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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

justgiving.com/nickbwilliams

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 -

. www.firefighterscharity.org.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.