HOLYWOOD firefighter Thomas Drummond admits he has just one regret about joining the Fire and Rescue Service – ‘I wish I had done it sooner’.
A senior chemical process engineer by day, the 32 year-old has shared his inspirational journey over the past two years, as the Fire Service (NIFRS) launched its latest recruitment campaign.
NIFRS is recruiting on-call firefighters across 26 fire stations including Holywood, with information evenings being held in every recruiting station throughout the duration of the three week campaign.
Hailed as the backbone of the service, on-call firefighters manage their life-saving duties alongside their full-time jobs and family commitments.
The ‘Your Town, Your Team, Your NIFRS’ campaign is aimed at those who live or work within five minutes of their local fire station, who want to make a real difference in their community.
Information evenings are being held in Holywood on Tuesday, March 3 and Thursday, March 10, when aspiring on-call firefighters can learn more about the role and the commitment involved.
They can also speak directly to the crew at the fire station and find out more about the physical aspects of the job, the training provided and the application process.
Firefighter Drummond explained what first attracted him to life on the front line.
“I am a senior chemical process engineer,” he said. “I work in the water sector, so my nine to five is very desk heavy and there is a lot of work on the computer.
“When I saw the recruitment for on-call firefighters I came down to the open night and the Watch Commander gave a presentation on what it was like to be a firefighter, the physical aspect, the training and the skills you get, as well as being called out to incidents.”
Said Mr Drummond: “I took a tour around the appliances, got to see the equipment, learned about some of the other emergencies such as road traffic collisions and water rescues, and thought this is something I am really interested in. I pursued it and here I am two years later and I am loving it.”
Little did he know that when he joined the Fire Service he would be following in his grandfather’s footsteps.
“My mum said that my grandfather was a firefighter in England which is something I never knew,” he said.
“Digging into my family line it was really interesting to see how it was done back in the day, and I have photos of my granddad on parade. My family are so proud to see me stepping into his boots.”
As an on-call firefighter, Mr Drummond explained he has to be able to respond to a call out within five minutes.
“We have alerters and whenever a call comes into the station, you could be in your pyjamas sleeping at night or having your dinner. You have to get to the station, get changed and be mobilised within eight minutes.”
He described the ongoing training as ‘challenging but extremely rewarding’.
“We complete safe to ride training, where you put up ladders and run out hoses safely. From there you complete core training skills, such as breathing apparatus, where you go into smoke logged buildings to extricate casualties.
“There is also road traffic collision training, dealing with both fatal and non-fatal incidents. I was also interested to learn emergency casualty care, where you are dealing with catastrophic bleeding and spinal injuries. There is a lot of learning.”
One of the highlights of his firefighting career to date was being amongst the first cohort to pass out with their breathing apparatus training in the £50m state-of-the-art learning and development college outside Cookstown – and then putting those life skills to use protecting his community.
These ‘unique’ skills were soon put into action.
“There was a garage fire and we had to put our breathing sets on and cut open the shutter door and extinguish the fire, all with the family watching.”
He spoke of his desire to help the community in which he lives.
“For me it is very important to give back to the community. I live here and want to make sure the community is protected, and if there is an emergency I can do my utmost to ensure I can contribute to that.”
For anyone thinking of becoming an on-call firefighter, Mr Drummond said: “It is challenging. You have to respond in the early hours of the morning and then get up and do a full day’s work, but it is rewarding. That’s what makes me continue to learn more and develop my skill set.
“There is also great camaraderie with the crew, we learn together. We do see some nasty things at an incident, but we have that foundation of trust and closeness with your crew so that allows you to debrief and leave it at the station, so you don’t take it home with you.”
Said Mr Drummond: “You are also giving back to the community, there is that sense of belonging and doing your bit, it certainly ticks all the boxes.”
