Firecall Summer/Autumn 2020 by Ashville Media Group

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2020

FIRECALL OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF DUBLIN FIRE, AMBULANCE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES

OVERCOMING COVID’S CHALLENGES

THE PLANS AND PROTOCOLS ENSURING 100% SERVICE

THE POWER OF ONE

GROWN FOREST’S GREEN PROJECT

TRAINING IN

LOCKDOWN

COMPLETING RECRUIT TRAINING IN UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES OFC_FC_Summer 2020.indd 1

09/09/2020 10:00

DUBLIN FIRE RESCUE EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE

PROTECTING THE CITY AND COUNTY SINCE 1862

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09/09/2020 09:23

EDITOR’S LETTER

Editor: Adam Hyland Consulting Editor: Dan Fynes Contributors: Dan Fynes, Las Fallon, Brendan Lodola, Podge Thompson, Declan Rice Creative Director: Jane Matthews Designer: James Moore Cover Credit: DFB Photography: Dublin Fire Brigade, Ray McMonagle, Trevor Hunt, Adam Hyland, iStock, Penguin/Random House, W&N, Jonathan Cape, Mercier Press, Willie O’Leary, Captain Gordon Wilson, Neil McCabe, Brendan Lodola, Podge Thompson, Declan Rice Production Executive: Julie Dunne 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 ©2020 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. We are still in the midst of the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and while restrictions have lifted slightly since our last issue, the Coronavirus remains a significant threat and a noticeable disruption to our everyday lives. Dublin Fire Brigade members will know only too well how this has affected their working lives and activity within the organisation, but thankfully there has been some opportunity to meet with and talk to members to share their stories and activities over the past few months. Huge thanks must go to Senior Fire and Emergency Management Officer and ACFO Greg O’Dwyer for taking the time to outline all of the procedures, protocols and safeguards DFB has put in place to maintain a 100% service during this challenging time, while keeping the health and welfare of all its members as paramount. This is a major success story at such a difficult time. The work being done at the Training Centre to bring 54 new recruits through training under immense pressures and unprecedented obstacles is another huge success story, and my thanks must go to Course Director Tom Doolan for showing me around the OBI and explaining how this was done. As always, Las Fallon has produced another fascinating read, following up on his research into former DFB member and Republican Thomas Curran. My thanks to him for another great read, and thanks too to retired member Willie O’Leary for talking about his career. Thanks must also go to B Watch at North Strand for taking the time to talk to me about life at their station, and to Captain Gordon Wilson of the Nashua, New Hampshire Fire Department, for telling me about life as a firefighter in the US, while Neil McCabe’s incredible environmental work continues, as outlined in our feature on his latest venture, GROWN Forest. While sports and social club activities have obviously slowed, there have been some events. Brendan Lodola outlines what the cycling club has been up to, while Podge Thompson talks about the athletics club and Declan Rice writes about the social activities that have helped raise morale. I hope you enjoy the read,

22 OVERCOMING COVID’S CHALLENGES

How DFB maintained its 100% service during the pandemic

38 TRAINING IN LOCKDOWN

Recruit Training Under Unusual Circumstances

56 THE POWER OF ONE GROWN Forest’s vision of a peoplepowered, greener environment

We are updating our mailing list. If your contact details are out of date, please email: adam.hyland@ ashvillemediagroup.com

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB

CONTENTS SUMMER / AUTUMN 2020

29 BORN TO RUN

The DFB Athletics Club’s Activities

34 CYCLING THROUGH COVID The Cycling Club’s Disrupted But Successful Year

38 TRAINING IN LOCKDOWN Recruit Courses Under Unusual Circumstances

56 THE POWER OF ONE

Neil McCabe’s Latest Green Initiative

FEATURES 06 A THANK YOU

Acknowledging the support of businesses during the pandemic

08 A WELCOME MORALE BOOST

The Sports and Social Club activities keeping spirits up

11 OUTGOING LORD MAYOR THANKS DFB

11 38

Plaques given to honour Dublin city stations

22 OVERCOMING COVID’S CHALLENGES The plans and protocols ensuring 100% service

SUMMER / AUTUMN 02 FIRECALL

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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 16 DFB IN BRIEF 43 DFB HISTORY

Las Fallon Delves Deeper Into a Republican’s Life

46 INTERNATIONAL STATION PROFILE

Nashua FD, New Hampshire

52 STATION PROFILE

B Watch, North Strand

60 RETIRED MEMBER PROFILE Former D/O Willie O’Leary

62 LOCKDOWN TV

Binge-watch recommendations

64 TRAVEL

Irish Isolation Locations

69 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 71 BOOKSHELF 75 TECHNOLOGY

The Latest Innovations for the Emergency Services

43 FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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26/08/2020 06/10/2016 14:04 17:24

FOREWORD

Honorary Secretary’s

FOREWORD elcome readers to our summer/autumn 2020 issue of Firecall. We’ve faced some challenging times this year, and while uncertainty remains around the extent of the disruptions caused by COVID-19, the huge amount of excellent work and dedication shown by all DFB members is something we can all be proud of. That work is detailed in this issue with a look at the protocols put in place to ensure we could all continue to do our jobs safely, the success of which is proven by the very low number of positive cases among DFB members. The work done at the Training Centre to bring a large number of recruits through to graduation under very difficult conditions is also to be applauded, and the feature on training during lockdown gives an interesting insight into the lengths the staff at the OBI had to go to in order to ensure safe social distancing while putting the recruits through the rigorous programme. Morale is more important than ever at the moment, and huge thanks must go to everybody involved in creating events and activities through the Sports and Social Club that helped to entertain us and distract us. A lot of imagination and planning went into these activities, which have been a great help in getting through these past few months. Thanks to Declan Rice and all who have helped him in making the challenges so successful and entertaining. Thankfully, we have been able to resume some of the activity in this issue that had been on hold in the spring, so the Retired Member Profile featuring Willie O’Leary is a welcome addition, as is the Station Profile with B Watch North Strand, which saw the recent retirement of S/O Joe Kiernan, who will be greatly missed. Also of interest is the GROWN tree planting feature spearheaded by DFB member Neil McCabe. He was instrumental in introducing a renewable energy and conservation programme to the DFB and with his latest project he continues to help make our country a greener and healthier place to live. Las Fallon’s second look at the life of former DFB member and Republican Thomas Curran makes for an enjoyable read, with his exploits making for colourful reading, while we also get to see what life is like for our firefighting friends over in Nashua, New Hampshire. They have strong connections with some of our members, so it is great to hear from them. As a side note, remember that this is your magazine. As a Sports and Social Club member, if you want to highlight an event run by your club or society - past or upcoming – or want to contribute a feature, please feel free to contact the editor Adam Hyland. His email address is in the sidebar. We have faced many challenges recently, and don’t yet know when normality will return, but our dedication and camaraderie will see us through. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading this issue, and my thanks to all who contributed to it.

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

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2020

FIRECALL OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF DUBLIN FIRE, AMBULANCE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES

OVERCOMING COVID’S CHALLENGES

THE PLANS AND PROTOCOLS ENSURING 100% SERVICE

THE POWER OF ONE

GROWN FOREST’S GREEN PROJECT

TRAINING IN

LOCKDOWN

COMPLETING RECRUIT TRAINING IN UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES OFC_FC_Summer 2020.indd 1

09/09/2020 10:00

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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THANK YOU

Showing our appreciation for the support of businesses and people throughout Dublin

uring these unprecedented times, Dublin Fire Brigade has had to face many challenges and a lot of very tough days. What has kept us going through the COVID-19 pandemic is the huge amount of thanks we have received from the community â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from businesses big and small, community groups and individuals throughout our city. We would like to respond in kind: to thank all of those people who took the time to send us their best wishes and their messages of appreciation. Knowing that our work is appreciated helps a great deal in getting us through demanding days, because it is an affirmation, if one was needed, that the people of Dublin see us as playing an important role in keeping our citizens safe and well. We would like to thank the businesses who helped out in every way possible, who took the time and energy, and dug deep to provide us with not just support, but the practical materials to keep our service levels at their usual high standard. From the provision of hand sanitiser to deliveries of food to our stations, we have been met with amazing generosity throughout the pandemic from businesses who expected nothing in return, and for that we say thank you very much. We are grateful for the appreciation we have been shown, and would like to extend that appreciation back to all of those who showed their generosity over the past few months. Dan Fynes, on behalf of all members of the DFBSSC.

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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DFBSSC

A WELCOME MORALE BOOST

S/O Declan Rice, Chairman of the DFBSSC, outlines the activities organised by the Sports and Social Club to keep spirits up during the pandemic.

ur country began its lockdown on 13 March following Leo Varadkar’s speech from America, and so began the impact on all of our lives and of course our club’s activities. Our Club’s committee, full for the first time in years with lots of plans for the year ahead, was put on lockdown. Our first event for 2020 and an annual favourite, the St Patricks Day Parade, was cancelled. There would be no group breakfast in Phibsboro Fire station, no flag ceremony, no street march, and no after-parade party with our DFB members, their families and visiting firefighters. A parade being cancelled was really nothing to get upset about, considering what was coming next. Our members and all DFB staff were thrown into an ever-changing and extremely challenging environment. Leave was cancelled, our working norms were gone. We were trying to function and re-train ourselves to new practices on a daily basis. Our work family was broken up by social distancing measures. There were no more district exercises, no more visitors to the stations, no unnecessary journeys. We were alone, in our pods. All socialising and group sports had to cease. Our

The skills were out for one of the football challenges

The delivery of a BBQ to all DFB locations saw a race to get them up and running

FF/P Mick Carton shows off his dyed hair as part of the COVID Hair Challenge

SUMMER / AUTUMN 08 FIRECALL

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DFBSSC Ignoring all distractions in a keepy-uppy challenge

HQ gets into the Yoga Challenge

club was effectively closed down. As the pandemic hit, COVID-19 cases rose rapidly, deaths were occurring, and news of our own staff becoming infected scared us all. Groups were being sent for rapid COVID testing. Staff were worried about infecting their own kids, partners or elderly parents. Family members were suddenly out of work, adding to financial stress. One of our own firefighters died suddenly, sending further shockwaves through the organisation. There is no doubt that we were struggling and morale was dipping. Public praise, candle lighting and free meals did of course help, but we as a club we felt we could try do more to look after our members.

CLUB SUMMER CHALLENGES In consultation with T/O Brendan McNicholas and with the backing from senior management, the decision was made to bring along a series of “DFB COVID Challenges”. The purpose was to try to give a distraction and bring back a bit of craic, even if it had to be socially distanced. Morale needed a lift, and we needed to look after our physical and mental health. The events planned were very inclusive to support all members of DFB, not just our Sports and Social Club members. Our poster campaign was soon dropped to leave station space for more important operational memos, so we went online. Our social media pages and new station WhatsApp groups set up by

our club reps helped spread the word of the challenges: there was something to suit everyone. We launched the challenges over the May Bank Holiday weekend, with the delivery of a BBQ and refreshments to all work locations: Prizes for first built and used as the sun shone down on a quiet city. Special thanks to EMD and the D/Os for their assistance with deliveries. With the barbers and hairdressers shut, we kicked off the craic with a Covid Hair Challenge. There were some very dodgy pics sent in and some poor aul’ S/O was even strapped to a spinal board and his head shaved. As with all the challenges, to keep things above board, we had the help of many independent judges from throughout the organisation and retired members also. Thanks to them for their time and assisting in the background work. Over the following months, we drew on support from the various sports clubs throughout DFB who we assist financially in the running of their events. There were football, cycling, and rugby challenges on a monthly rotation, and hopefully a GAA one to come. There was something for the intellectuals, with short stories and poems, competitions for the kids at home to make face coverings, and events online using Zoom to help with socialising. Momentum gathered and individual stations started holding their own hurling and yoga challenges. It was

a great pick-me-up for all who got involved and participated. Along with the events, there were spot prizes, some donated, some cash incentives and vouchers to support local business. It was a lot to manage whilst also doing the daily S/O functions, but as always, our great DFB team assisted when called upon to help. Special thanks to our club committee members, as well as Keith Brunkard, Dave Kavanagh, Ritchie McDonald, Paul McGurrell, Brendan Lodola and Keith Mason for all their ideas and help. During the initial lockdown period we had great participation and involvement, but as the country opened up and members could take some well-earned trips with their families, participation naturally dropped off. One group still working away on the challenges is headed up by one of our club reps. Podge Thompson and the team in the DFB Athletics Club have been busy all summer, and managed to get us running around the world, doing family treasure hunts and now have us earning kilometres for the Out of this World Challenge. Don’t worry if you are the non-sporty type - there’s still more challenges coming up.

LOOKING AHEAD We are all now living in a different world and we are all trying to adjust to the new norms. The Sports and Social Club is no different. We are trying new things, trying to adapt, trying to support our members, DFB sports clubs and to facilitate restricted social events. Unfortunately, our two annual kid’s parties are another casualty of the pandemic, but our committee, as always, is working behind the scenes, giving up their time to try overcome these issues. We’d ask that you stick with us and give us your support. If you think you have a good idea for the club, please let your station rep know so it can be discussed at our committee meetings. We are still here, working together to try make it work, and as a member you too can play your part. So, don’t forget to sign up and to keep an eye on our social media pages for news, members draw results, sports challenges and banter.

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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Tara Street

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n one of his final acts before leaving the position of Lord Mayor of Dublin to be replaced by the incoming Hazel Chu, in June, Tom Brabazon presented every Dublin Fire Brigade fire station within the Dublin City region with a bronze plaque to thank them for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The then-Lord Mayor had proposed the gesture to Dublin City Council, who approved it immediately in recognition

OUTGOING LORD MAYOR PRAISES DFB HEROES Plaques given to Dublin City stations in honour of their efforts

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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LORD MAYOR

Kilbarrack

Finglas

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of the work being done by DFB’s firefighters and paramedics during unprecedented times. Then-Lord Mayor Brabazon said he wanted to thank all members of the Dublin Fire Brigade throughout the county because of their “unstinting and unwavering commitment to the citizens of Dublin”, but could only visit in person those within his jurisdiction. “Their work at the best of times is not without risk, but right now the risks are higher than normal,” he said at the first plaque presentation at Tara Street HQ. “They are the extension of the emergency room of our hospitals, the frontline soldiers in the war against our microbial enemy. They are our heroes. “Members of Dublin Fire Brigade have been at the most forward part of OBI

the frontline in the battle against this pandemic. I know there is still much work to be done, but the citizens of our great city are deeply appreciative of what Dublin Fire Brigade has done so far and will continue to do in the months ahead. The presentation of these plaques is just a small token of that appreciation. I hope they will serve as a reminder to everyone in Dublin Fire Brigade of just how proud the people of Dublin are of each one of them.” As well as Tara Street, Mr Brabazon paid a personal visit over the next couple of weeks to the DFB Service Support Centre, the Training Centre, North Strand, Kilbarrack, Finglas, Dolphin’s Barn, Donnybrook and Phibsborough stations to personally thank the crews there.

North Strand

SUMMER / AUTUMN 12 FIRECALL

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DFB IN BRIEF

DFB

A recap of Dublin Fire Brigade news and events over the past few weeks and months. LEFT: Taking part in International Day of Yoga 2020, which was dedicated to frontline staff. BELOW: The end of April saw the Rotunda team up with DFB to provide a drive-through COVID-19 testing site for FF/Ps. RIGHT: The recruits of Class 1 2020 perfect their marching drills wearing protective face masks in their final week of training in August

LEFT: FFs team up with the Coast Guard to attend to a patient following a fall near the Bailey lighthouse. BELOW: 5 units attend a major fire at Belcamp College in May

ABOVE: Swift Water Rescue FFs training on the new rapid deployment ladder at Eden Quay in May. BELOW: Kilbarrack FFs extinguish a large pile of rubbish alight in Baldoyle

LEFT: Rescue swimmer training for Dolphinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Barn FF/Ps in May. RIGHT: Rescue swimmers from Tara St, Phibsboro and North Strand rescue a person spotted in the Liffey in May.

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DFB IN BRIEF

ABOVE: Attending a minibus fire in Cherry Orchard in April BELOW: Attending a gorse wildfire on Saggart Hill at the start of June

ABOVE: June saw HQ host the Dublin City Council LGBTQ+ network for the launch of the first Dublin Digital Pride festival LEFT: 4 fire engines and an ambulance answer a call to a house in Tallaght where a jeep crashed into the building in August.

ABOVE: Two more Dun Laoghaire-based FF/Ps complete their operator training on the 26metre Hydraulic Platform BELOW: 4 fire engines attended a fire in a vacant building in Kilmainham in May

ABOVE: 3 units deal with a gorse wildfire in Howth in April RIGHT: Tallaght firefighters attend a fire at a vacant house in Jobstown in April

LEFT: The Organisation of Pakistani Youth in Ireland (OPYI) present DFB with their Community Service Award for services to the community during the pandemic

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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DFB IN BRIEF

LEFT: In June, DFB members started the Frontline to Finishline challenge at HQ, which saw emergency service personnel walk from Dublin through Kildare, Laois, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow over six days to raise awareness for Pieta House and ALONE, the charity founded by DFB’s Willie Bermingham. BELOW: June saw the last day of duty for D/O Alan Burke, who joined in 1983 and spent the last five years at Donnybrook station. His family and Watch joined him to celebrate as CFO Keeley presented him with his retirement plaque

ABOVE: Balbriggan FFs visit Adam Tolan to wish him a happy 6th birthday before he starts treatment in hospital BELOW: Dun Laoghaire FF Paul O’Donoghue is given a great send off by Alpha District FFs after 30 years of service in June

ABOVE: S/O Martin McCabe with new Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu and family. RIGHT: FF/Ps from D Watch Kilbarrack help out at local man Sean’s surprise 27th birthday celebrations BELOW: Attending a well-developed house fire in Rush in August

ABOVE: Attending the send of for the William Butler Yeats after its assistance with COVID-19 testing on the Liffey. BELOW: Six-year-old Ruby, who wants to join the DFB when she grows up, gets a birthday visit from Finglas firefighters.

ABOVE: Swords FFs deal with a tree alight in Brackenstown during an Orange fire warning in April. ABOVE RIGHT: Tara St FF/Ps on water rescue training in May

ABOVE: Emergency First Responder training for firefighters based in Skerries and Balbriggan fire stations in July RIGHT: Saying farewell to S/O Terry Meehan at Dun Laoghaire fire station as he retires after 38 years working with A and B Watches

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DFB IN BRIEF LEFT: About to hit wet conditions after the Frontline to Finishline challenge. BELOW: FF/Ps across the city joined their Garda colleagues in a minute’s silence for Detective Garda Colm Horkan in June Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

Facebook “f ” Logo

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@DubFireBrigade

LEFT: A Donnybrook crew was just one of many DFB units to take part in the Darkness Into Light walk for Pieta House in May. BELOW: Andy Dowling’s mother arrives with a birthday cake for him, which his C Watch crew definitely won’t ever bring up again.

ABOVE: At the end of May, we said farewell to FF/P and drone operator Ciaran Lalor, who is moving to Cork City Fire Brigade after 15 years with the DFB BELOW: Dolphin’s Barn FFs at a derelict factory fire in Chapelizod in June

ABOVE: A Dolphin’s Barn unit attend a fire off Cork Street BELOW: Sean Pender, father of DFB member Stephen and his brother the late John Pender, founder of Suicide Or Survive, sets off on an 80km cycle on his 80th birthday

RIGHT: The first all-female syndicate of recruits enjoys a laugh with their instructor during training

ABOVE: Saying farewell to S/O Dave Fowler after 34 years with the DFB in May as he takes his final parade at North Strand Fire Station.

ABOVE: Saying farewell to S/O Matt Connellan from Finglas Station as he retired after 33 years with the DFB, having also represented us in many sporting events

FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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19 02/09/2020 12:42

No 1

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26/08/2020 14:14

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COVID-19

OVERCOMING COVID’S CHALLENGES ACFO Greg O’Dwyer talks to Adam Hyland about the plans put in place by DFB to ensure service never stalled during the pandemic .

ur last issue briefly covered the great work being done by all DFB members during the COVID-19 pandemic, and while spring brought a huge level of uncertainty, the information shared in those first months by the DFB proved very helpful in showing the people of Dublin that they were in good hands. Now that we have entered a “new normal” phase, I was able to sit down with Assistant Chief Fire Officer Greg O’Dwyer to discuss what plans DFB put in place, the changes needed and challenges faced, and how the organisation has achieved such success in ensuring full service provision while keeping members safe.

PREPAREDNESS “We had been watching events unfold in China and moving across Europe

from very early on,” ACFO O‘Dwyer tells me. “We are part of a major emergency management group with the HSE, and we saw this was obviously going to be a major national emergency. From a practical service point of view, we have been looking at this since January, trying to build stocks of PPE, and engaging with new supply chains. We were fully focused on how this was going to impact our region, our local authority, and our service.” The stockpiling of enough PPE was a serious challenge, but also one of the major successes, according to ACFO O’Dwyer. “The term ‘modern day piracy’ was a classic line that described what was happening,” he says. “We had promises of stocks of PPE that suddenly trebled in price when they landed, or were taken by other organisations. We decided to always go and collect stock

rather than wait for delivery, because deliveries weren’t happening, and we had to widen our supply chain to ensure we had what we needed. “The logistics department have done a great job in managing the receipt and distribution of the PPE and other stocks. We had to increase the staff levels there very early on, and as the crisis started to hit, they went from 9 to 5 to 24/7.” ACFO O’Dwyer tells me that DFB were at the time also working on updating a Crisis Management Team plan for Dublin City Council, and had already formed a new Crisis Management Working Group made up of executive managers from all Council departments, including DFB. ACFO O’Dwyer chaired this working group, and DFB helped set up a Business Continuity Unit within DCC, to which a member of DFB staff was assigned full time, while the updated flu epidemic plan was changed in line with the WHO’s Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) plan.

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COVID-19

“As we were updating our plans, COVID-19 was on its way,” ACFO O’Dwyer says. “We had been holding working group meetings regularly, but as the situation evolved, meetings in January went from monthly to weekly, to daily, and from late February things were updating almost hourly. “Senior management had to get stuck in and we were working seven days a week, 14 hours a day, in order to make things as smooth as possible. There were lots of bumps in the road, lots of changes of direction. We were putting a lot of time and energy into developing plans, only for information and instructions to change again.” Obviously, DFB needed to continue to provide all of its services as frontline personnel, and to do so safely meant following the lead of those with primary expertise, so DFB has been working closely with the Department of Health, the HSE, the National Health Emergency Team and the HPSC. The number of stakeholders involved, and the constantly evolving situation meant that one of the challenges early on was the sheer volume of information DFB members were faced with.

CONSTANT CHANGES “The HSE were setting the policy for pre-hospital care strategies, and they devised risk assessments and algorithms that in late February were constantly changing,” ACFO O’Dwyer tells me. “Initially, updates were happening almost hourly, and there was a lot of confusion at the start. “That had a knock-on effect on our Control Centre, which was taking a lot of additional calls, as there was confusion in the message going out to the public to dial 999 if they needed assistance. We needed to counter that and ask for a dedicated call centre, which was inundated, and when people can’t get through to it, they default back to ringing 999 anyway.” This meant a huge increase in and changes to the workload, with the Control Centre going from 300 calls per day in early March to around 1,000. “Around 75% of those calls were

from people looking for information. We became a sort of advice centre telling people where to get information, to contact their GP, which was outside our norm and was a new departure for us. “Also, when sending out ambulances, normally a patient is assessed and transferred to hospital, but the HSE were instructing us not to transfer people to hospital and instead to go out to the person, give them advice, record their symptoms and register them in the system for testing at home, and again, that was a new departure for us.” New instructions, new ways of working, and an entirely new situation meant that there was what ACFO O’Dwyer calls “an avalanche of information”. As he says: “We realised there was so much information coming from all directions, regarding new procedures, the information we had to share about close contact with suspected cases, as well as our own hygiene guidelines, social distancing at stations, etc.”

DAILY BULLETIN To counter this, the daily DFB COVID-19 Bulletin was started, with ACFO O’Dwyer and the Comms Unit sending out the information and updates needed to continue with full service provision and to ensure the safety of all members. “There had been too much information that was becoming conflicting and confusing,” he says. “One critical trusted source of information was very important, and the bulletin was a daily, single source of trusted information that at one stage was delivered daily for 70 days running.”

The Bulletin was sent via email every day to every person in DFB, with all officers at every station on every Watch reading it out on parade. “We also had numerous internal WhatsApp groups to share updates and there was close union consultation through which we set up a COVID-19 Management Committee with updates daily and sometimes hourly,” ACFO O’Dwyer tells me. “Through WhatsApp groups we were able to monitor how much of the information was being read, and it was almost 100% throughout. We also logged the daily updates on the eLearning platform which had to be read by all personnel, and all updates were also on the intranet.” All of this ensured that all safety and operational updates were hammered home. “You would literally have had to be walking around blindfolded and with your hands over your ears to miss it,” says ACFO O’Dwyer. And that message was very important, not just in ensuring guidelines were followed, but to help ease the concerns of DFB members. “The information that was initially coming through was critical because what people may not realise is that it was a very scary time for everybody, even firefighters. People assume that because we’re in PPE we didn’t have anything to worry about, but that wasn’t the case. People forget how difficult those early weeks were for FF/Ps, because they were confused as well. This was a new thing threatening them and their families. They were going home to young children, elderly parents, spouses with suppressed immunity, so they wanted the info as much as anyone else to be clear.

“No ambulance was ever off the road due to PPE shortages. Nobody was ever put at risk, ever, through shortage of PPE FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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COVID-19

“It was scary but it was also very intense, because every single ambulance call meant full PPE and was considered a COVID-19 suspected case. All the normal stuff wasn’t happening – there were no RTCs, nobody twisting their ankle on a football pitch, or alcoholrelated incidents, and all the other reasons why people might call us, because people didn’t want to go to hospital. It became very intense, and everything had to slow down in terms of going into a call out, always with full PPE.”

CHALLENGES This in itself proved a major challenge to the ways in which DFB members work, ACFO O’Dwyer explains. “PPE is a big barrier between you and the patient, and its disconcerting for the patient to see you come in wearing all of this gear: liquid-repellent gowns, masks, visors, goggles and gloves. That takes away one of the great

things that paramedics have – their compassion – because they are usually able to calm someone down with their bedside manner, but PPE puts a barrier between you. “It was also physically difficult for our paramedics because they were wearing this all day, it’s very hot and claustrophobic and they had some of this gear on for 15 hours solid. And after each case you have to discard the gear, then put on a new set to decontaminate your ambulance, which is a very intensive operation as well, then discard that gear and go on to the next case in full gear again.” It is testament to the great work of the logistics department, ACFO O’Dwyer says, that stocks of this PPE never once ran out. “No ambulance was ever off the road due to PPE shortages. Nobody was ever put at risk, ever, through shortage of PPE,” he tells me. “We may not have always had the preferred option, but all the options we did have were always up to a recognised standard. Logistics, our Health and Safety and our EMS units had an assessment process for every type of PPE that came in before it went anywhere near our members, and issued it long before any other equipment ran out. “With any new equipment that might need a note on different ways to use it or put it on there was also a communication sent out on it. So, nothing went out without being

assessed, tested and communicated.” Off the ambulances, the guidelines in place for all other areas of frontline work were similarly strict. “In line with national guidance, we had posters made up for members working on appliances, with communication after communication about social distancing on station, intensive cleaning regimes, hand sanitising, ventilation, etc,” ACFO O’Dwyer tells me. “The Control Room was high risk for us because if one person went down with COVID, it could bring the whole room down, so we needed everybody to be highly aware of hygiene and cleaning down all surfaces, every piece of equipment. That went for all stations too. “We put in a number of restrictions to enable social distancing as well. We closed all fire stations to the public, stopped inter-watch or inter-station exercises, cut down transfers, basically cut out the cross-pollination of stations as much as we could. “On station, if gyms couldn’t be properly monitored, they were closed, which was a big deal because we also wanted to keep gyms open for physical well-being and mental health. All meal breaks were rostered, as were coming on or off shift parades.” While locker rooms and dining areas saw social distancing guidelines put in place, the only place it couldn’t be followed was on the appliances, so the decision to wear masks was introduced. “What went with that was a very strict regime about signs and symptoms,” ACFO O’Dwyer says. “We had thermometers in every station and anybody who reported any kind of symptom was immediately removed from work and instructed to contact a COVID Contact Tracing Office we had set up and which was running 24/7 for advice on what to do. Anybody they had been in contact with was also traced and contacted.”

CONTACT TRACING This led to the development of the DFB’s contact tracing app, which was in use months before the HSE introduced SUMMER / AUTUMN 24 FIRECALL

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COVID-19

theirs. “This had a reporting process so every time you went to a COVID-19 case you filled out a form on the app detailing everything, so it was all logged. If we got a call from a hospital telling you the person you brought in two days earlier had tested positive, we could go back and find exactly who the case was handled by and trace back. “Any time anybody went to what was a confirmed positive case, or if there was a PPE breach, they were marked as high priority, and every one of them got a call from senior management to follow up and were referred to our occupational health providers to answer questions to decide if they needed testing.” All of this preparation, sharing of information, implementation of and diligent adherence to strict measures by all personnel led to what is arguably the greatest success for the DFB when it comes to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic: There have only been 18 positive tests in the entire organisation, with well over 200 personnel having been tested. “We are a frontline emergency service dealing with the majority of COVID-19 patients in the city, and while the general health service was affected very badly, we throughout the whole pandemic have only had 18 operational members testing positive,” ACFO O’Dwyer agrees. “Between everything we did, we are doing it right, from logistics to protocols and procedures being issued correctly. Primarily though, from the people on the ground following them correctly and minding themselves and following social distancing and contact tracing. Pulling anybody who showed any signs or symptoms out of the system immediately also worked very well. “The best systems and procedures won’t work if people don’t follow them, but all at DFB followed them to the letter and that has to be commended. They did a great job.”

STAFFING The success of these measures did come at a price though, with the

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Greg O’Dwyer studies the plan.

caution exercised over any suspected case and the need for self-isolation following travel or close contact resulting in significant staff depletion. “At our worst time, we had about 115 people out as close contacts of positive cases,” ACFO O’Dwyer tells me. “That was before the travel ban, so a lot of people were coming back from travel and had to isolate as a precaution. We didn’t take any chances, if you had any symptoms, or were a close contact, you were out, you had to self-isolate for 14 days, and we brought that in long before it was a Government directive. We took people out of the system to protect the system itself. “This could mean being out until you got a test result and were negative, or if you were in contact with a positive case you were also out for 14 days.” The slow rate at which testing was being done added to the challenge. “There was supposed to be fast track testing for frontline workers but it just got too busy. The whole system was overloaded,” ACFO O’Dwyer says. “Sometimes we were waiting three weeks for test results. That’s why we had so many people out. “The big game changer came when

we got the testing partnership with the Rotunda, when we could get our personnel tested within 24 hours. We could have people tested at 9am and have the results back by the end of the day. In the first three days of that coming in we were able to allow 50 people back to work. “We also had a number of people due to retire who deferred it, and that was a great help because a number of them were operational firefighters and officers who were critical in the running of our plans. “Between our conservative policy and having people tested as quickly as possible, we were able to keep our staff depletion at manageable levels. Had we not had that fast track testing brought in, we might have been in a different situation.” That different situation was something that had also been factored in. “We did have a number of initiatives in place in case we needed them, which thankfully we never did,” ACFO O’Dwyer tells me. “We did some simple things at the start such as deferment of leave, we brought in a few retirees on a test case basis which we did formally through Dublin City Council

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COVID-19

to help in the Control Centre, and we had up to 40 people on notice ready to go if needed. “We were very concerned about the Control Centre so we set up our back up resilience control centre, which went live at the OBI, so there was great comfort in knowing that if one went down, the other one was able to do the job. Thankfully, we were able to pull back on that in early May. “We also had an overtime structure in place, and at the start the concern was that people might not want to volunteer for overtime due to their own fears and concerns, but in fairness everybody did, there was no negative uptake. “A huge part of it was that people wanted to contribute. I found that as one of the people ringing around and telling people we had to take them out of the system, they didn’t want to have to hear it, because they knew they would be out for at least 14 days, and they were disappointed because they wanted to be in work to help. Their frustration was palpable.”

MORALE During such a challenging and intense time, morale understandably took a hit, but ACFO O’Dwyer is full of praise for the Sports and Social Club, who helped to provide distractions from the daily grind. “The Sports and Social Club did great work in terms of keeping morale up through challenges and events online,” he says. “Our members had no outlet, all the clubs stopped activity to some degree, but there were inter-watch and inter-station sporting challenges set up, and charity-based events that members could take part in, as well as a lot of club activity on Zoom. “We also had lots of goodwill from the business community, sending us food, and we shared all of this positive news in the bulletin. It was a dark time so we tried to emphasise the positives. “Morale was affected because everybody was working very hard and the overall intensity was tough.

Every element of our service provision was met 100% Firefighters tend to have great camaraderie around the station to help cope with the job, but that was wiped out. There was no craic, there were few breaks, the control room was under immense pressure, as were officers, so everybody was sombre. It was obvious we needed to add some light-heartedness into things, and the work of the Sports and Social Club, and in particular Declan Rice, had a big impact. Our members were coming into a very hard and stressful work environment, working hard all day and then going home, worrying about what they were bringing home to their family, so they played a very important part in organising distractions and keeping morale up.” In late August, there was a setback in the number of confirmed cases, close contacts, and in general personnel removed being symptomatic, but again DFB acted quickly to temporarily stand down, isolate and test all affected personnel, continue its rigorous contact tracing protocols, and perform a number of deep cleans at the station. Hopefully, this will ensure full service continues at this station and throughout DFB. “Our business continuity plan has worked so far, and we expect it to continue to work,” he says. “If we have to escalate further phases we will. If a second wave comes, and our staff depletion is worse, we will take the appropriate action, but our service provision won’t dip.”

THANKS The message to all DFB members now is one of sincere thanks. “We want to send a message of thanks to all sections of DFB,” ACFO O’Dwyer says. “From admin maintaining all services through remote working, taking on additional duties such as manning phones and contract

tracing, to the logistics department working 24/7, to the members with compromised immunities who were instructed by Corporate Health to stay off work but took on different roles to help, to the senior management for working the hours they did, to fire prevention for continuing to do their important legislative roles and our retirees for selflessly volunteering. Every element of our service provision was met 100%. “Thanks to all the staff we had to redeploy, who were all fantastic. The help we got from Dublin City Council has to be acknowledged as well. At no stage did anybody question the need for a resource or the financial support required for those resources. “HR worked from home as well to fast track the recruits coming in, thanks to the Training Centre staff who have worked under very difficult circumstances - a lot of planning and work went into that - and thanks to the Sports and Social Club for keeping morale up. “All of these things collectively helped it to work, but what really made it work was the people on the ground, the people who went out every single day facing the unknown, facing the fear for their own safety and their family’s safety. For them to do what they did, to follow instructions 100%, to provide the input they did, to volunteer to defer leave, to do overtime to make sure we provided the service 100%, that’s where the thanks go. “All of the planning, preparedness, additional resources we put in place, finance, supports, none of that would have worked if they didn’t make it work, and they made it work 24/7, without any break in service ever. And that’s incredible.”

All figures mentioned accurate at time of going to print.

SUMMER / AUTUMN 26 FIRECALL

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DFB ATHLETICS

BORN TO RUN

The DFB Athletics Club has been active despite the restrictions imposed by COVID, writes Podge Thompson

The Around the World Challenge medals

ublin Fire Brigade members have been involved in runs and athletics for many years, with a lot of great charity events under their belts, but it was only in February of this year that the DFB Athletics Club finally came into being following recognition from the Sports and Social Club Committee. Unfortunately, in many ways this couldn’t have been a worse time to start, with COVID-19 meaning most events were cancelled and with restricted movement and social distancing resulting in members having to stay at home, rather than hit the road. The year’s calendar events were all being outlined on the club’s Facebook page, looking for people to sign up, but one by one, they were each cancelled as the pandemic took hold. Nevertheless, the DFB Athletics Club has managed to organise a huge number of events and activities since the start of the year, with the first announcement of an online challenge coming in March, the Virtual Run challenge, set for May.

AROUND THE WORLD

This turned out to be the Around the World Challenge, the task for members being to run a collective 42,073km, or the equivalent of running around the globe, in 31 days. By recording their daily (or weekly) activity on the Strava app, DFB members could share how far they had run or walked to help contribute to the challenge,

Carrying the torch for the DFB Athletics Club

boosting morale and a sense of friendly competition as the km count rose, reaching 3,000km in the first three days and 10,000 by the end of the first week. This was followed quickly by news of the Run Against the Sun challenge, which also took place in May and saw five DFB members run 30km each around Dublin’s fire stations between sunrise and sunset to raise money for The Stewarts Care charity. In order to look good while clocking up the miles, the DFB Athletics Club shop was opened in May, with clothing and accessories including face masks donated by Balon Sports. Next came the Green Mile Challenge, with anyone involved in the Around the World Challenge invited

to take part in a one-mile run or walk in their own garden. As with the other events, prizes were on offer for those who put in the greatest effort. Meanwhile, the Around the World Challenge saw the gauntlet being thrown down several times, with A Watch Donnybrook running the equivalent of the length of Ireland in one week, and D Watch Tallaght running 1.7km in BA gear, followed by a 5km run in normal attire. The fun was ramped up for the Around the World Challenge with a selfie scavenger hunt introduced in which runners could take a selfie with a number of items or buildings on a pre-set list to win prizes. This was followed by a Red Run Challenge, in

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DFB ATHLETICS

To watch people achieve those type of distances over the challenge was amazing, with some members completing 2 and 1/2 marathons in a week... which runners could take a selfie of themselves wearing red while clocking up the kms, and a 50km in three days challenge, in which participants could win a FitBit donated by Avalon. The distance covered was amazing, and I think members are loving the fun element we have brought to running and walking. By 17 May, the Around the World Challenge had reached 26,000km, before the Athletics Club introduced the 5k Virtual Disney Run for young athletes, with every participant getting a certificate and entered into a draw for a secret prize. Competition ramped up again in the Around the World Challenge as DFB members were asked if they could manage to clock up 100km on their own in seven days. Everyone who could would get a DFB Centurion t-shirt to show off. This proved to be a good incentive, with the final km count by the end of the month coming in at a remarkable 60,000km.

The Athletics Club shop means you can look good while clocking up the kms

OUT OF THIS WORLD After catching some breath, the Out of This World Challenge was next on the agenda, with the aim being to run the 384,000km it would take to go to the Moon, with similar scavenger hunts (and a Chewbacca impression challenge) added to proceedings to keep people on their toes and to increase the fun levels. By mid-August, 200,000km had been recorded, so the target was well within reach. The distance for the Around the World and Out of this World challenges are the first of their kind ever in the world. It’s amazing to see. To watch people achieve those type of distances over the challenge was amazing, with some members completing 2 and 1/2 marathons in a week... if I mentioned that distance at the start they wouldn’t have got involved. It truly is amazing to witness and watch members get out with family and friends and abide by social distancing measures, while under all the time the pressures in work due to

the pandemic, is a credit to what they firefighters of Dublin Fire Brigade are capable of. In another vein, it was announced that all DFB members were invited from 21 to 23 August to run in aid of the ICU at Beaumont Hospital and to remember FF/P Dave McLoughlin. The distance of 13.76 km reflects his badge number. In August, the Spartan Challenge was also announced, with DFB members tasked with running 100km and cycling 200km in 13 days, and given the amount of activity among Athletics Club and DFB members, there will surely be more challenges and more miles on the horizon. Following that is the Big Jessie Challenge in October, in honour of the late, great Aido O’Grady, where some of our members are aiming to run a 5km, 10km, half marathon and full marathon on the weekend that the Dublin City Marathon would have gone ahead. I must give a huge amount of thanks to all of the Lead Team Reps who did great work volunteering their free time to help organise all of the challenges. They have been excellent, and the Athletics Club would have stopped before it even got up and running if it was not for them. The Athletics Club is a great way to get involved with the greater Sports and Social Club, and we encourage you to sign up and join in by mailing us at dfbatheltics@gmail.com

T-shirts for the Out of this World Challenge DFB Centurion t-shirts

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Bro. Kevin would like to thank those who have donated to the Capuchin Day Centre, enabling us to provide 850 meals a day and 1,700 food parcels a week for the people who attend the centre. We have a doctor’s clinic, dental clinic and chiropodist on-site and showers are provided every day.

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DFBCC CYCLING CLUB

CYCLING THROUGH COVID WITH THE DFBCC

Brendan Lodola outlines this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disrupted but successful year and looks forward to new challenges in 2021

DFBCC members outside the Training Centre

020 was to be another positive and progressive year for Dublin Fire Brigade Cycling Club. Our membership are continuing to grow, and we had a busy calendar planned, with the Mizen to Malin challenge, our DFB sportive Staying In the Saddle for Prostate Cancer, other national club sportives throughout the year and other challenges for beginners and new members. The DFBCC planned to cycle the length of Ireland from Mizen to Malin Head in April. To make the experience as enjoyable as possible, we decided

to take a scenic route, involving a lot of climbing, while seeing the sights of the West of Ireland. Starting in Mizen Head, we planned to cycle to Glengarriff, Kilkee, via Killarney National Park, Tuam, Donegal Town and onto Mizen Head, a journey of 670km over five days. The cyclists prepared themselves for the task in hand, which involved many days out cycling in the hills, in the wind and rain - not the most enjoyable conditions but when cycling in Ireland, wind and rain are to be expected. Roll on to March 2020, and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, and unfortunately a

potential stop to our upcoming cycle. Keeping the spirits up, we continued to train, within the Governmentimposed restrictions, in the hope that we would still be able to travel later in the year. However, in the end we had to make the difficult decision to postpone our event to 2021.

CHALLENGE We were completing this challenge in aid of the St James Foundation, as one of the cyclists, and a club member, is a patient of the Oncology department. The sponsorship we had raised would have to be kept in an account until it was finished. Therefore, to release

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DFBCC CYCLING CLUB

NEW MEMBERS

Taking a rest during the Mizen to Malin Challenge

the funds to the charity, we decided to individually cycle the 670km, adhering to travel restrictions, over the course of a week from 15-21 June. This proved to be as difficult, if not more so, than the original challenge, as most of the cycling was done by individual cyclists alone, from their homes and around a limited area. However, we thought it was only fair as people had been very generous with their donations to support us. On 15 June, myself, Joe Kiernan, Mario Lodola, Liz Hanley, Ken Cahill and Miriam Staunton started the mammoth task of cycling the 670km over the course of a week. We cycled through hot sunshine and downpours, but that didn’t deter us, and the kilometres were clocked up, day by day, with everyone ensuring they completed the distance by 21 June. Additionally, to boost morale, the DFBCC in conjunction with the DFB Sports and Social Club, ran a cycling challenge for the month of June within the DFB, and the Mizen to Malin challenge fell into Week 2. In addition to completing the distance, there were prizes for fastest time, most metres climbed and longest time in the saddle. A team of cyclists who took part in the June challenge completed the distance as part of a relay team: D Watch HQ; Podge Thompson, Ken Cleary, Ger Lonegan, Neil McEvoy and Colm McCarthy. Well done to everyone for completing this distance. We raised

an amazing e8,050 for St James Foundation, so a huge thank you to everyone involved, whose dedication and commitment is to be commended. Thanks also to everyone who donated to this cause.

SPORTIVE Last year was our first DFBCC Sportive, Staying in the Saddle for Prostate Cancer, which was set up to promote health and fitness within DFB through weekly training and taking part in other club’s sportives, to boost morale within DFB, to create awareness of men’s health issues and encourage men to look out for signs and symptoms and get tested early. It was a great success in 2019, and we were all set for an even bigger event this year. Unfortunately, we had to inform registrants that we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 edition. In light of the ongoing impact and risk from COVID-19, we felt this was the right and responsible call to make. We have had to put the safety and wellbeing of our riders and volunteers, and public health considerations above everything else. We were looking forward to putting on a fantastic Sportive and are disappointed we can’t do that safely, but anyone who registered was given the option of a refund, or to carry their registration over to next year’s event. This event will hopefully happen on Sunday, 9 May, 2021.

We are always looking for new members. I know there are always reasons not to join, but there are more reasons why you should. Before I joined, I had the usual concerns… I don’t have time. I’m too busy with the kids. I wouldn’t be strong enough, fit enough, fast enough. I’ll be holding everyone up. I won’t make the distance. I would look dreadful wearing all that skinhugging lycra. And so on… But there are so many reasons to join DFB Cycling Club: Fitness, creating head space, wellness, enjoying the outdoors and scenery, feeling good after a good workout, meeting new people, new goals and challenges, travelling and seeing new places, erasing all your fears, being part of a group, inclusion. So, don’t be shy, contact one of the members in your station or the numbers below. We will be running more events for all levels later in the year. Information on these events will be emailed to our members and posted on WhatsApp and Facebook. Thank you for support and loyalty. We hope that you will join us out training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at next year’s Sportive in May. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you all. In the meantime, stay fit, safe and well. Here’s to many happy days on the bike in the future!

Please get in touch at dfbcyclingclub@gmail.com or call if you have any questions: Brendan 087 299 6572 Liz 086 316 5006 Joe 086 370 7031

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RECRUIT TRAINING

TRAINING IN LOCKDOWN Class 1/2020 have just completed their training under the most unusual circumstances. Course Director Tom Doolan tells Adam Hyland how hard work and discipline kept everybody safe.

n previous issues I have followed recruit training at the DFB Training Centre, but in the current pandemic, how the latest class has been prepared for service has seen dramatic but necessary changes and a monumental effort on the part of everybody at the OBI. I met with Course Director A/D/O Tom Doolan in July as the class neared the end of their training, and after going through sanitising and temperature checks, was shown around the grounds to witness just how this class of 54 were trained in complete safety under strict isolation guidelines. The spreading out of lockers, changing rooms and classrooms, and the separation of the group into syndicates of six who worked and ate together without ever mixing with other syndicates immediately brought home the amount of work done to ensure recruit and instructor safety, and the challenges the Training Centre faced in preparing this class for a career in the DFB. In itself, a class of 54 (48 from Dublin and several retained firefighters from surrounding counties, ranging from 21 to 46, plus nine instructors) is large and presents its own challenges. “It is a very broad group,” Course Director Doolan tells me. “We have eight females included, and because of the COVID-19 plans in place, we actually have an all-female syndicate of six for the first time, as far as I am

aware. Due to the requirement to isolate each syndicate in their own locker room we had to create an allfemale syndicate.” With COVID-19 at its peak in April, the fact that training even went ahead is amazing, and testament to the work of the OBI staff, who were themselves unsure whether the course could go ahead.

UNCERTAINTY

“The class started on 27 April, two weeks before we planned to, to give us two weeks of breathing space if we had any issues or if we needed to pull back or catch up on any training that may have been missed due to the disease,” Course Director Doolan says. “We were right in the middle of COVID-19 and cases were going up, so the reality

was that we were going week by week. We didn’t know how far we would get, but we had planned to get through the whole training programme. “There was uncertainty amongst the recruits and among senior management, because there are obvious risks to running training courses during a pandemic. So, the recruits got a bit of a surprise when training did go ahead, and especially when they heard it was brought forward by two weeks.” Given the seriousness of the situation, the class was immediately faced with the strict guidelines necessary to undergo training in safety, on what must have been an unusual first day. “From the minute they came in here they were cordoned off from each other into their groups or pods,” Course Director Doolan tells me. “We planned out our syndicates of six in advance and allocated where they were going to be lockered, where they were going to sit in classrooms, and the morning they arrived they were lined up outside, two metres apart, and brought in one by one, brought through COVID checks, hands washed, temperature checked, signed in, and then brought straight to their designated classroom space. Once we had everyone on site, I went around and explained exactly what was going to happen. So, the welcome to the DFB was pre-empted by the message

Course Director A/D/O Tom Doolan outside the Training Centre.

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The 2 metre spacing of recruits meant a group photo could only be taken using a drone on the drill yard, but each syndicate of six did have their photo taken on the Training Centre steps

of ‘this is COVID-19 and this is what we are going to do’.” The Training Centre was closed to everybody but the recruit class and instructors, which meant the group could be divided into isolated pods and spaced out properly, using many areas that wouldn’t normally be used for training and keeping each group separated from others. Keeping such isolation measures in place were crucial, Course Director

Doolan explains: “The general rule was that anybody coming in from the outside was considered a risk of cross-contamination to the class and instructors. It’s not a nice way to look at it but that was the reality.” With such measures in place from the outset, even the traditional first day photo of the class had to be rethought, and a drone was brought in to capture the image of the recruits standing two metres apart in the drill

yard, rather than on the front steps of the building, although each syndicate did get their photo taken there, at a safe distance from each other.

DISTANCING

To ensure this distancing remained in place meant a huge amount of preparation and constant monitoring. “My team planned well in advance,” Course Director Doolan tells me. “We came out to the OBI and put whatever

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RECRUIT TRAINING

plans were needed in place. The staff at the OBI had set up the place really well. They showed us what they had done to prepare and then handed it over and told us to do what we needed to do, to adapt it, improve it, whatever we needed. BTO Carroll, A/B/T/O Kiernan and all the staff had done a huge amount of great work to make it possible. “The mindset of everyone here now is different to what it was back in April. Even though COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, it is natural for people’s mindsets to change, but when we first came out here the situation was very bad. What we were coming up with was extremely cautious, but that’s what we needed to do because we had no choice. We had to be as strict as

possible with distancing.” As a walk around the grounds showed, this included strict signing in and temperature checks every morning at each pod, eliminating any chance of cross-contamination between syndicates during downtime, separate toilet and shower facilities, and an emphasis on reporting any signs or symptoms immediately. Gone too was the shared dining area, which meant extra work for the canteen staff, who had to prepare and hot-box all of the food for nine syndicates into takeaway carts and send it over to each pod. It also meant training courses had to be done differently, which required a lot of consideration. “The classrooms were a huge issue because we couldn’t fit everybody

into the one class anymore due to the need to maintain social distancing,” Course Director Doolan tells me, “so they were broken into groups of three syndicates – 18 people in total – with the same classrooms, same desks each day, same people. Each desk was a minimum of 2.5 metres apart. The problem we faced then was that we had three different rooms in which the same lecture had to be delivered. “We had to come up with a way to do it. There were IT options, but it isn’t the same as having an instructor in the room. I made the decision to group the lectures into groups of three, based on their natural place in the course structure and their length, giving three different lectures at the same time, so classroom 1 got lecture A, classroom 2 got lecture B, and so on. At the end of those lectures the instructors would then move to the next classroom, where they would deliver the same lecture, maintaining strict social distancing in the classroom at all times. “The advantage of this option was that the workload on instructors was not trebled, because they were delivering the same lecture three times, rather than three separate lectures. Secondly, the consistency of delivery was assured.” When external lecturers were needed, such as for Health and Safety or HR, three lecturers were requested to provide the class to each group at the same time.

TRAINING

Social distancing in all areas from locker rooms to classrooms, constant reminders to wash hands, and the provision of sanitising facilities throughout the Training Centre were required.

Practical training also presented challenges to overcome. “We were very conscious that recruits would not move between their syndicates when training on the drill yard, so when they were doing ladder drills, for instance, that syndicate and their instructor worked together as a unit and didn’t mix with any other. Basic training was done this way, and when we went on to specialist courses, we used the same three-group approach, so one group of 18 would be doing RTC, one group of 18 would

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be doing BA, and so on. In previous recruit courses it would be normal to break up the syndicates after basic training and mix them up for the specialist courses so they could get to know each other, but obviously we couldn’t do that this time. “New instructors would come in to do those courses, but we podded them as well, so within that course there was very little cross-contamination.” For other courses and in other situations, alternative measures or barriers to close contact were introduced. Social distancing couldn’t be maintained in the BA workroom where space was confined, for instance, so each recruit had to wear a surgical mask. Each recruit, however, was issued with a single BA mask for the entirety of the course, which had to be washed, disinfected and dried, then placed on their desk away from everybody’s else’s. Despite the overriding issue of COVID-19, there wasn’t a specific course on dealing with it, but Course Director Doolan says that the overall emphasis on distancing and COVID guidelines meant each recruit clearly got a deep level of understanding of what was required. “The DFB Health and Safety Unit standard presentation on safety that is given to all new recruits had COVID-19 protocols added to it to reinforce everything we had already told them. We may as well have been doing standalone COVID courses because of the amount of time we spent talking about it. The class is constantly reminded of the safety protocols and their own role, and I have put a huge emphasis on each recruit taking personal responsibility both in the training centre and while off duty. “It is absolutely drilled into them at this stage. The overall factor in this course has been COVID-19, but we can’t let that get in the way because we have to train each recruit to the same standard and they have to achieve the same competencies as

For practical courses, each syndicate remained in their pods of six to avoid cross-contamination with others.

anyone else. But each recruit has been fully drilled on how to operate within this environment.”

DIFFERENCES

Another challenge faced by the recruit class was the barrier towards group bonding, both within and outside the Training Centre, and the emphasis on working as a unit that can be so important in getting through the tough training process, but the group has managed to get by in other ways. “As a class overall there are people who won’t get to know each other well, especially those in other groups,” says Course Director Doolan, “but on the flipside, the syndicates have spent more time together than they ever would have previously, so they certainly got to know each other, and the groups of 18 have been together through the whole course. So, what they have lost out on

in some ways, they gain in other ways when it comes to camaraderie.” Another difference for this class was that because of distancing and uncertainty, they didn’t begin marching training early in the course. “We didn’t know how far we were going to get with the course, so we were trying to get as much practical work done as possible,” Course Director Doolan says. “When COVID-19 cases started to settle down, we thought we might just get to the end of training, there might be a pass out, so we would need to teach the class to march.” Within their final weeks, marching training was in full swing, with each recruit wearing a mask, but this too led to some very different situations. “When they started marching as a group, people who didn’t have much contact with other groups were all of a sudden thinking: ‘Who is that?’ because

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The general rule was that anybody coming in from the outside was considered a risk of cross-contamination to the class and instructors they were seeing people they swore they had never seen before,” Course Director Doolan laughs. Despite these challenges, the recruit class has got on very well, he adds. “You will always have a broad mix of character types, and this class is no different, even if they know they will probably be called the COVID class forever. But they are achieving the same standard as any other course, absolutely, because we can’t afford to let anyone out of here who doesn’t achieve those standards. COVID makes no difference to that whatsoever.” One addition to the course was a new wildfire fighting module, which has yet to be delivered operationally. “We may as well train the class in everything we can while we have the 54 here,” Course Director Doolan explains. “When they are scattered to the four winds, to bring them all back in for another course or module is almost impossible, but if we can train them when they are a captive audience, then it makes sense to get it done.”

PASS OUT

At the time of writing, pass out is due on August 19, but there has been uncertainty about this too, due to changes in Government guidelines on social distancing and restrictions, as Course Director Doolan explains: “We don’t yet know what format it will be, but it is now on the table, and it is brilliant to have been able to do that. At the moment we are prepping for a proper pass out where the recruits will do their display. The initial plan was to film and livestream it, with no guests in attendance because the regulations

at the time were for no more than 20 people, which is obviously quite minimal. Then things moved on where you could have 100 people together, and now it is at 200. It was supposed to go to 500 but that has been rolled back, so 200 is quite tight for us, especially for a class of 54. This is reviewed again on August 10, which is nine days before pass out. If it is 500, we are in a good place, but if it is 200, we are going to have to restrict it to two people per recruit. “Irrespective of what the number is, this will be a ticketed event, so nobody without a ticket will be allowed in. We need to be able to control the numbers and know exactly how many people we have there, and who they are. This includes everybody from the Chief Fire Officer to the Lord Mayor. We need to maintain a list of every single person who is here so we can do contact tracing. “Throughout this course I have had to make three or four plans for everything, because we don’t know where things are going. With pass out it is exactly the same. We are still going to livestream it, even if we are allowed to have 500 there, because we need to have back up plans in place. We have no choice. “I’m very mindful of how this affects people and I’m not happy that recruits might not be able to bring all of their family on the day, because they are the ones who have sacrificed a lot in terms of having them here training so hard for the last few months, but we can’t go against the guidelines. The pass out day is all about the recruits and their families and it is a big regret of mine

that there is a possibility we will not be able to bring all of their family.” Another bonus for us is that rather than having some recruits assigned to stations while others stay on to start the paramedic course, all of the class will start paramedic training after two weeks, apart from four previously qualified paramedics. Course Director Doolan sees this as a positive, as he says the whole class can complete their Paramedic training together and nobody will have to wait until the next recruit class. By the time this comes out, we will know what form the pass out took, but congratulations are due to all of the recruits for passing the course in such strange and challenging circumstances. Congratulations and thanks are also due to all of the people who helped make this recruit training programme happen, and Course Director Doolan says he is very grateful to them all. “I’d like to thank all of the staff at the OBI,” he says. “Many thanks to B/T/O Brendan Carroll and A/B/T/O Frank Kiernan, as well as D/O Paul Lambert, all of the Admin office staff and those working from home but who were always available, the FF/Ps attached here permanently, and all of the catering staff. We also had huge assistance from DFB Logistics who pulled out all the stops to get equipment and uniforms to us ahead of the original planned dates. “I’d also like to express my appreciation to all of the specialist instructors who gave up their time to provide vital training to the recruits. “Lastly, I’d like to express my appreciation to my Assistant Course Director Peter Sherlock and to all of my syndicate officers who did Trojan work to overcome massive complications that would not normally be a factor in a recruit course. Training recruits is normally a difficult and time-consuming task, but the effort put in by the instructors for this class has been unbelievable. “All of these people can’t be forgotten. They have all had their workloads massively increased in order to see this happen, and I’m extremely grateful to all of them.”

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DFB HISTORY

n a previous article for Firecall, I looked at the newly discovered history of Dublin Fire Brigade’s Thomas Curran, having come across him while researching firefighters who took part in Ireland’s fight for freedom. In that first article, I told the story of how, with the help of a good friend and top class US-based researcher, Christina McMullen, I had found material showing that Tom, a seaman by trade, was mentioned in letters by Joseph McGarrity, the major Irish-American Republican figure and leader of Clan na Gael, as an important conduit for arms importation and intelligence work. He featured in the seizure of IRA Thompson sub-machine guns by US Federal agents, and we knew that he went on to join the DFB in 1924. The period after he returned to Ireland remained a mystery. Here, I hope to throw some light on Tom’s work during the Irish Revolution. In 1934, the then government introduced an act to allow for payment of pensions and the award of medals to those who had taken part in Ireland’s fight for freedom. The process was open to all who had taken part in the period from 1916-1923 regardless of which side they had taken in the Civil War. A previous pensions act introduced under Cumann na nGaedheal had only allowed pensions to those who took the pro-Treaty side. The process of applying for medals or pensions under the 1934 Military Service Pensions Act was detailed and bureaucratic, with numerous forms to be filled in, references to be supplied and an interview by a board of examiners. Thomas Curran made his statement to the examining committee on 22 February, 1937. In his statement, Tom says he joined the Irish Volunteers (IRA) in February 1918 while on shore leave from his job on transatlantic cargo ships. He joined ‘F’ Company of the 4th Battalion, a unit based in the Inchicore / Kilmainham area. Tom was a member of the 4th Battalion from 1918, but he was

Former DFB member and prolific gun smuggler for the Republican cause Thomas Curran (front and centre)

THOMAS CURRAN:

THE TALE CONTINUED DFB historian Las Fallon returns to the fascinating story of the firefighter and Republican

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DFB HISTORY

Tom Curran (left) with two colleagues and the station dog at Rathmines.

already a member of Clan na Gael, having been sworn in to the secret society by Joseph McGarrity in Philadelphia the previous year. From 1917, Tom was bringing material supplied by Clan na Gael back to Ireland on each trip. He estimated that each trip comprised a cargo of 20 to 30 small arms which he got off the ship by arrangement with a contact, a Mr Kennedy, who arranged dockers (probably Irish Citizen Army members as the ICA had a strong presence in Dublin port) to smuggle the guns ashore. In his statement is a small nugget of Irish revolutionary history, when Tom mentions that he smuggled the first two Thompsons into Ireland, brought over to be inspected by GHQ officers and flying column commanders with a view to placing a major order. They were first test fired at the Casino in Marino beside the O`Brien Institute. Tom’s work and success at bringing in weapons brought him to the attention of the IRA’s General Headquarters Staff and he was ordered to bring in any weapons he could for distribution by GHQ. He did this but continued to bring in ‘side orders’ of arms and ammunition for ‘F’ Company. The main weapon Tom mentions being smuggled in by him was the Colt automatic pistol. This was the Colt Model of 1911, which was the standard sidearm of the US military. It was a

powerful handgun, firing a .45ACP cartridge. It was a rugged and dependable weapon, essential features for the close quarter gunfights which were typical of IRA operations in Dublin, as opposed to the more long-distance rifle fighting of rural ambushes. In any guerrilla war, arms and ammunition are both vital supplies, but especially ammunition. The IRA never had enough and relied on capturing supplies from enemy forces. Small amounts were smuggled in from the UK through IRA contacts in London, Liverpool and Glasgow in particular. There were constant shortages and the ammunition for weapons like the Colt.45 and the 7.63mm and 9mm Mauser C96 (the ‘Peter the Painter’ beloved of IRA units) could not be sourced locally as Crown Forces units did not carry weapons in the required calibres. Tom’s first direct importation for GHQ was four sea bags of .45 ACP ammunition. He puts the combined weight of the ammunition at 11 ‘hundredweight’ – over 500 kg. He also took in 14 Colt automatics for ‘F’ Company, 4th Battalion, on the same trip, and instructed members of the company on the care and use of the Colt while on leave. While on shore leave in March 1921, Tom took part in a major operation by ‘F’ Company when they took over the Great Southern and Western Railway Works at Inchicore and removed

armour plating stored there. Over the course of a night, the members loaded the armour plating on to a truck and later dumped part of it in the Grand Canal at the bridge on Killeen Road, Ballyfermot. The armour plating was being used to ‘up-armour’ British Army and RIC Crossley tenders and Lancia trucks and to build armoured Lancias. The staff at the works were largely sympathetic to the Republican cause and a hidden workshop there was casting hand grenade bodies for the IRA, while some weapons were also repaired by specialists there. The company itself, however, was broadly Unionist and had provided rudimentary armoured personnel carriers and vehicle armour to the British forces in 1916 and 1919-1921. At this point, Tom Curran was making six trips per year to the United States and bringing back material on each trip. As we saw in the previous article, Tom was involved in the attempt to import a large quantity of Thompson sub machine guns for the IRA. While my initial understanding was that he was overlooked by the Federal agents as he was a crew member, his statement says that he was in fact arrested. He was released from custody (or more likely jumped bail) and, using the IRA networks in the US, was smuggled out of the States on a ship sailing to London. The escape was arranged by Harry Boland, a senior Republican figure who had accompanied De Valera to the US and who was one of the men behind the plan to buy the Thompsons. True to form, Tom Curran managed to bring ten Colt automatics with him to Sam Maguire, the IRA quartermaster in London (and the man for whom the All-Ireland football trophy is named). As the Truce of 11 July, 1921, had come into effect when Tom arrived in London, he was ordered not to bring the Colts to Dublin as it would be a breach of the Truce if he was caught. He remembered that Sam Maguire’s assistant used the cover name ‘Mr Thompson’. Tom Curran arrived back into Dublin in a time of chaos. Many on the Republican side believed the Truce

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DFB HISTORY would break down. As an experienced seaman who knew both the ports and the contacts, he was approached by Liam Mellowes, GHQ’s Director of Supplies, and ordered to report to Liverpool and help run arms smuggling out of that city. On arrival, Tom reported to the Officer Commanding, Dr Daly, and was appointed Assistant Officer Commanding, Liverpool IRA. At this time, he used the cover name ‘Tom Clarke’. His role in Liverpool was to organise the removal of arms and ammunition being smuggled on boats arriving from the US and from a new smuggling route from Hamburg. Weapons and ammunition were hidden on boats heading to Dublin, Cork, Sligo and Dundalk. As Ireland slid towards Civil War following the signing of the Treaty, Tom stood by the Republic. He returned to Dublin and reported to Liam Mellowes, now a senior officer of the anti-Treaty forces. He told Mellowes he would “never go into Beggars Bush” (i.e. join the Free State or National Army). He was appointed to the Four Courts garrison, the headquarters of the anti-Treaty forces in Dublin. His job was a familiar one – working on the Dublin docks ensuring that arms and ammunition coming into Dublin from IRA sources overseas were all diverted to the antiTreaty side.

When the troops of the new government opened fire on former comrades with borrowed British guns on 28 June, 1922, Tom reported back to his unit, taking with him 4,000 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition for Thompson sub machine guns and Colt autos. He was part of the unit holding the Corporation Workshops at Stanley Street (now the DFB garage) where he used his rifle and Colt pistol until out of ammunition. He was captured and taken to the Jameson distillery with the men of the Four Courts garrison, and then to the Bridewell DMP barracks, from which he managed to escape. Tom reported back to the IRA and was ordered to return to Liverpool and set up new arms links to supply material for the Republican forces. Many of the old contacts were now on the pro-Treaty side and he had to start again, working with a new O/C, Liam Pedlar, to keep a lifeline of arms and ammunition. His network continued to send material to the anti-Treaty side until the Ceasefire order from Republican Commander in Chief, Frank Aiken, that ended the Civil War. Tom Curran returned to Dublin, a city devastated by Civil War. His old commander, Liam Mellowes had been shot in December of 1922 along with three comrades also captured at the Four Courts the previous June. The city and the country were racked by unemployment and the

Free State army was in the process of demobilising thousands of troops no longer required. On 18 May, 1924, Tom Curran joined Dublin Fire Brigade. It might seem extraordinary that he could do so. Technically, he was an escaped prisoner still at large, and a man who had taken up arms against the state. But at this time many Republicans found jobs in Dublin Fire Brigade, such as Tom Kavanagh, a Lieutenant in Tom’s IRA unit and a 1916 veteran, who had been in the DFB throughout, as had Austin McDonald, another 4th Battalion man, and a number of other active IRA and Citizen Army members. William Carroll, an anti-Treaty IRA member and Officer commanding ‘J’ Company 1st Battalion joined on the same day as Tom, and they would later be joined by other 1916 veterans and anti-Treaty IRA fighters such as James Scully, a former member of the Liverpool IRA and the Four Courts garrison who would have known Tom, as well as other men 1916 veterans with anti-Treaty service such as Paddy Kelly, George Connolly, Denis Fitzpatrick and Dan O`Dowd, among others. Tom Curran went on to serve Dublin Fire Brigade and this city until his retirement in August 1954. He died in March 1962. He was an unassuming patriot who deserves our remembrance.

True to form, Tom Curran managed to bring ten Colt automatics with him to Sam Maguire FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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INTERNATIONAL PROFILE

Nashua FD Engine

Nashua FD Station

NASHUA FD,

The Dive Team in action

Captain Gordon Wilson talks to Adam Hyland about life in Nashua and his connection to Dublin Fire Brigade

casual ‘Like’ on a Twitter post by DFB member Declan Byrne led to a new connection with Captain Gordon Wilson and the fire department in Nashua, New Hampshire, Following the post, they struck up a friendship that led to a couple of visits to Ireland, which Captain Wilson says he would love to continue, bringing some of his crew with him and perhaps welcoming DFB members over to his home town in the future. Nashua is situated just over the border from Massachusetts in what is considered one of the nicest places to live in America, and has six fire

stations spread across the area. Captain Wilson has been in charge of Station 2 for eight years, and has been a firefighter with Nashua FD for 27. He also helped form the New Hampshire FD Pipe Band, and was Pipe Major for 20 years “until life got in the way”. Station 2, which houses an engine, ladder vehicle, Hazmat vehicle and Dive Team vehicle, is made up of 32 people, divided into four groups. Each group works a 24-hour shift, followed by 48 hours off, then another 24-hour shift every week, and they are kept busy due to the variety of environments and areas they need to cover over their 32 square miles.

WORKLOAD “In all there are 170 full-time firefighters in the Nashua FD, including a Captain for each station and one

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INTERNATIONAL PROFILE

The Nashua FD team meet up with DFB’S Declan Byrne and Neil McCabe

The Dive Team requires specialist training for ice rescues

The Nashua FD golf trip to Ireland

Captain Gordon Wilson

in charge of the HazMat Team,” he tells me, “but we also have Call Departments, with four or five people on duty around the clock and other firefighters brought in to help when the need arises. “We deal with a little bit of everything. We have a fairly condensed urban area downtown, and to the south we have a lot of what we call New Englander houses – two and a half story wood-framed houses built in the early 1900s – which form the majority of residential buildings. These are obviously vulnerable to fire. A lot of them have been divided into apartments, but there are also a lot of modern apartments and on the west side, single family residences. You can still see where the farms used to be, but they are evidence of the suburban sprawl. “The south also has a lot of retail, and these can present risks. There are still a lot of old mill buildings that present a high risk. You can get turned around very easily in them, so we have to be very wary in them. Then, we also have a lot of woods close by where we get a lot of bushfires, so there really is a pretty good mix. You could run into something different every day on the job.”

The Nashua tower

HAZMAT & DIVE TEAM On top of this variety is the fact that Station 2’s size means both the HazMat and Dive teams are located there, meaning a lot of specialist training is required. “Station 2 used to be a mile down the road in a beautiful two-bay firehouse built around 1900 that is now used as our dispatch centre,” Captain Wilson says. “In 1998, we were able to build a bigger station and at the same time we wanted to form a HazMat team, so they made it big enough to accommodate that.

“The Dive Team was formed around 2000,” he continues, “and we still had enough room for them too as they don’t take up too much space, having just one truck with all of their equipment stored on that. “The local Grace Chemicals company had a large facility in south Nashua, and that prompted the formation of the team. They have since gone out of business so that risk isn’t there anymore, but we do have a highway running through Nashua into Massachusetts, so there is always that transportation concern.” Nashua FD is part of a Mutual Aid agreement with surrounding areas, meaning they can come to the aid of other fire departments to tackle major incidents, and the HazMat

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INTERNATIONAL PROFILE team is included in this. “Basically, we provide the HazMat Team for all of the surrounding towns,” says Captain Wilson. The Dive Team is also kept busy with the Nashua and Merrimac rivers both seeing a lot of activity. “There is a lot of boating and fishing activity along the Merrimac,” Captain Wilson tells me, “and there is a high population density around the Nashua River, especially in the summer. But as with HazMat, the Dive Team doesn’t just serve Nashua, it responds to incidents far and wide.”

WEATHER One of the big differences to life as a DFB firefighter is the dramatic difference in the climate, with very hot summers and very cold winters, and this presents a lot of challenges for Nashua firefighters, Captain Wilson tells me. “In summer, the heat certainly takes its toll in terms of dehydration and heat exhaustion,” he says. “The Chief Officers and Deputies overseeing fires are conscious of the need to call in extra companies to respond to fires when it is really hot. A fire in April or May is not so challenging, and they might keep the response to two alarms (or stations), but in August, for example, they would extend that to three to give the firefighters less work to do and to give them a break. “To be honest though,” he adds, “the heat in summer is a lot easier to deal with than the snow in winter. It gets very cold. We end up with frozen hydrants, which is a real problem, and any snowstorm can present real challenges. Last year wasn’t so bad, but three years ago it seemed that every call out involved us having to shovel hydrants out of huge snow drifts.” He discusses a photo he sent of a colleague in one of these snow banks. “The snow is piled up over his head.

Granted, he’s not that tall,” he jokes, “but still, the snow bank was almost twice as high as him. “The snow, ice and sheer cold are difficult. The condensation that forms from exhaling into your mask, the regulators start to freeze up. A lot of the time when firefighters are coming out of buildings, you can hear the air being blown out of their face-piece because it’s frozen open. Then we have the couplings on our fire hoses freezing up. “One tip,” he adds, “is to when everything is done and you are trying to take those hose couplings apart when they are frozen, is to drag them over to the exhaust on one of the trucks and let it defrost there. “For the Dive Team, having to go under the ice in winter is a major thing. It requires specialised training for search and rescue procedures and operations, on top of the specialised training just to be on the Dive Team. Despite these challenges, Captain Wilson admits that the aspect of the job he finds most difficult is the volume of medical calls they have to respond to. “I know the DFB have the massive workload of ambulance calls compared to us, but while we don’t have our own ambulances, we do usually send an engine to all medical calls, and there is a challenge in attending so many of these calls. For what we do and where we are, getting eight to ten calls overnight when you are working a 24hour shift is quite a challenge.”

PEOPLE There are many upsides to working and living in this beautiful area though, he tells me, and first and foremost for Captain Wilson is the people he works with. “We are very lucky in Nashua, because we are the only fire department in the State to have four main engine and ladder companies,

“The heat in summer is a lot easier to deal with than the snow in winter”

but it’s the people who make it fun to go to work. Everyone looks out for one another. It’s the same everywhere – not everybody gets along or is good buddies, but when stuff goes down, everybody always works together. “It goes without saying that we are the best fire department in New Hampshire,” he jokes. “Or to extend that, outside of Boston. “Seriously though, for us, a call out involves two engines, a ladder, a deputy and deputy’s aide, so we are throwing 14 to 20 people at a working fire, and seeing all of those people working so well together makes it a great job. We have a lot of small fires in Nashua that don’t get big because we have the manpower to deal with them before they can get more serious.”

DFB CONNECTION Going back to how he first came into contact with DFB, Captain Wilson explains: “I ended up meeting FF/P Declan Byrne after we talked on Twitter back in 2016. He said that if I was ever visiting Ireland to look him up, and I said, well it just so happens I am. We met up, and then he introduced me to FF/P Neil McCabe, and it went on from there. “Last October, eight of us from Nashua FD came to Ireland to play golf, and we met up again.” Captain Wilson says he would love for this connection to continue and expand, with the idea of an interdepartment visit now firmly taking root in his head. “I would love to be able to put something together to come over and visit the DFB,” he says. “All eight of us who were on the golf trip would certainly like to go back. I hope that we will see something like that being put together in the future when things have settled down internationally. “We had a lot of fun last time, and it’s always great fun to talk firefighter stuff with people from other areas. For me, that’s one of the best parts of being a firefighter. You can talk and get along with firefighters from anywhere in the world. There really isn’t a whole lot of difference between DFB and Nashua FD, we have a lot in common.”

SUMMER / AUTUMN 48 FIRECALL

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STATION PROFILE

STATION PROFILE B WATCH NORTH STRAND THE CREW OF B WATCH IN NORTH STRAND TAKE TIME OUT TO TALK ABOUT CHANGING TIMES AND SAY GOODBYE TO A VETERAN

S/O Joe Kiernan

he crew of B Watch North Strand were in flying form when I went to visit them on a rainy Friday evening in July, with jokes and banter flying from the moment I walked in, and more than one of the crew ready and waiting to have their picture taken. The good atmosphere was evident, and is something that each of the Officers I spoke to was keen to emphasise. I was taken to the office by S/O Conor Keegan, who informed me that Sub Officer Derek Walsh, who he described as “the life and soul”, would talk me through what life is like at the station. Both he and S/O Joe Kiernan sat down to share their thoughts. D/O Brian Murray was away, so S/O Kiernan was A/D/O for the night, and would later speak about his retirement, which would happen within the week. There is high energy among the 19 FF/Ps and five officers, and according to Sub/Off Walsh, that is down to the good mix of youth and experience.

“There is a broad range of ages and experience here,” he tells me. “We go from 25 year men down to three year men and everything in between, so it is a quite varied group. We recently got three new recruits assigned to us and they add a bit of life to the station, because they are very active. The young lads are coming in and telling you about how they got on in their match at the weekend, whereas we are all past playing at this stage so we get a good bit of feed off them. It’s great to see because they add a bit of enthusiasm to the job.” That enthusiasm was clear when we filed out to take a picture, but the current COVID-19 situation has brought in changes that have made camaraderie challenging at times, with mealtimes and gym sessions staggered and strict cleaning measures in place.

COVID “When COVID started people were nervous, and everything just took a little more time to make sure we were safe. But then professionalism kicked in and everyone just got on with the job. The thing with the DFB is that you can’t be looking over your shoulder waiting for someone else to do something for you, there’s nobody else coming, you are it, so you’d better get used to being it, no matter what the circumstance. “We can’t turn around and ring someone else to do the job, we are the people you ring, the buck stops with us. We just had to learn to deal with it, and if anything happens, we have the procedures in place.”

BUSY TIMES As well as the Tunnel Response Vehicle that keeps B Watch on their toes in terms of training and preparation, the specialist features of which S/O Kiernan pointed out after we took a group photograph, B Watch at North Strand also has two regular tenders and has in the past few months taken on another ambulance. As well as covering a very large area, high-risk locations such as Dublin Port, the Port Tunnel and Croke Park are nearby, and added to this, the number of response vehicles here

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STATION PROFILE

ABOVE: Gathering to pay tribute to S/O Kiernan as he retires after 33 years

mean B Watch are kept busy. “The DFB is community-based, and some stations might be busier than others,” S/O Kiernan tells me, “but we have the Port, and the Tunnel, which is highly specialised, and what we do is take care of the community with regards to the safety of these. We have a huge high-risk area to cover, and we need to always be fully prepared for this.” Sub/Off Walsh adds: “Many other stations of our size would only have one ambulance, but every day we have four people on ambulances and four covering them, so we have eight people at any one time on them, and the ambulances are very busy, stretched to the limits. Having those two ambulances here means that the entire crew are kept very busy as a result.”

SKILLSETS With the high-risk areas to cover, the skillsets of B Watch at North Strand are finely tuned and specialised, bringing increased responsibilities. “Our skillsets are focused on the

Tunnel and Dublin Port definitely,” Sub/Off Walsh says. “We have S/O David Lanigan here, which is very important because he is an expert on port operations. He has been on extensive courses to become an expert and we are very lucky to have him here because he knows Dublin Port inside out. We all know a lot about the Port ourselves, but David is excellent in his knowledge and is great in being able to tell us what we need to do.” Regarding the Tunnel, S/O Kiernan points out that many North Strand personnel trained on Tunnel operations before the tunnel was even built. “Every Watch would also do at least one exercise in the Port Tunnel,” he adds. “In order to do tunnel operations, you have to have done the training, it’s a course in itself. Some of the junior FF/Ps wouldn’t be able to turn out on the TRV yet, but they will be trained up when they are made permanent here. Sub/Off Walsh points out that those not yet trained for Tunnel

“We all help each other a lot, so there is a real family feel to our group”

operations can still turn out on the regular appliances and go to the Tunnel. “There is still a job in the Tunnel for them,” he says. “They can go in, but only to certain parts and to do certain things. But there is a specific job that the majority of us at North Strand can do thanks to our training.” With such responsibility, it is important to have that camaraderie mentioned earlier, but also to know when to be professional. “There’s always a very good team effort,” S/O Kiernan says. “There’s a lot of banter and we all get on very well, but once we turn out it’s a different story, there’s a completely different management style where everybody follows instructions to the letter. Back at the station we can all go back to enjoying the banter between everybody from new crew members to officers, but everybody knows that when we turn out there is a different procedure to follow.” Sub/Off Walsh agrees, and emphasises that the crew gets on very well thanks to the efforts they all put in to making B Watch feel like a close-knit community.

COMMUNITY They organise an annual football match between themselves and Echo district, which Sub/Off Walsh says they are “glad to have the young lads

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STATION PROFILE

ABOVE: B Watch pose with the Tunnel Response Vehicle

for”, and many B Watch personnel are also very active members of the cycling and sea swimming clubs. “Six or seven of us might go for a sea swim after a shift, which is good,” S/O Kiernan tells me. “We are very active in that way, it’s a good activity to do as a group, and we get on really well doing it.” “S/O Kiernan is the treasurer of the cycling club,” Sub/Off Walsh adds, “and I’m an active member too, as are S/Os Keegan and Lanigan, and we regularly go out after a shift and go for a cycle.” There is also an annual Christmas party for B Watch and their partners, as well as a trip away. “All of our partners know each other very well now, so we are a very close-knit community here on B Watch,” Sub/ Off Walsh says. “I could have retired two years ago,” he adds, “but I still enjoy coming to work. The lads are good when you ask them to work, and they are good to be around as well.” S/O Kiernan adds: “If you ask any of the lads, they will tell you the same thing. They all enjoy coming into work and being around each other,” and Sub/Off Walsh agrees. “We have a very good attendance record, a very good sick record. We all help each other a lot, so there is a

real family feel to our group.” He adds: “We are also going to miss S/O Kiernan a lot. I’ve worked with him as a fireman in Kilbarrack and followed him here as an Officer, and I have had a great time working with him. He will be missed.”

S/O KIERNAN With that, Sub/Off Walsh leaves me to talk to S/O Kiernan about his career and his approaching retirement. A big send off was held at the end of July, with a large number of colleagues gathering at a safe distance to bid him farewell, but when we spoke, he had one week left in the job. The Kiernan family connection to the DFB is strong, with Joe’s great grandfather joining in 1888, followed by his grandfather, father, uncle, himself, and his brother Frank. His son, a retained firefighter in Skerries, is bound to follow his family into becoming a full-time member. “We have five generations in the DFB,” he tells me, “so we are committed, to say the least.” Having joined in 1987, S/O Kiernan spent most of his time in Kilbarrack, with some years as Station Officer in Dolphin’s Barn before returning north of the Liffey

again for the last four years, and his vast experience in Tunnel operations has seen him run the Tunnel training courses for the DFB for the past ten years. “In terms of my career, I can honestly say there were just two days I didn’t enjoy, and they both involved the deaths of colleagues. But other than that, it has been amazing.” He has, in those 33 years, seen a lot of change, but some things, he says, never change. “When you pare it all back down, the bells go off, you turn out, and you respond to whatever incident that is. You don’t know exactly what you are going out to, and what you face, but you just do your best. So, while things constantly change, in that respect, nothing has changed at all.” I also ask how he feels about retiring. “I’m glad and sad at the same time,” he tells me. “I’m 59 in March, so it’s time for me to stop. It’s also nice to go out on a high. I feel great, but now is the right time. I will certainly miss the job, but I’m looking forward to spending time with my family. I am looking forward to it, but with a little bit of sadness as well.” When I ask what he will miss the most, S/O Kiernan answers immediately. “The camaraderie. The whole atmosphere of coming into work and being around a great bunch of people. There’s also the going out to an incident and seeing the great work being done, I will miss that. “I’m still active in the cycling club and there’s all the do’s and events, so it’s not like you are here one day and then have no connection the next. I will still be meeting up regularly and enjoying the benefits of the lifelong friendships I have made. I’d like to thank all of the officers and the crew on B Watch, and in all of my other stations, for making my life very easy over the years. It’s been a pleasure working with them.”

“you can’t be looking over your shoulder waiting for someone else to do something for you” SUMMER / AUTUMN 54 FIRECALL

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Wishing Fire Fighters the very best in the brilliant work you do

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Unit 19, Jamestown Business Park, Finglas, Dublin 11. T. 01 864 3639 E. info@vbs.ie W: www.vbs.ie

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GROWN FOREST

THE POWER OF ONE FF/P Neil McCabe talks to Adam Hyland about his latest venture into sustainability and a greener environment

ack in 2017, Firecall spoke to FF/P Neil McCabe about the incredible work he has done on environmental issues that started out with recycling projects at Kilbarrack Fire Station, and evolved into his innovative GreenPlan that has now become a global initiative that has seen his sustainability programme incorporated into all building planning within Dublin Fire Brigade, Dublin City Council and organisations across the world, culminating in his meeting thenPresident Barack Obama at the White House. Now, in the latest venture, Neil, serving with A Watch North Strand, has turned his attention to GROWN Forest, a project run as part of the GROWN ethical clothing business he runs with fellow DFB members Damian Bligh of D Watch Blanchardstown, and Stephen O’Reilly at D Watch, Dolphin’s Barn.

GROWN FOREST Featured on RTÉ’s Eco Eye in August, GROWN Forest represents the impact we can make together by preparing land and forests for future generations to enjoy, with a native tree planting project providing the chance for each individual to make a tangible difference to the environment and embrace ‘the power of one’. It has become an exciting branch of the GROWN ethical clothing business, which grew out of a mission to reduce the amount of plastics making their way into Ireland’s waterways.

FF/P, head of Grown Forest and GreenPlan creator Neil McCabe planting trees on Eco Eye

“We started off as a project to educate people on the amount of plastic waste that was in the ocean,” Neil explains. “Myself, Stephen and Damian swim a lot, and we found that every time we went for a swim we were coming out with a bag of plastic. We wanted to highlight this, because a lot of people don’t know that when you wash your clothes, microbeads are released because clothing has so much plastic and synthetic fibre in it. This makes its way to the ocean and has a terrible effect on marine life. “We developed an organic t-shirt range that eventually expanded to other garments, all with the purpose of saying to people that there are

other ways to buy clothing, to buy better clothing, that shouldn’t cost the earth, literally.” He explains how the idea for a tree planting project came about. “I got the idea of planting a tree for every item of clothing we produced, regardless of whether it sold,” he says. “It has always been a lifelong dream for me to develop forestry and to grow the idea that ordinary people can have a tree planted for them because they bought an item of clothing. “That idea took hold, and for the last two Black Fridays, we closed down the webpage and said to people that if you are online on Black Friday buying something with money you don’t have, for somebody who doesn’t really want

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GROWN FOREST new behaviours in consumerism and views on the environment. “We live such a resource-easy life, but with COVID, people are looking at their own families, at their homes, and I believe that from what I have seen in 12 years of working in environmental matters that definitely in the last few months people have become more environmentally conscious, they can see the needless, fast-paced consumerism we had been used to, but also that we can get by with what we have, we don’t need such a resource-easy supply chain. A gift like a tree is far more meaningful than buying something commoditybased. It’s choosing to make a change. People are starting to say I want to be a

The protected land in Wicklow where people can buy a GROWN Forest native tree to plant. RIGHT: People get the chance to plant their own tree and see the difference it makes to our approach to the environment

something from you anyway, why not buy a native Irish tree instead, and have it planted in Ireland? We got such a good response from it that it became GROWN Forest, and I left the clothing side to the others to spearhead it.” The idea is that the company has bought a collection of joined-up areas of land that have been legally protected so that no trees can be cut down within them, and gives the public the opportunity to buy their very own native Irish tree, enabling them to reduce their own carbon footprint. In many ways, it’s the perfect gift. “The most amazing thing about what we are doing is knowing that the trees we plant will outlive us,”

Neil says. “They won’t be cut down, so this is creating a legacy. You can buy a tree for any occasion – a birth, marriage or death – you pick the species of tree, and we have certain land belts where we plant the specific trees such as Irish oak or holly. The person gets a native tree put in the ground which is then barcoded and verified, and once it has been established, they can eventually go and see their own tree.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE With the world and how we live in it turned upside down by COVID-19, Neil feels that there has been a definite shift in mindsets towards

“The most amazing thing about what we are doing is knowing that the trees we plant will outlive us” FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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GROWN FOREST part of that change, and that is what I am trying to achieve.” Again, it all goes back to the individual realising that they can make a difference. “Undoubtedly, there are still fossil fuels burning, there are still emissions, so many environmental issues still happening,” Neil says, “but generally, there has been a shift in the psyche where people have become more environmentally conscious, and they are realising that little changes all add up.” Still in its infancy as a start-up, GROWN Forest is growing in popularity and support as not just a business but an ethos. “What’s positive is that people are not just buying a tree, they are buying into what it is all about,” Neil agrees. “We get return customers and people who just want to be a part of what we are doing. They are buying into something completely different. It’s a full-blown legacy that will outlive all of us.” This has led to welcome expansion, with new land recently acquired in Wicklow and plans in place to start planting trees in the coming weeks, and some people will get the chance to take part in this planting: something that is proving very popular. “We get people down to the land to plant the trees, to get soil under their nails, which is a brilliant day out,” Neil explains. “People are completely outside of their natural environment, spade in hand, planting trees they didn’t even know the name of before, but now they know the different species, how to plant them, where they should grow, so it’s a really good day out. There is nothing as amazing as planting a big native Irish tree, and knowing it is growing, to be able to say I planted that, and to be able to look around and see 1,000 of them. It’s a really special feeling. “A lot of people reach out to us asking if they can be involved, and we actually have to cull the numbers because there are too many, we ended up doing a lottery because so many people want to take part. But that’s a good complaint to have.”

“There has been a shift in the psyche ... little changes all add up” Neil says that he has received a lot of positive feedback from his DFB colleagues, many of whom have already bought a tree for a loved one, and are getting the message out that you can make a difference by doing this. “It’s a meaningful gift,” Neil says, “and a lot of DFB members are very interested in that. It all goes back to the power of one – what can you do? You can buy better, and if it doesn’t cost a fortune, and it’s native Irish, there’s a whole story to it. We also give a card that is embossed, environmentally friendly, hand-cut and printed, with the different tree species on them, so there is really nice, tangible element to the gift.”

GROWTH Speaking about how proud he must be of his achievements with GROWN, Grown Forest, and the GreenPlan, Neil looks back on their humble beginnings. “I’m coming up to my third year in North Strand – which is a terrific place to work - after 12 years in Kilbarrack,” he says. “I wanted a change, but Kilbarrack has been a big part of my life for so many years and I undertook a lot of different projects there for the DFB and Dublin City Council. Kilbarrack was the start of my GreenPlan career as a side project to my work as a FF/P, and that has grown incredibly over the years. We used to joke for years in the station that I would be on the ambulance one day and meeting the President of the United States the next, but then that happened in real life! “I’m proud of that, but also of the impact my work has had on the

DFB, and on fire brigades and other organisations all over the world. The GreenPlan is now being followed in 51 countries and in five languages. There are more than 100,000 applications of the GreenPlan in action globally, it’s a full-blown social enterprise with a real impact, creating a procedurebased system for green living. I could go on for hours talking about it, I am so proud of it. But it had a humble origin in Kilbarrack fire station, with no budget.” It’s a huge achievement that the GreenPlan has been incorporated into the planning for all DFB builds, and those of organisations worldwide, and due to its importance, it has become the norm, which again is something Neil is very proud of. “Every new build, every renovation and refurb, every upgrade, has to follow these procedures and they are set in stone – renewable technology, energy consumption, carbon emissions, waste water, impact on the environment. But we have the luxury now of being able to say everything has been set up and is in place, the procedures are still live, and we don’t have to worry about whether something will be done in the future because they are all part of the procedures and will be done automatically as part of the process. The groundwork is there already. “We did that at Skerries retained station when that was built from scratch, it was all just part of the norm, and the best part is that it is a cultural, behavioural shift, where people are now saying that this is just part of the norm, this is how you go about any build or refurb. Finglas and Phibsboro were overhauled following the same process, and it has gone across the whole DFB and Dublin City Council now, as well as across the world.”

CLIMATE ACTION That global reach is also seen in another one of Neil’s concerns, Ashoka, of which he is an Irish Fellow and climate change advisor. The organisation emphasises and enables the ability for people to make real change in society.

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GROWN FOREST to talk about the climate crisis, the responses they could make. For me, that was the most fulfilling moment. I had spent years trying to explain that this was a crisis, that if the air isn’t clean, we can’t breathe, and if we can’t breathe, we will die. Climate change is as big as that. And to see that now I don’t have to do that kind of work anymore because climate change is being recognised as such a major issue, shows that 12 years haven’t been wasted. That’s so fulfilling.” As with his journey from Kilbarrack to the White House a few years ago,

Planting native Irish trees helps individuals make a difference to the climate

“Ashoka is a huge part of my life and one of the things I am most proud of,” he tells me. “It means the word to me. I bring the GreenPlan to the table and use Ashoka as a global platform to bring its ethos around the world. It’s great to have an organisation like that which says we want to help and provide a solution to a problem, and for me, it’s an Irish-based solution to the global climate crisis, and it’s really rewarding to see it in action.” This global platform led to what

Neil describes as “the culmination of my work”, when last year, he and other Ashoka Fellows met in Madrid and drafted a climate response plan that would make its way to the UN where it has been taken on as an important programme for climate action. “The event in Madrid was mindblowing in terms of the impact, the people involved,” he says. “The top ten CEOs from the top ten companies in Spain were there, major business leaders coming together

Neil muses on the fact that he is able to talk about UN campaigns he has been involved with and addresses to global business leaders, while sitting in an ambulance in North Strand, but as with the GROWN Forest treeplanting project, great things come from humble beginnings. Find out more about GROWN Forest at www.grown.ie/trees, about GROWN at www.grown.ie, the GreenPlan at www. thegreenplan.ie and Ashoka at www. ashoka.org

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RETIRED MEMBERS

RETIRED MEMBER PROFILE Willie O’Leary

Adam Hyland talks to retired firefighter Willie O’Leary about his varied career in the DFB

illie O’Leary’s time with the Dublin Fire Brigade has been one of variety, having served in a number of stations across his 44-year career. During that time, he witnessed the expansion of DFB, first as one of the new recruits in 1963, and then as an officer as new stations opened across the city. He joined Class 1/1963, the first of two classes that year. “That was the first year of the major expansion, when a lot more people were being brought in,” he says. “When I joined, my number was 158, and when you think about the numbers involved today, it shows how much the organisation has expanded since.” Having two classes in one year is now not unusual, but Willie tells me that up until that year, it would have been, and what was more unusual was that the class saw active duty very early on. “The night our class photo was taken, we got a call and were all taken out of the classroom and put on the old Green Goddess vehicles, and brought to a big fire at Fiat Motors in the docks,” he tells me. “Two firemen were seriously injured that night, so it was a major incident, but that was my first fire. You could say it was a baptism of fire.” After graduation, Willie was

Willie O’Leary at the newly opened Dolphin’s Barn station in 1964.

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RETIRED MEMBERS

stationed at Tara Street, but was soon on the move, and spent time at several stations around the city, some of them just opened. “I was posted to A Watch in Dolphin’s Barn on the very day it opened,” he says. “I moved to Dorset Street and was there until 1974, then was posted back to Tara Street, then North Strand in 1976, where I was promoted to Sub Officer, then Tallaght in 1982, as well as Finglas. I was then promoted to S/O in 1983, then D/O in 1995.” Willie was serving as S/O for the opening of Phibsboro station, telling me that his was the first engine in there, as well as for the opening of Rathfarnham and Donnybrook stations, while his was “the last car out of Rathmines before it closed”, so he has witnessed a lot of change over the years. When I ask how he came to be at the opening of so many stations, and if this was a case of ‘right place, right time’, he laughs: “That’s debateable! I just happened to be the S/O on the day, and you were just told to go.” While he was serving in Finglas, Willie was involved in putting together a document called Working Together alongside Dublin Airport – who came under their jurisdiction at the time - the Gardaí and other relevant organisations to create a protocol for responding to incidents at the airport. “Until then, we would take charge of any incident there,” he tells me, “but we looked at best practices and came up with the Working Together plan. That document is still in use today, though it has been updated.” Willie was also heavily involved in the Port Tunnel project. “That was very interesting,” he tells me. “I oversaw the equipment needed and the testing of that, before we brought people to the Training Centre where they were given different projects to work on. Myself, the then Assistant Chief Fire Officer and Richard Hedderman were involved in this, as well as a young firefighter called Dennis Keeley, who was brought in on logistics. Look where he is now! “I was also involved in the plans for the types of vehicle and equipment

Former D/O Willie O’Leary

that would be needed, and tested the gear we would need to wear. That included having to walk from the Tunnel entrance at Whitehall to Fairview to test the gear and see if it was ok to breathe in over distance.” Asking about the good and bad times, Willie tells me that in 1972, while he was at Dorset Street, he was the first vehicle at the scene of the Noyeks timber yard fire on Parnell Street, where eight people had lost their lives. “That stayed in the memory,” he tells me. “I did enjoy my time though,” he adds. “The most rewarding thing was the comradeship between individuals. You worked with individuals you depended on, and they depended on you. I think that is the Dublin Fire Brigade story, really. “I only retired in 2007 after 44 years, and I was happy that because I was a D/O, I could go on in the job and didn’t have to retire at 55. “I wouldn’t say I miss the job now, but it did take me a while to return to the normal way of life after leaving,” he tells me, “because being in the Dublin Fire Brigade means you live from call to call.” Upon retirement, Willie has remained an active part of the Sports and Social Club and the Retired Members

Willie O’Leary at Dominic Street

Association, where he is Vice-Chairman, and similar to his career, has seen a lot of variety in his roles. “I was involved in the Sports and Social Club for almost 40 years,” he says. “I am still a Trustee, but I was Chairman, Treasurer, and put my time in the bar business to good use as bar manager when we used to have a club bar. I was a bit of a jack of all trades.” That has continued to this day, with Willie now in his retirement spending his time doing a number of different things. “I spend a lot of time in the garden, a lot of walking, and I play bowls, there’s variety,” he agrees. “But I must say, I really enjoyed my career in the Dublin Fire Brigade, from the time I went in until the time I left.”

“The most rewarding thing was the comradeship between individuals.” FIRECALL SUMMER / AUTUMN

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BINGE WATCH

BINGE WATCH We’re all spending more time at home, so here’s some of the best streaming TV shows to feast on BETTER CALL SAUL 5 seasons, Netflix Spin-offs don’t always work, but following on from the excellent Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul is one that clearly has, thanks mainly to its excellent script and acting. The criminal lawyer who was introduced in the second series of the meth-making saga was only intended to appear in three episodes, but became a mainstay until its end, before becoming the central player in his own series. It goes back to the start to show how decent, well-meaning lawyer James McGill slowly loses his morals as he faces life’s many challenges, to become the shady Saul Goodman. Some would argue that Better Call Saul is superior to Breaking Bad. Dive in and see if you agree.

BLACK MIRROR 5 seasons, Netflix

FARGO 3 seasons so far Netflix

SUCCESSION 2 seasons so far, Amazon Prime and Now TV Jesse Armstrong made his name with Peep Show, and has continued his depiction of questionable characters with the hugely popular Succession, a satirical look at an impossibly rich family who run a global media and entertainment company. The premise is that company founder and family patriarch Logan Roy’s health is failing, with the dysfunctional family struggling to keep the business running and their own position within the corporation safe, and while this could play out as just another business drama, it is so much more enjoyable than that. The fact that every single character is deeply unlikeable makes this a fantastic satire on modern business and media, as well as a chance to laugh at stupid people in way over their heads.

Charlie Brooker’s sharply observed series of standalone dystopian sci-fi dramas is mostly focused on our relationship with technology and the ways in which it affects society, usually for the worse. With stories that are sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, but almost always bleak in their twist, characters are beset by theoretical problems around the technology we use today, or that of a near future. Brooker himself describes the series as a look at “the way we live now, and the way we might be living in ten minutes time if we’re clumsy,” and that’s the best thing about this show – the troubling situations are not so very far from how we treat tech in our everyday lives now.

Fans of the Coen Brothers classic film may have shuddered when news of a TV spin-off of Fargo was announced, but they needn’t have worried. This is exceptional. The Coens are executive producers, staying well away from writing and directing, but their dark sense of humour and intelligent drama is evident throughout each of these three seasons. The first sees a mild-mannered Martin Freeman and vicious killer Billy Bob Thornton play out a violent game full of twists and turns in a moody and tense drama. A new cast including Ted Danson, Kirsten Dunst and Patrick Wilson comes in for season 2, which serves as a prequel, and season 3 wraps things up nicely with the funny but tense story of twin brothers Emmit and Ray, both played by Ewan McGregor. Watch the film version either before or straight after the TV show and enjoy the added depth to the lore behind the “true” story.

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BINGE WATCH

GLOW 3 seasons, Netflix If you’re up for a bit of 1980s nostalgia and loved the WWF wrestling when you were younger, this is for you. Based around the real-life Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (aka GLOW) group formed to promote women’s wrestling on telly (but with fictional characters), it’s a fun comedy drama that pokes a sly thumb in the eye of all the familiar motifs within the ring. The group of out-of-work actresses, sisters of male wrestlers and oddballs who couldn’t work anywhere else make for very fun and watchable TV. It’s funny, but covers some serious subjects along the way, and while the drama of each character’s lives plays out, GLOW happily reveals the secrets behind how to make wrestling look good, and isn’t afraid to go over the top to show just how ridiculous it is as a sporting entertainment.

CHERNOBYL 1 series, Now TV

INSIDE NO 9

THE TERROR

DEADWOOD

4 seasons, Netflix

2 seasons, Amazon Prime

3 seasons, Now TV

In years to come, people will look back on this programme in the same way we now look at Dickens or Oscar Wilde. It is the best-written show of the last decade. Every episode is completely standalone, with different casts, so you can pick any one of them to get started, but the first series is a nice introduction to what you can expect – which really is anything. The episodes range from slapstick comedy to horror, and in recent seasons have produced some of the most moving pieces of half-hour drama you will ever see, and almost all of them have an innovative twist you won’t see coming.

Based on Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845, this gripping thriller starts out as a “battle against the elements” drama as the doomed crew fights to make its way off their ice-locked boats and across the frozen wastelands, but soon becomes much more than that. Within a stunning, otherworldly setting, the men are picked off one by one by an unseen foe, until things take a very supernatural turn and the horror begins. Season 2 brings a completely new story about Japanese prisoners of war in WW2, but the same supernatural terror is ever-present, making this an enjoyably scary piece of TV.

It’s been off our screens for some time now, but this meandering Western drama is still one of the best shows to have aired this century, and is well worth bingewatching. Over 36 episodes, it covers the transformation of a muddy camp into the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, and is full of memorable characters, some based on real people. The script is incredible, serving up high drama, humour and insightful characterisation, all while having probably more uses of profanities than any other programme in living memory, especially from show-stealing Ian McShane as bar and brothel owner Al Swearengen – you’ll forget he ever played Lovejoy. After huge online appeals, a recent feature-length finale brought closure to the story that was abruptly ended back in 2006 – watch it after the last series.

If you missed this enthralling five-part series when it was on Sky last year, watching it now is highly recommended. Covering the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, this dramatisation of real events slowly plays out to reveal the horrific lack of safety, government cover-ups and devastating effect of one of the worst nuclear disasters the world has ever seen. An ensemble cast shows the impact on every level of a crumbling Soviet society, from the firefighters who were first on the scene up to the politicians desperate to keep the scale of the disaster under wraps. It’s gripping, if not pleasant, viewing.

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TRAVEL

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Foreign travel is uncertain due to COVID-19, but you don’t have to go abroad to find new experiences. Here’s a few ideas that you, your family, friends or colleagues can enjoy to give you a holiday with a difference next year.

TAKE OVER AN ISLAND IN MAYO If you really want to get away from it all, there’s nothing like having your very own private island, and you can enjoy just that on Collanmore in Mayo’s Clew Bay. One of 365 islands in the bay, Collanmore is just a 15-minute drive from Westport and a twominute boat ride from Rosmoney Pier, and once you get there you have free reign to do whatever you like (within reason). It’s a perfect place to enjoy a stay with extended family or a large group of friends, with the Collanmore Island Lodge accommodating up to 22 people – and there’s nobody else on the island. Inside the lodge, you have your own private bar area (you bring the drinks), a hot tub, sauna, landscaped gardens, outstanding views over the bay and its islands and under the shadow of Croagh Patrick, and your own private beach with hammocks. With nobody else around you can explore the island and hike wherever you like, or just relax, but there are also many activities on offer including kayaking and paddle boarding in what is an extremely safe and sheltered bay. Land-based activities can also be organised, including raft building and island bushcraft, and to bring more fun to proceedings you can even arrange for a sumo wrestling competition, trad music sessions or a murder mystery night to be brought to you. www.collanmoreislandlodge.com SUMMER / AUTUMN 64 FIRECALL

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TRAVEL

CYCLING IN SLIGO A casual cycling tour of Yeats country and the surrounding lakelands is a great way to stay active and see some of Ireland’s most beautiful landscapes. You can go at your own pace and linger at any of the beautiful stops along the way because you are, quite literally, steering the course of your holiday. Travel company Ireland By Bike can organise everything you need for a five-day trip, including B&B accommodation along the route, bike rental, daily luggage transfers, emergency support, as well as GPS units, maps and guides. A sample itinerary starts you off in Sligo before you head off to cycle in the shadow of Ben Bulben to Yeats’ grave at Drumcliffe, before you move on to Lissadell House and come to a stop at Mullaghmore, with its picturesque harbour, golden beach, and some of the best seafood in the country. After a well-earned sleep, you cycle to Glenade Valley, part of one of Ireland’s best kept cycling route secrets, passing Eagle’s Rock and Glenade Lake – two of the country’s unspoilt but rarely visited gems – before you reach Manorhamilton and its stunning castle. The next day it’s off to Glencar Valley, Lake and Waterfall, which boast stunning scenery and many tales of fairies and otherworldly spirits that inspired Yeats to write some of his most famous early works, before heading back towards Sligo and a deserved rest. Along the way, you can stop to eat, rest or simply enjoy the views whenever and wherever you want, and the mix of healthy activity and beautiful scenery will leave you enriched.

HORSE RIDING IN TIPPERARY Set on 150 hectares of parkland in the heart of Tipperary, Crossogue Equestrian Centre offers allinclusive horse-riding holidays for adults and families for up to one week. No matter what level of experience you have in the saddle, the courses can be set to your pace, with trainers taking the time to know each rider individually. They offer training in a number of horse-riding disciplines, but their speciality is riding in open countryside, whether that’s a gentle trot for those who want to relax and enjoy the scenery, or a crosscountry gallop featuring obstacles. Both trainers and horses are experienced with novices, and the courses will help you develop your confidence on horseback, but there are other things on offer too, and you and your family or friends can personalise your experience, so you can, for example, take twice daily horse rides, or combine riding and sightseeing. Accommodation and all meals are included, with guests staying at the listed Georgian house’s eight rooms ranging from en suite double rooms to double rooms with a shared bath and dorm-style shared rooms. www.crossogue-equestrian.ie

www.Irelandbybike.com SUMMER / AUTUMN 66 FIRECALL

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DUBLIN PORT FACILITATING IRISH ECONOMIC GROWTH

Port Centre, Alexandra Road, Dublin 1, Ireland. Tel: 00 353 1 8876000 Email: info@dublinport.ie www.dublinport.ie

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S|T|O|P

FIRE

S: ENSURE YOU HAVE A SMOKE ALARM T: TEST YOUR SMOKE ALARMS WEEKLY O: CHECK FOR OBVIOUS DANGERS P: PLAN YOUR ESCAPE ROUTE

Best wishes to the Firecall Readers IN AN EMERGENCY DIAL 999/112

Cavan County Fire Service

Seirbhís Dóiteáin Chontae an Chabháin

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T: 049 4378468 | F: 049 4372943

Fire Brigade Headquarters, Drumnavagh, Cavan

16/07/2020 09:18

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TRAVEL

STARGAZE IN FERMANAGH

GLAMPING IN DONEGAL If you are looking to go retro and spend your holiday in a tent, but don’t want to be quite so rough and ready, you can find the perfect happy medium by trying out a glamping holiday. Located on the amazing north Donegal coast, Portsalon Luxury Camping has five luxurious yurts that are great for a family holiday. A large yurt sleeps two adults and up to four children comfortably, so you can have that back to nature vibe, without the sore back or soggy socks. As well as enjoying the unique experience of glamping it up in a yurt, the surrounding area is a great place to explore and stay active too. Portsalon village is just down the road, as is the 5km blue flag Ballymastocker Bay beach, widely regarded as one of the best beaches in Europe. A short drive in the car will bring you to Glenveagh National Park where you can look out for golden eagles, and Fanad Lighthouse is the perfect place to watch the sunset before returning to the comfort of your luxury tent. Activities on offer also include horseriding on the beach, kayaking, boat trips and surfing in the Atlantic Ocean, but another outstanding activity on offer is whale and dolphin watching. Given its location, this stretch of coastline is rich with marine life. Local boat trips are available from Portsalon pier with Deep Blue Watersports and Rathmullan Charters, so you can head offshore to look out for minke and humpback whales, common and bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoises, seals and basking sharks.

If you fancy lying back and looking at the stars, a stay on one of the bubble domes at Finn Lough in Fermanagh is just the thing for you. While this beautiful resort setting of forests and lake offers lakeside lodges and waterside cottages, as well as a luxury spa hidden amongst the trees that includes a salt room with float pool, Finnish sauna, aromatherapy cabin, hot tub and relaxation suite, the real draw of this ideal location are the Forest Domes. These domes nestled among the trees feature 180-degree transparent walls, allowing you to truly immerse yourself within the beauty and tranquillity of nature, and escape the noise of the outside world while looking all around at nature and above you at the constellations. With a bespoke four-poster bed, en suite bathroom, Nespresso coffee machine, and daily breakfast provided, you will hardly be taking the rough route towards going back to nature, and will be as comfortable as you could imagine. If you want to get out and about – and you will, given the amazing scenery – there is a choice of cycling and walking routes, fishing, boating and other watersports, as well as an indoor playroom where you can sample afternoon tea or something stronger from the tasting room, if the weather turns bad. The restaurant is also great, serving locally-sourced produce, so you can enjoy a tasty meal before retiring to your dome to gaze at the stars. www.finnlough.com

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Emergency Services News From Around the Globe. ✶

FINLAND

FINLAND’S FIRST GENDER NEUTRAL STATION The small town of Sysmä in southern Finland has become the country’s first gender neutral fire station with the introduction of new individual changing room and shower facilities that are designed to enhance inclusion among its firefighters. Mira Leinonen, who chairs the international network Women in Fire and Rescue Services Commission, says that despite the fact that some 30 women work as fire chiefs and 10% of contract firefighters are female, Finland has room to improve in this area. “Finland’s oldest fire stations date back to the 1800s,” she says, “and at some, cleaning cupboards have served as women’s changing rooms.” Iorma Sainio from Sysmä’s voluntary fire department said women and men at the station previously had to take turns

RUSSIA

MILITARY USE ANTI-TANK SHELLS ON BURNING OIL WELL

showering in communal areas, but it’s this type of exclusion that Leinonen says is a problem. “When a rescue operation is finished, firefighters head to the shower together, often discussing their latest job, but women are excluded from these conversations,” she explains. Being excluded weakens group cohesion and dampens work satisfaction, says Leinonen, citing international studies that show these are reasons women often leave the profession. Now at Sysmä, women will no longer have to wait for the men to finish their shower first, and everybody can hit the showers at the same time thanks to the replacement of communal shower areas with private yet open dressing and shower cabins.

Russia said it called in the army to put out a fire at an oil well in Siberia’s Irkutsk region in June. The well caught fire at the end of May, with the army called in to shoot anti-tank artillery shells at the wellhead from a distance in order to quell the flames. Soldiers flew in an MT-12 Rapira antitank weapon to the remote site and fired rounds at the wellhead from 180 metres

USA

US NAVY SHIP FIRE One of the fire suppression units on board the US Navy ship that caught fire in a San Diego naval base in July injuring dozens of sailors and citizens was being repaired and not working at the time. A massive blaze broke out on the USS Bonhomme Richard on July 12 and continued to rage for several days, with the cause of the fire and several subsequent explosions under investigation. Navy officials believe the fire started in the cargo hold of the ship where supplies for the ship’s maintenance were being stored, but the fire suppression system was not operational because it was being worked on in the shipyard, forcing crew and shipyard staff to try to extinguish the fire with nearby facilities and the aid of helicopters fitted with water buckets.

away in order to break it from the well, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. “This helped set up the blowout prevention equipment to then seal the well and put out the fire,” it said. Soldiers in full military armour and helmets – as well as face masks – could be seen setting up the weapon before shooting artillery rounds, according to local reports.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

✶

CANADA

BRAZIL

Canada’s federal government will invest $5million to create a national wildfire research network, two years after the Canadian Forest Service warned that the country’s expertise on forest fires was not keeping up with the dramatic shifts associated with climate change. National Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan announced the funding in June following warnings from scientists that fires are getting more frequent and intense. The national network will train 68 Masters, PhD and postdoctoral students and 30 undergraduates over the next six years, as recommended by the Canadian Forest Service’s Blueprint for Wildfire Science, which highlighted significant gaps in knowledge of how fires are changing as summers get hotter and drier, as well as a serious concern that many experts are nearing retirement without enough researchers ready to fill their shoes. Since 1970, the amount of forested land that burns each year in Canada has more than doubled, with the costs of fighting them rising exponentially, and fire experts have predicted this will double again by 2100.

Fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose by almost 20% in June, reaching a 13-year high for the month, according to government data. There are now fears that this year’s fires could surpass 2019’s disastrous blazes, with activists saying the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to make the problem worse because stretched authorities are unable to monitor fires deliberately started by illegal loggers and farmers. In June, the country’s National Institute for Space Research recorded 2,248 fires using satellite imagery, compared to 1,880 fires in June 2019. Last year’s fires peaked in August, with 30,901 – three times the number for the same period the previous year.

GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN WILDFIRE RESEARCH

AMAZON FIRES SEE 13YEAR HIGH

✶

✶ ✶✶

CHINA FRANCE

NANTES CATHEDRAL SET ABLAZE A fire broke out in the 15th century Gothic cathedral in Nantes in July, just days after the forecourt of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was opened to the public for the first time since last year’s devastating blaze. The fire in Nantes destroyed the stained glass windows in the church building, which also suffered a serious fire in 1972, but was brought under control by around 100 firefighters in the western French city before it could damage the roof and internal structure. However, the organ, which dates back to 1621 and had survived the French Revolution and two world wars, was destroyed, as were several priceless artefacts. An arson investigation discovered “three distinct fire points”, and within the week a volunteer church assistant who was in charge of locking the building at night confessed to starting the fire and faces up to ten years in prison. The French government has promised to ensure the cathedral’s restoration, saying that it would take several weeks to secure the site and several years to reconstruct it.

CULTURAL RELIC FIRE SAFETY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration has launched a three-year campaign to strengthen and improve the fire safety of cultural relics nationwide. The campaign, which runs until 2022, underlines clear responsibilities in strengthening fire safety at relics as well as continued efforts to address safety hazards. Fire control infrastructure should be stepped up, the action plan of the campaign said, adding that fire safety systems and emergency plans should also be improved with specific management put in place to oversee this. The campaign will be carried out in four phases, including mobilisation and deployment, fire hazard checks, rectification and implementation of approaches targeting serious issues, and consolidation and refinement.

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BOOK REVIEW

BOOKSHELF THE PANDEMIC CENTURY:

100 Years of Panic, Hysteria and Hubris, by Mark Honigsbaum

edical historian, journalist and lecturer Mark Honigsbaum was several months too early with the release of the first version of this book last year, but a new edition with an added chapter on COVID-19 makes this the most topical and timely book of the summer. Tracing a century of pandemics across the globe, from the Spanish flu of 1918 that took more lives than World War 1, to outbreaks of pneumonic plague, to SARS, Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Zika Virus in Brazil, the author presents us with 10 outbreaks across 100 years. While his use of the term ‘pandemic’ may not be 100% accurate – the great parrot fever outbreak that struck the US in the 1930s could hardly be termed a pandemic - the information and insight into these diseases, and more importantly, how society, scientists and States tackled them, is always interesting, often gruesome, and sometimes darkly humorous. Comparing these pandemics to wild animals unleashed from safe environs to wreak havoc upon the world, the book outlines how each of these devastating outbreaks started, took hold, and were finally brought under control, combining scientific history, medical sociology and frontline reportage. As the author himself points out, like animal attacks, pandemics are always unpredictable, but given our increased understanding and experience of them, they should be expected. Why we are therefore constantly unprepared is a question that gets louder the more we read about these historic events. What these accounts reveal is that not only will major diseases inevitably find a way into society regardless of how medically advanced we become, but that the human factor always has to be taken into account, and always gets in the way of a solution. This is outlined in the many mistakes scientists have made, particularly when following one prevailing assumption or theory that turned out to be false, misdirecting medical expertise away from proper solutions and in some cases, making the situation a lot worse.

The mistakes made by Governments, scientists and people in general show how susceptible we are when it comes to global pandemics, casting a wry look at the misconceptions, mistakes and outright madness of some previous approaches to fighting them. The final chapter on COVID-19 means we can either take hope that we can come through this as we have with previous diseases, or be concerned that we have learned little from the past. Penguin Random House,

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BOOK REVIEW LOVE:

by Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle goes back to familiar ground and hits the pub with Love, the story of two men in their 50s, Davy and Joe, who meet up one evening to sink a few pints and talk about their lives, past and present. While previous works, Two Pints and Two More Pints, show that the author is at his most comfortable when placing his characters in a defined setting, most notably the boozer, this novel also shows that the two protagonists really could be anywhere, and the sinking of many pints is used as a means to get both to open up, to say things they might not normally say, and to sometimes say things they shouldn’t. True to form, Doyle’s dialogue-heavy and script-like novel is funny, sad, dramatic and thought-provoking in equal measure. Seemingly frivolous remarks give way to more serious ponderings on the relationships we form over the years with friends and family, with the two characters’ differing versions of events, both frivolous and life-changing, and the memories they hold gradually revealing real truths neither is willing to admit. Due out in October. Jonathan Cape, 13.99

MY LIFE IN RED AND WHITE:

My Autobiography, by Arsene Wenger Arsene Wenger was named Arsenal manager in 1996 to the surprise of just about everyone, with Britain’s Evening Standard even asking ‘Arsene Who?’. But the man who had successfully coached in Japan using revolutionary approaches to diet and mental focus was to become the most successful and longest-serving manager in the club’s history. As well as his winning legacy, he changed attitudes towards player fitness, and foreign managers in the Premier League, forever. You don’t have to be a Gunner to enjoy this life story full of insights, topped up with the facts behind his later years at the club. Due out in October.

SHADOW WARRIORS:

The Irish Army Ranger Wing, by Paul O’Brien and Sergeant Wayne Fitzgerald 1980 saw the establishment of a new Irish Army Ranger Wing, a unit made up of the toughest soldiers in the country. This book tells the story of its creation, from its origins in 1960s counterterrorism to modern day missions from Mali to Mountjoy Prison. Though official secrets and anonymity mean specific details and names are necessarily omitted, it does shed an intriguing light on what it takes to train for and join this elite shadow unit, and how each member must be prepared to overcome any incident or eventuality under extreme conditions and in any environment. Mercier Press, 12.99

W&N, 25

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TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS

THE LATEST INNOVATIONS FOR THE WORLD’S EMERGENCY SERVICES.

WATER RESCUE TOOLS EURO RESCUE APP The Euro Rescue App for easy access to vehicle rescue sheets is now available free of charge on Apple and Android phones, giving first responders access to vital information for cars sold throughout Europe in case of an RTC. With new technology used in vehicles, it is increasingly important that emergency personnel know what they can and can’t do at the scene of an RTC, and have access to straightforward information regarding a vehicle’s construction to help quickly and safely remove a person from it. This includes the location of components such as airbags and high-voltage electrical cables and batteries, which can present a hazard to trapped occupants and first responders. Euro NCAP worked with the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services (CTIF) to collate and centralise the rescue sheets of all main manufacturers in the new app, which can be used both online and offline, enabling first responders to access the information even when there is little or no network coverage at the scene. All new cars from this year onwards will have their rescue sheet information shared via the app, with Euro Rescue launched in English, French, German and Spanish. From 2023, it will be available in all European languages. Tore Eriksson, president of CTIF said: “The Euro Rescue app is an important milestone. For the first time, verified ISO-compliant rescue sheets and emergency response guides will be freely and easily accessible at one unique location. This will greatly help the rescue services and first responders in their vitally important work across Europe.”

Germany-based rescue technology company LUKAS has developed a range of new tools that make rescue on or under water safer and more successful. Previously, complicated rescue under water was mainly only possible using hose-connected hydraulic rescue equipment, but LUKAS has developed the eWXT (eDraulic Watertight Extrication Tools), a powerful combination of proven rescue tool heads with identical spreading, cutting and pressure performance. All components of the eWXT are waterproof - the circuit board is potted, the motor is encapsulated and the wiring is extra protected – but a new addition is the selection of rescue batteries that can offer double the runtime of previous batteries. It also has fewer mechanical parts and therefore a longer service life, with the brushless motor sitting directly on the specially-designed piston pump, meaning a gearbox is no longer required.

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TECHNOLOGY

FIRST-AID GLASSES A tech company in New Jersey has offered military-grade technology to first responders that they hope will help save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The X2 MR Glasses developed by ThirdEye Gen have a thermal sensor that allows a paramedic to take a patient’s temperature without ever having to touch them, sending real-time audio and video feeds straight to the hospital. “These glasses are essentially a phone on your face,” says CEO Nick Cherukuri, “and a doctor located 100 miles away could see exactly what the paramedic sees live from the camera point of view of the glasses. So, the medic is handsfree, while still helping the patient.” The glasses can also show multiple screens with face recognition

technology that can link to a patient’s medical history within seconds. Under a pilot programme, the New Jersey Marcus Hook Trainer and Upper Merrion fire departments will be the first

to have access to the glasses, with the eventual goal being the provision of one set of them to every fire and rescue unit in the US.

SOLAR CHIMNEYS

The solar chimney helps control temperature in case of a fire. Modelling shows temperature at 16 minutes with a solar chimney (top) and at three minutes without a solar chimney (bottom).

Researchers in Australia have designed a new solar chimney that not only saves energy but increases fire safety. The specially-designed chimney, which harnesses natural ventilation to regulate building temperatures and which was made as part of the sustainable features of a new building in Melbourne, increases the amount of time people have to escape during a fire from about two minutes to more than 14 minutes. The chimney maximises efficiency for both ventilating fresh air and sucking smoke out of a building in case of fire. “In an emergency situation where every second counts, giving people more time to escape safely is critical,” said researcher Dr Long Shi of RMIT University. While calculations around the increase in safe evacuation time were specific to the new building, previous research from RMIT’s School of Engineering has confirmed that solar chimneys can increase safety in any building. “To understand exactly how much evacuation time a solar chimney could deliver for a specific building, you need to model for that exact design,” Dr Shi added. “This will differ from building to building, but we know that any extra time is precious and improves fire safety, which could ultimately help to save lives.”

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