Salamander Archives

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6
FIRE BRIGADES
Devon and Somerset
South Yorkshire
Just a short introduction to welcome all our
readers to this new section, about our
colleagues, friends and members within the local
fire and rescue services across the UK, and
others in Toronto, Canada, and Belgium. In this
issue we have just taken a quick look at some of
the work that is undertaken in support of others.
I hope you will enjoy reading this and watch out
for future issues, which will cover a range of
aspects including the work of USAR the rescue
service, fire brigades in 21st century and
hopefully a ‘Meet the Chief Officer’.
Firefighter Nick Williams from Appledore fire
station in Devon plans to run the London
Marathon again this year despite promising
‘never again’ after last year’s run. Nick explains:
“Last year I ran my first marathon for the
, the experience was amazing
and painful in equal measures, although the pain
probably more so! I had two objectives to raise a
certain amount for the charity, and to beat the
time my brother did many years ago.
“Well I exceeded the fundraising and collected
just under £2,000, as for the sibling rivalry, my
brother’s still gloating. At about 18 miles severe
cramp set in and I could do nothing but get round
any way I could, my four hour target turned into
five hours and 42 mins. If that wasn’t bad enough
Pingu the penguin overtook me on the finish line!
“Now having sworn I would never do it again the
recurring nightmare of Pingu’s fury flipper
pushing me aside has become impossible to live
with, so I plan to give it another try. “This year’s
training has gone really well, I am up to 18 miles
now, with two more increases to 22 miles to
achieve before the big day on the 22 April.”
If you would like to support Nick in his dream to
beat Pingu the penguin this year and raise funds
for the Fire Fighters Charity, then please visit
A South Yorkshire firefighter is heading to Ghana
to help train the country’s fire crews in road
traffic collision (RTC) rescue.
Steve North, based at Dearne fire station, is part
of a World Rescue Organisation (WRO) team
spending two weeks working with firefighters in
the West African country’s capital, Accra.
Steve, one of the UK’s leading specialists in RTC
rescue, is an assessor for the United Kingdom
Rescue Organisation (UKRO) and visited Ghana
in 2008 to teach rescue techniques to firefighters.
The 50 year-old, who was also part of a South
Yorkshire team named World Extrication
Champions in 2004, said his previous visit to
Ghana proved invaluable to crews there: “I
regularly get emails from the firefighters in Ghana
telling me how they’ve saved the life of a car
crash victim so it’s extremely rewarding to know
that the skills we have taught them are making a
difference.
“It was a real eye-opener when I first visited in
2008. I discovered that quite often their method
of freeing someone trapped inside a vehicle was
to chop off their limbs with a hatchet. Obviously
things have improved since then thanks to our
training programmes and some kit and
equipment donations, so this trip will help them
build on these improvements.”
The training trip is part of the International
Development Programme (IDP) and will see
Steve and the WRO team teaching extrication
techniques to training staff. The team fly out to
Accra on 9th March.
Fire
Fighters Charity
The Fire Fighters Charity offers
support to all Fire Service personnel
and their families during times of need,
by providing services such as therapy
and recuperation facilities.
Despite the best training, accidents
and tragedies are sadly inevitable and
the Fire Fighters Charity is here to
support these brave men and women
when things don’t go according to
plan. A firefighter can suffer from
physical, psychological or emotional
trauma.
The Fire Fighters Charities have two
therapy and recuperation centres in
the UK to provide physical and
emotional rehabilitation to the
firefighters. Today over 13,000
beneficiaries are supported annually by
the Charity, which puts it in the top 10
most effective charities in the UK -
THE FIRE
FIGHTERS
CHARITY
Met with Shaun Bone - Knell of
Kent FR&S - more next issue
Proposed meetings with Devon,
Essex and Wales
NEWS &
VIEWS
Identical Twin sweeps from Sheffield
backed South Yorkshire F&RS 'safe
and warm' drive - by encouraging
homeowners to get their chimneys
swept more regularly.