Stepping back from the front line

AS HE retires as a retained firefighter in Ballyconnell after 25 years, Damien Brady says the people of the area have “an excellent service with top class men trained to the highest level”.

He grew up beside the fire station in Ballyconnell and, when a fire broke out in his parents’ Mount Pleasant home just over 25 years ago, he saw for himself the brilliant work local firefighters do.

Shortly after this, and thankfully with no major harm done, Damien applied to join the local Fire Service and placed first in his cohort of applicants.

Around the same time, in 2000, Cavan County Fire Service got a new Chief Fire Officer in Noel Burke and “the transformation that took place in Cavan from that time on was fantastic”, Damien reflects.

“Cavan firefighters were now going to training courses that they wouldn’t have attended before,” Damien says. "We were on courses to train in the use of breathing apparatus, on attending road traffic collisions and it set us all up to be a professional, modern service capable of responding to the needs of the community we served.”

On the job

Damien recalls the first call-out he attended was a gorse fire. “That was a fortunate first job because we were not likely to encounter the loss of human life,” he says with relief.

But Damien recalls wearing “hand-me-downs" from a colleague and credits Noel Burke for updating uniforms and supplying firefighters with "the most up-to-date modern equipment”.

“Today, fire crews in Cavan have everything from new ladders, to new appliances (fire engines) and even, brand new fire stations,” said Damien Brady who is also a Sinn Féin Cavan County Councillor for the Cavan-Belturbet Municipal District.

While he wasn’t stressed on his very first call to the gorse fire, Damien admits being nervous attending his first road accident.

Retained firefighters are required to live no more than one and a half miles from their local fire station. “You always dread it will be someone you know,” Damien reveals.

“And the chances of that being the case are very high.”

Married to the job

When Damien started out as a retained firefighter in 2000, the Ballyconnell crew attended between 100 and 150 calls a year.

He says education and public awareness campaigns have thankfully reduced the number of house fires nationwide.

Firefighters are still the first responders to RTCs, industrial and farm accidents, forest fires, suicides and now even respond to incidents across the border in Co Fermanagh.

Paying tribute to his wife, Vanessa, and their three daughters - Aoife, Fianna and Dearbhla - Damien says: “People may not realise that, when you join the service, your family joins too” and he spoke of how retained firefighters are on-call 24/7 except for 28 days’ holidays.

“The bleeper is on your bedside locker. You could be called out on Christmas Day. If you’re not booked off, you’re working,” the experienced fireman told the Celt.

Damien says new pay and conditions introduced for retained fire fighters are paying off today and there is now a better work/life balance for those who sign up.

Highs and lows

The chief speaks emotively about his time as a member of the Ballyconnell Fire Station crew.

“It hasn’t always been a bed of roses," he says, “but the job has taken me on journeys I would never have been on.”

The retired station officer continues: “I have met people I would never have otherwise encountered.

I’ve had experiences and opportunities I could only have dreamed of. I’ve seen the best of humanity and worked with highly-trained and professional the best group of men."

On the tough days, he says colleagues have each other’s backs and, as station officer, he provides peer support to members returning from an incident.

“I always make sure that after every call-out we all have a cup of tea together and just talk,” he explains. “I could even follow that up by bringing a counsellor in to talk to the crew, especially after horrific scenes."

Damien says it's important to look out for changes in a crew member's behaviour in case they have been badly affected by an incident.

“Then I get that person to work back up to the job again, not to go straight in at the deep end."

He counts among the highs receiving thank you cards from people whose property or life you saved.

"I helped a three-year-old child who was in a farm accident and, if that wasn’t enough to remind you why you do what you do, every time I see him now, he waves to me.”

Two men that the Ballyconnell fire crew cut out of their vehicles following road accidents joined up to become firefighters after the experience.

Comrades

A 25-year career as a retained firefighter has taught Damien Brady the “importance of teamwork”.

“I’ve learned from the best instructors and colleagues the unique comradeship from the fire service. One wife said to me recently ‘you’re a real wee family in the station’ and that is true.”

As Damien Brady retires following a health scare last January, which thankfully has been addressed, he is confident the station is being left in very capable hands.

“The people from Ballyconnell and the surrounding areas can be confident that when they need CN17 - the call sign for the Ballyconnell Fire Service – they will get a first-class, professional, well-equipped, highly-trained and compassionate service.

“The guys I have left behind are brilliant at what they do,” retiree Damien said with more than a hint of pride.