing outside the Rotunda watching the Women’s Mini Marathon, waiting for my wife to run past, when a reporter came up and interviewed me. When I told him I was a firefighter, he said ‘oh you must have delivered a few babies in your time’. I told him I had delivered nine, and he asked me who I was there
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for. Next day it was in the paper: ‘Man who delivered nine babies cheers on his 94-year-old mother in the Mini Marathon’. I don’t know where they got that from, but the wife wasn’t best pleased.” When asked what he thinks was the best part of working in DFB, Buzzer says it is “definitely the camaraderie”. He continues: “Even now in my retirement, modern technology means I am able to stay in touch with everybody. Even if I am out in the Canary Islands, I am just a call or message away.” Anybody who follows Buzzer on social media can attest to his very active presence that includes being an online archive of firefighter material, posting items of interest to DFB members and other emergency services, sharing advice and keeping in touch with a huge number of people. “I keep very active on social media,” he says. “For example, every morning I have around 25 people all over the world I wish a Happy Birthday to, and put up a night scene from Ireland every night, so I am active online all day. You could say my page is collective. Eclectic is another word for it.” Buzzer’s posts about DFB members past and present are of particular interest, and he sees this as a way of keeping context and background for the organisation. “It’s very important to keep a record,” he says. “You can hear names of DFB members but people might not be able to put a face to them. I have thousands of photographs here and I try to match them up to the people in question to keep that record of who people were and are. “There’s no point in putting up a mention of someone and to have people not know who they are, but if you can put up an image and some context, they can learn about other members, and it can jog their memories about people they worked with. It’s about keeping that community together.
Last day in the job.
A younger Buzzer in Tara Street Control Room.
“Even now in my retirement, modern technology means I am able to stay in touch with everybody”
“I do try to focus on DFB and fire service material, but I put up anything of interest to me. You can put together a good community of emergency services events and activities. It used to take me ten minutes in the morning, but at this stage it is taking an hour and a half to put up everything I want. “I invite anybody to have a look at my Facebook page. It’s important to have a shared community of resources like that, especially when your former colleagues may be scattered to the four winds.” On the subject of leaving the job, Buzzer is very happy to say he is content to now be enjoying his retirement. “It is great that retired members can still be involved through social meetings, although obviously not at the moment, but I am glad that I am near enough to be able to see what is going on within the job, but far enough away in Carne and the Canary Islands, that I can step back and lead my own life,” he tells me. “The big message is not to take life seriously. If you start taking your work home with you, it’s time to retire. When you retire, you have another life ahead of you, you are no longer tied to DFB. You worked there, you had mates there, you should keep in touch with them, but think of your own life, think of your family. I retired more than 12 years ago and I have a whole new life that I enjoy.”
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BINGE WATCH BINGE WATCH
We’re still spending a lot of time at home, so here’s some more of the best streaming TV shows to feast on.
Watchmen
One series, HBO / Amazon Prime If you still haven’t got your fill of superheroes and vigilantes in a dystopian world, tune in to this nine-part series that takes up the dark story of a group of morally questionable crimefighters in an alternate 21st century 34 years after the original DC comics story. It ties in well with current events around the world, with a group of white supremacists in Tulsa, Oklahoma, waging war on minorities and the city police who are forced to wear masks to hide their identities. The 2009 film of this cult comic book story was dreadful, but this enjoyable series can be viewed as a standalone story that gives enough background explanation, and leads to a satisfying conclusion that doesn’t hint at a follow-up. Great if you want to cram it all into one week of viewing.
THE COMEY RULE
One series, Now TV / Amazon Prime Now that Trump has finally left the White House, we can sit back and watch this interesting two-part miniseries with a little less worry that the events depicted will be repeated. Based on the memoirs of former FBI Director James Comey (played by Jeff Daniels), it examines the relationship between the head of the intelligence agency and Brendan Gleeson’s subtly portrayed Trump, and reveals just how out of step with reality the former US President was when it came to law and order, diplomacy and the workings of State organisations. Comey faced an unenviable task in trying to keep Trump in line on issues of national security, with his hand forced by the insistence on an investigation into Hillary Clinton, allegations of the president’s ill-advised dealings with Russian oligarchs, and a repeated demand for loyalty over national interests, before he fell foul of the President himself and was stepped down. If even half of what is depicted in this series is true, the world got away lightly.
HISTORY OF SWEAR WORDS One series, Netflix During these difficult times, sometimes all you want is to watch Nicolas Cage swear loudly at you, and this six-part series fits the bill nicely. Cage oversees proceedings from a comfortable professor’s chair, but there is actual scientific thought brought in through interviews with experts in etymology, popular culture and history, with each episode looking into the origins, usage and impact of specific words on
ourselves and other people (for example, swearing helps us endure stress or pain for longer). Alongside the experts, there are contributions from comedians including Sarah Silverman, Nick Offerman and Jim Jefferies to remind us not to take things too seriously. If you have any interest in word origins, or just want to sit back and watch people cursing, you can’t go far wrong with this.
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BINGE WATCH
The Boys
Two series, Amazon Prime
IT’S A SIN One series, Channel 4 All 4 From Russel T Davies, famed creator of Queer As Folk, comes this poignant, sad, but very well made series about a group of friends who witness first-hand the devastation of HIV/AIDS in 1980s London. The depiction of the uncertainty and lack of both information and understanding around the disease at the time is depressingly accurate, as are the scenes revealing the absolutely horrendous attitudes and mistreatment of people who contracted a disease the world knew nothing about until it was too late. It is obviously not an easy watch at times, especially as the group faces inevitable tragedy and loss, but Davies expertly infuses the storyline with moments of great joy and celebration as he shines a light not just on the horrific effects of the virus’ spread, but also on the togetherness and friendship formed within a community when they needed unity most.
We’re all getting pretty familiar with the superhero franchises, but this satirical look at the genre asks the question: What if your superheroes are corrupt, and what can anybody do about it? Faced with this dilemma, a rogue group of vigilantes calling themselves The Boys set out to defeat the superpowered group known as The Seven, a collection of heroes who are managed and marketed by an overseeing conglomerate. Now in its second season and with a third in the works, it’s an interesting take on the genre that is easy viewing but full of well-written scenes and colourful characters.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer One series, Netflix
While it gets a little bit sensationalist at times with cliched clips of sharpened knives and darkened rooms, this gripping true crime documentary series about the hunt for a notorious US serial killer will keep you on edge throughout. What made the crimes of Richard Ramirez, dubbed the Night Stalker, so terrifying is that they seemed to be random attacks that terrorised the West Coast of America in 1984 and 1985. Ultimately convicted of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 counts of sexual assault and 14 counts of burglary, his spree was brought to an end by dogged detective work, and it is the focus on these people, as well as the victims and survivors, that shines through here.
THE SERPENT One Series, BBC iPlayer / Netflix
The Undoing
Just finished on BBC but available to binge on Netflix, this slow-burning thriller follows the ruthless life and deeds of Charles Sobhraj, a French jewel dealer of Thai and Indian descent who preyed upon Western tourists taking to the ‘Hippy Trails’ of Southeast Asia in the 1970s. Unlike other serial killers, Sobhraj’s actions weren’t fuelled by violent urges but were simply a by-product of his lifestyle, combined with a bitter hatred for hippies. His story is fascinating not just because of the brutal ways in which he manipulated, then murdered at least a dozen people across the continent with the help of (or lack of intervention from), a loyal follower and his girlfriend, but also because he managed to get away with it for so long. The cold and calculating killer may never have been caught were it not for the work of a low-ranking Dutch diplomat based in Bangkok who was tasked with finding a missing Dutch couple but uncovered a trail of murders. A heady mix of hedonism, 1970s nostalgia and thrilling drama, this is one that will keep you interested throughout its eight episodes.
Hugh Grant has excelled at playing a cad over the course of his career, and he puts in a great performance in this psychological drama as a successful doctor and socialite who may or may not have committed murder. His psychologist wife (Nicole Kidman) starts to suspect something is amiss, but in piecing together the clues that could reveal the darkest of secrets or prove her husband’s innocence, she struggles to separate what’s true and what is not as twists come thick and fast. Not so much a whodunnit but a ‘did he do it?’, you will be left guessing until the grim facts become all too apparent and the culprit is revealed.
One series, Amazon Prime / Now TV
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TRAVEL
HOLIDAY 1 HOUR FROM HOME
If you’re still not sure about travelling far afield once lockdown ends, here’s 7 Leinster getaways to consider.
Ghan House, Co Louth
One of Ireland’s most popular luxury four-star hotels, this castle built on the banks of the Erkina River in 1716 has an expanse of surrounding woodlands and forests, as well as a walled garden that supplies the ingredients for the onsite restaurant. The village of Durrow is a lovey place to spend some time in, while Abbeyleix and Cashel are close by and offer all manner of ancient attractions. There are a number of golf clubs nearby, while the 30-minute drive to Emo House and Gardens is well worth a visit if you like strolling around big houses and enjoying lake and woodland walks. The Rock of Cashel is also just half an hour away, and offers a really good day out for the family, while anglers can get hooked at the Laois Angling Centre in Coolrain.
This family-run Georgian house and restaurant is one of the oldest private houses of its type in Ireland. Right beside Carlingford, it offers superb views of the Lough, Mourne Mountains and Slieve Foy, as well as fine dining, so it’s a perfect spot to just sit back and relax while savouring the award-winning local fare. Carlingford itself is bustling with activity and outdoor pursuit options if you want to drop into town, and the Cooley Peninsula offers spectacular views and more than a few great stop-offs such as Cooley Distillery. The Lough provides you with the chance for all sorts of water sports such as banana boating, paddle boarding, kayaking, boat trips and fishing, while land lubbers can avail of golf at Greenore, horse riding, bird watching, cycling, rock climbing or archery. Children will also enjoy the Leprechaun Cavern and tours hosted by the Leprechaun Whisperer.
www.castledurrow.com
www.ghanhouse.com
Rathsallagh House, Co Wicklow Converted from royal stables in 1798, Rathsallagh is a comfortable country house situated on hundreds of acres of peaceful parkland that conveniently has a golf course surrounding it. Voted Irish Country House of the Year twice, it has also won the National Breakfast awards four times, so you know your morning dining will be good, while the locally sourced dinners are also worth savouring. On offer are tennis courts, a croquet lawn and archery, but with the Wicklow Mountains on your doorstep, it’s a perfect base to go exploring around Blessington Lakes or hiking along Hollywood Glen. The fit and the brave can try to reach the summit of Lugnaquilla Mountain, the second highest in Ireland. Glendalough, Russborough House and Baltinglass Abbey are also close by and well worth a visit, as is the Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens. www.rathsallagh.com
Castle Durrow, Co Laois
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TRAVEL
Barberstown Castle, Co Kildare
This haven of natural beauty and laid-back luxury sits right on the edge of Lough Ree, with a perfect combination of style, seclusion and any number of activities to keep you occupied. The 29 bespoke rooms and the restaurant are great, while the treatment rooms and outdoor hot tub with views across the water really help you unwind. If you do want to get out and about, the nearby villages of Glasson and Ballinahown have numerous craft and design shops and more than a few cosy pubs, but you can also have some family fun at Dún na Sí Amenity and Heritage Park, Lough Boora Discovery Park and Lough Key forest park. Lough Ree itself offers boat trips of every variety and speed, including the Viking Boat that provides tours and tall tales of viking battles and strongholds in the area, while the lakelands also offer coarse fishing days out.
If you fancy seeing how famous rock starts live, look no further than Barberstown, the former home of Eric Clapton, which has been converted into a welcoming hotel offering great food and wine, warming log fires and top-rated service. The 13th century castle is a winner of Best Historic Hotel in Europe and has been welcoming guests for 700 years (apart from when Mr Clapton took up residence), so hospitality is in the blood here. It’s a good base from which to head out and see the National Stud, Newgrange or Powerscourt, as well as Kildare Town Heritage Centre, Castletown House in Celbridge, and the several racecourses the county is famous for. The K Club is next door too, if you fancy a round of golf, while Donadea Forest Park is a great day out for the family.
www.wineport.ie
www.barberstowncastle.ie
Dunbrody House, Co Wexford You can indulge yourself in style here, with a gourmet restaurant run by renowned chef Kevin Dundon, a classy champagne bar, a lively gastro pub, and breakfasts that last for hours. Situated on 300 acres of parkland on Hook Peninsula, the relaxed and elegant Georgian country house offers luxury and relaxation, but you can also take part in the cookery school or simply book yourself in to the boutique spa to unwind. If you want to stretch the legs, the Dunbrosy Coastal Loop is a 4km walk around the estate’s perimeter that has great views across the Hook Peninsula, and if you can find it, there’s a private cove where you can strip off and take a dip in the sea. You can also visit the oldest lighthouse in Europe, the 5th century Hook Lighthouse, or the 13th century Tintern Abbey with its woodland trails, or go kayaking or whale and dolphin watching from the nearby beach. www.dunbrodyhouse.com
Wineport Lodge, Co Westmeath
Ballyfin Demesne, Co Laois A lavish regency mansion at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountains, the awardwinning Ballyfin’s 20 bedrooms mean you can enjoy both luxury and peace and quiet while luxuriating in refined elegance. There are 614 acres of private parkland to roam and enjoy, as well as a 28-acre lake and surrounding ancient woodlands, while indoors there’s a swimming pool, gym and treatment rooms. On offer at the estate are coarse fishing, clay shooting, horse riding, falconry and wine and whiskey tasting, but if you fancy a day out you can head to the nearby Aghaboe Abbey or Heywood Gardens, as well as the Rock of Dunamase, scene of many a battle over the centuries and held by Vikings, Normans and Cromwell’s armies due to its strategic position. www.ballyfin.com SPRING 66 FIRECALL
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INTERNATIONAL NEWS Emergency Services News From Around the Globe. ✶
✶ ✶✶
CANADA
BULLYING AND RACISM SUBCULTURE IN CALGARY FD Following allegations of racism in the Edmonton fire department, the city of Calgary was forced to address similar allegations of bullying behaviour and “hidden” prejudice among its own firefighter community. In conversation with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth described reports of racism in his fire stations as “concerning” and pointed to a sub-culture of fear whereby those who report such behaviour worry they will become victims too. “We have a culture where people tend not to report things for fear of retaliation,” he told the CBC in January. “But there will be zero tolerance when problem employees are identified.” CBC had previously published detailed accounts from seven current and former members of the Calgary Fire Department who said that black, indigenous and other people of colour still experience racism within their department. They also pointed out that there are currently no women or people of colour serving as deputy chiefs, and that women and people of colour account for less than 3% of the city’s 1,400 firefighters.
GERMANY
NEW YEAR LOCKDOWN SEES DOZENS OF HOUSE FIRES With residents of Berlin banned from going into the city to set off fireworks as part of a New Year’s Eve ritual, some instead tried to launch them from their homes, leading to a high number of domestic fires across the German capital. As well as prohibiting the sale of fireworks in the run up to 31 December, authorities also banned people from setting off fireworks in 50 zones in the capital in an attempt to discourage crowds gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, within six minutes of the New Year, the Berlin Fire Service had been called to 18 domestic fires, with many more following throughout the night, as people tried to set off fireworks within or close to their homes.
AUSTRALIA
FIREFIGHTER CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS WILDLIFE Following the devastating bushfires that saw more than one billion animals lost or displaced last year, the ever-popular Australian Firefighters Calendar this year puts the focus on the country’s native species. “No one was left unaffected watching our precious wildlife trying to escape from the bushfires, and the loss of wildlife is beyond comprehension,” said Australian Firefighters Calendar Director David Rogers. “Everyone here decided that all of our efforts needed to be focused on Australian wildlife this year.” The result is that along with the regular collection of hunky fireman shots, the Animal Lovers calendar puts a diverse range of native animals in the spotlight, posing with firefighters, with proceeds donated to veterinary organisations. Funds from the 2020 calendar helped pay for new equipment and supplies for teams of vets and volunteers to save koalas, wombats, kangaroos and birdlife native to Australia, and this year’s version will support native animal charities vital to supporting the fragile wildlife, including the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, Australian Seabird Rescue, Native Animal Rescue and Rural Aid.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BANGLADESH
REFUGEE CAMP DESTROYED BY FIRE A large fire tore through a crowded Rohingya camp in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh, destroying hundreds of makeshift shelters and forcing thousands of displaced Muslim refugees to flee. Hundreds of the refugees, who had fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar in recent months and years, were left without shelter after the fire at the Nayapara camp in the southeast of the country began at around 1am on 14 January. The fire was brought under control within two hours, by which time some 550 shelters, as well as shops and other facilities, were lost, and Fire Service officials opened an investigation into the cause. In May of last year, a similar fire reduced more than 400 shelter homes in the nearby Jutupalong refugee camp to ashes, and officials have warned that it is becoming increasingly difficult for firefighters to navigate slum areas due to the dramatically increasing population of refugees in the area.
UK
NEW NATIONWIDE DATABASE FOR FIREFIGHTER CANCER RISK Researchers at the University of Central Lancashire have created a nationwide database to assess the potential link between exposure to fire toxicants and the increased occurrence of cancers and other diseases among firefighters. The UK Firefighters Cancer and Disease Registry (FCDR) will collect information on firefighters’ work routines, exposure to fire effluents, lifestyle and health, enabling scientists to identify and recognise the most common cancers and diseases related to firefighters’ work to provide better health screening, education and support. The project was initiated and co-sponsored by the Fire Brigades Union and clinicians working at the Royal Preston Hospital and invites all UK firefighters, both serving and retired, to register. All data will be stored securely and anonymously, and firefighters can request that data is withdrawn at any time.
RUSSIA
NURSING HOME FIRE KILLS SEVEN A fire in a private nursing home in western Siberia killed seven elderly residents in January, according to State officials. The retirement home in the town of Borovsky wasn’t registered with authorities, and the owner, a woman whose identity was not disclosed, was detained and could face charges of unintended manslaughter and violating safety regulations. All of the victims were more than 70 years old, but the home owner and two elderly residents managed to escape the fire. Deadly fires caused by violations of safety regulations or faulty wiring are common in Russia. In December of last year, a fire in a private retirement home in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan killed 11 people.
✶
USA
RHODE ISLAND POLICE CHASE STOLEN BOSTON FIRE TRUCK
A 20-year-old Rhode Island woman led police on a low-speed chase through several towns and suburbs in January after several reports of a vehicle driving with a flat tyre were received. Alina Dunham had stolen the marked pickup truck from the Boston Fire Department Academy several days earlier, but the alarm was raised when she tried driving along a busy road with one tyre rim causing sparks. Officers tried to get her to stop, but she kept driving slowly through several
communities and on to the highway, until she finally drove into a cul de sac and parked in a driveway, and was taken into custody. Although there were no reported injuries and alcohol wasn’t involved, Ms Dunham was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, reckless driving and eluding police, obstruction of officers in execution of their duties, and operating on a suspended license. She was later charged with assault of a police officer and resisting arrest.
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BOOKSHELF
BOOK REVIEW
THIS SEASON’S BEST READS
HOW TO AVOID A CLIMATE DISASTER
O
ne of the more uplifting aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the reawakening of our senses to the natural world around us as we stopped travelling and reduced our carbon emissions. However, while this was welcomed, it is an ‘inconvenient truth’ to borrow another high-profile climate advocate’s turn of phrase, that our planet faces an urgent threat from the damage mankind has done to it in the last couple of centuries. In this thought-provoking book, billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates outlines the scale of this threat, but rather than describe the water as we drown, he puts forward wellthought-out and optimistic steps we can take to reverse this decline into dealing with an inhospitable planet. According to his research, we need to remove 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere every year, and failing to do so would result in the loss of millions of lives. In short, he says, we need to use more renewables and fewer fossil fuels (some 27% of the reduction can be achieved through this), change how we manufacture goods, grow our food, travel and heat and cool our buildings. While some may scoff that it is very easy for a man so wealthy to pontificate on climate action, it is worth remembering that Gates’ foundation has given more than $45billion to charitable causes to help improve our world through attempts to eradicate polio and TB, and funded more than $1billion for start-up companies focused on reducing harmful emissions into the environment. His message here is also not one presented as a lecture, but a practical and accessible guide to what each of us can do to help protect and renew the environment. Using his understanding of innovation and art of persuasion in getting new ideas to the global market, Gates explains why
we need to work towards zero greenhouse gas emissions and what each of us can do to achieve this goal, outlining a stark but honest assessment of the challenge, and describing how technology can be made to work more effectively for us, where new technology is needed, where these breakthroughs might arise, and what we as individuals can do to lobby for such changes. As he explains, this task won’t be easy, but it is doable, and this optimistic approach is one that readers of this book can take on board while remembering that the health of our planet is everyone’s responsibility.
Author:
BILL GATES
Publisher:
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE Available:
EASONS.COM, HODGES & FIGGIS, WATERSTONES, DUBRAY Price:
€19.99
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BOOK REVIEW
THE HITMEN
UNDER A DARK ANGEL’S EYE
Author:
STEPHEN BREEN & OWEN CONLON
Author:
PATRICIA HIGHSMITHN
Publisher:
KNOPF
Publisher:
VIRAGO
Available:
HODGES & FIGGIS, WATERSTONES
Available:
HODGES & FIGGIS, WATERSTONES
Price:
€17.99
Price:
€18.99
Celebrating 100 years since the birth of crime novelist Patricia Highsmith, this compilation of the author’s short stories is a gripping read that highlights the development of a master of suspense. Best known for Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr Ripley and The Two Faces of January, all of which were adapted into successful films, Highsmith was also adept at working complex plots into shorter forms, and this work will keep you enthralled through every carefully constructed page. The chronological order allows you to see how themes and techniques were honed over time, culminating in some of the best crime stories of the last century. If you have never read any Highsmith before, this is a perfect place to start.
Crime is quite often a family business, but rarely does this extend into the specific area of assassination. Here, crime journalists Stephen Breen and Owen Conlon paint the gripping and sometimes gruesome story of the Wilson family – brothers Eric, Keith and John, their cousin Alan and nephew Luke – who cornered the market in murder for hire on behalf of Ireland’s criminal gangs in the last two decades, murdering rival gang members, IRA men and anyone else unlucky enough to cross their path. Piecing together exclusive access to wire taps, case files and interviews, this book outlines the extent of their vicious operation and how each was put out of business.
KLARA AND THE SUN
Author:
KAZUO ISHIGURO Publisher:
KNOPF
Available:
EASONS.COM, HODGES & FIGGIS, WATERSTONES Price:
€14.99
The beautiful thing about the works of Kazuo Ishiguro is that while the Japanese-born British author has won both the Nobel Literature and Booker Prize, he is one of the most accessible writers in the English language, and has covered many genres from period drama (The Remains of the Day) to modern dystopias (Never Let Me Go). His latest work depicts a world that may not be too far away in which technology has made many unemployed and robots or ‘artificial friends’ can be bought to help ease the loneliness of this new world. Told through the eyes of one such ‘friend’ bought by a lonely and ill girl, it is a heart-tugging and entertaining story of life, love and mortality, and is an absolute treat to read. If you’ve never read any of his other works, this is a great introduction to an author who keeps producing some of the best fiction of the last 100 years.
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TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS THE LATEST INNOVATIONS FOR THE WORLD’S EMERGENCY SERVICES.
MAPPING TECHNOLOGY A cloud-based software platform called APD Maps has launched pioneering mapping technology that can optimise the response by emergency services to incidents and help them reach locations rapidly with pinpoint accuracy. Created by control room technology company APD Communications, the tech locates emergency responders, callers, vehicles, incidents, points of interest and the nearest defibrillators anywhere at the touch of a button. Control room operators can identify locations using the what3words system that identifies any position within 3 square metres across the world. APD Maps can be accessed through a web browser and can be used alongside other control room applications, integrating with Google Street View, CCTV camera locations, real-time traffic flow information, highway data and automatic number plate recognition, though it can also be used as a standalone app. MD of APD Communications Mike Isherwood says of the app: “Using APD Maps, control room personnel can dispatch multiple emergency services and public agencies to the same incident by sharing a single coordinate pin to ensure they all receive the same information. Estimated time of arrival can be clearly viewed and provide the operator with immediate and accurate details in real time, and can also help plot the quickest route to an incident, potentially saving lives.” The app also features event replay, giving organisations the ability to review footage to support any required investigations or reports.
FIRECALL SPRING
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TECHNOLOGY
ZERO CARBON APPLIANCE
TRACKER TESTED The US Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology department has partnered with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to conduct field tests on technology developed to track and locate firefighters within burning buildings. The catchily-names Precision Outdoor and Indoor Navigation and Tracking for Emergency Responders (POINTER) is designed to allow first responders to accurately pinpoint the location of team members amidst heavy smoke, debris and other obstructions. Using transmitters, receivers and magnetoquasistatic fields to 3-dimensionally orient responders in emergency settings, site commanders can track their team’s movements to the exact floor of a building and determine whether they are in motion, standing upright or lying down. The magnetoquasistatic fields can penetrate most natural materials such as dirt, earth, water and thin metals, with the receivers worn by the responders weighing less than a mobile phone. The technology was tested in a five-level, 8,000 sq. ft structure and tracked multiple first responders from a distance of up to 70 metres away, and found that they could be located to within one metre of accuracy, and at times within centimetres. Further tests will be carried out with fire response agencies in the summer.
The world’s first all-electric, zero-emission fire and rescue service pumping appliance has been launched in the UK. Designed and manufactured in Scotland by the Emergency One Group, who produce and supply specialist appliances and operational equipment to many of Britain’s fire and rescue services, the new EV0 (Mk1) vehicle is designed to improve firefighter safety while also cutting emissions to zero. The operations-ready vehicle’s specifications and capabilities include a 200-mile driving range on a full electrical charge, a regenerative braking system, a rapid charge system up to 150KW, and a solar photovoltaic charging system of 24Vdc. It seats six crew in a cabin that includes an air filtration system that removes 99% of airborne particulates and has a lowdecibel pump operation with remote control options, can carry 1,850 litres of firefighting media, and has remote access telematics and diagnostic tools.
UNMANNED VEHICLE From zero-emission vehicles to zero-personnel vehicles, the first 100% electric firefighting vehicle that can be fully controlled remotely has made further steps towards being available on the market. First presented to the public at a security fair in Portugal in 2019, technology group Jacinto has invested further to bring the final tested version of the Eco-Camões through certification. The vehicle, which complies with all international standards, has four traction motors and one extinction pump motor, and is designed to be used to fight industrial, forest, urban and airport fires. It can be controlled from up to 1km away, reducing the risk to the operator to zero. SPRING 72 FIRECALL
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150km YOUR WAY
Will you walk, run, swim or cycle for Children’s Health Foundation Crumlin
We are inviting you to join our ‘150km Your Way’ challenge and raise vital funds for the essential and life-saving work that happens in CHI at Crumlin every minute of every day
150km, your way Get in touch with Aideen on communities@childrenshealth.ie www.cmrf.org
CHF Crumlin CHY 13534 | RCN 20042462
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DUBLIN FIRE RESCUE EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE
PROTECTING THE CITY AND COUNTY SINCE 1862
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