Watch Manager John Noble died in a crash on the way to a fire on Sunday 23rd January 2008

 

Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service can confirm that at 13:30 today (23rd January) a fire engine attending an emergency call to Strathdevon Primary School, Dollar was involved in a fatal collision outside Tillicoultry.
The fire engine had a crew of five and as result of the collision one firefighter has died, one has been seriously injured, three others have also been injured. The most serious of the injured has been air lifted to the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow.
Firefighters from another station were immediately mobilised to the scene and had the harrowing task of extricating casualties from the wreckage. The crews carried this out in a professional manner in extremely difficult conditions.
Chief Fire Officer Steven Torrie says “Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service is a small Service and a close-knit community and we are all absolutely devastated by this loss and extremely concerned about our injured colleagues. The thoughts of every single member of this Service are with the firefighter’s family and the families of our injured colleagues, this is a tragic day for our Service.
The Service is co-operating with the full investigation which is being conducted by Central Scotland Police road policing uni

 

Fireman dies and four hurt in crash on way to false alarm 

ALISON CHIESA 

A Firefighter died yesterday and four others were injured when their engine crashed while responding to a false alarm.
John Noble, who had more than 20 years experience in the fire service, was killed when the tender left the road and struck a tree in Clackmannanshire.
He was among a crew of five responding to a call from a school after a smoke alarm activated.
Firefighter Alan Robertson was seriously injured in the crash, which happened near Tillicoultry around 1-30pm. Mr Robertson was airlifted to Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital.
The three other crew from the Alloa based fire engine, who suffered minor injuries, were treated at Stirling Royal Infirmary.
Firefighters from a nearby station were sent to the scene of the crash and had the harrowing task of removing casualties from the wreckage.
An investigation was under way last night.
Mr Noble, 46, from Alloa, leaves a wife and two children.
Colleagues expressed their sadness at news of the “experienced and popular” man’s death.
Chief Fire Officer Steven Torrie said: “Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service is a small service and a close knit community and we are all absolutely devastated by this loss and extremely concerned about our injured colleagues.
“The thoughts of every single member of this service are with the firefighter’s family and the families of our injured colleagues—this is a tragic day”
A spokeswoman from Clackmannanshire Council confirmed that a smoke alarm had activated at Strathdevon Primary School in Dollar. She added that it had been a false alarm.
Stuart Wilson, a divisional officer with the Strathclyde branch of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “When we heard the news it was chilling to think that one of our comrades had been involved. There are risks with the job, and unfortunately this is one of them.”
Tributes Page 2.
(The Herald,
Thursday January 24, 2008. Page 1 )

 

Tributes for firefighter killed after engine crash

‘John was a real gentleman, he’ll be a big miss’ 

ALISON CHIESA and JULIA HORTON 

Those who knew John Noble — the firefighter who died yesterday en route to a false alarm — described him as a “real gentleman” and dedicated family man.
The father-of-two killed  when the vehicle carrying him and four others crashed near Tillicoultry in Clackmannanshire, was also something of a high flier in his profession.
Based at Alloa fire station for most of his 22-year career, the firefighter led a course in Russia last summer teaching rescue workers how to deal with road traffic accidents, including extracting victims from crumpled cars
Following the trip, he said: “Their English was every bit as good as my Russian — which is nil.”
Yet, despite having no interpreter on site, Mr Noble, 46, effectively taught using sign language.
When asked during the trip how he communicated a life saving technique to non English speakers, it was a Russian who answered: “One rescuer always knows what the other one is thinking.”
Firefighters from a nearby station were yesterday sent to the Tillicoultry crash scene to perform the harrowing task of removing casualties from the site where Mr Noble died and four colleagues were injured —one of them seriously.
The crew had been responding to a call from a primary school after a smoke alarm activated.
Mr Noble had recently returned from a two-week urban search and rescue course in the US.
The training, had been devised primarily because of the global terrorist threats in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Completing the course meant the firefighter was among only 22 in the UK certified as structural collapse technicians.
While the dead man’s family was last night too upset to talk about the incident, neighbours in Alloa spoke of their shock.
<PHOTO> WRECKAGE: The fire engine is towed away from the scene.
One 75-year-old, who asked not be named, said: “John was a real gentleman. This is awful, he’ll be a big miss.”
The man added: “As far as I know he was well up in his job and doing really well.”
Iftakhar Ahmed, a local shopkeeper, said: “He and his family would come in to buy things fairly regularly.
“He always said hello and seemed friendly. It’s very sad.”
Ochil MSP Keith Brown said he had met Mr Noble last week at a campaign event for a new bridge crossing. “Mr Noble was a remarkable man, one of the highest qualified firefighters in the UK and my sympathies go to his family and colleagues,” he said.
Eyewitnesses at the scene of the crash said several ambulances and an air ambulance were scrambled.
The A91 Stirling to Dollar road was closed as a result of the accident.
A business owner, who witnessed the crash aftermath, said: “We heard an almighty bang and when we looked out the window, we could see that the fire engine had hit a tree at the side of the road.
“It must have been going fast and come off the road.
“There was a lot of damage and within seconds there were police cars on the scene and then a helicopter came in for the injured.
“There are often accidents at this bend, sometimes two or three a week. Something has to be done about it.”
Jim Wallace, one of the directors of the rescue service, said: “Mr Noble was an experienced and popular firefighter and individual.
“He will be sadly missed in what is a very small, close-knit organisation. We are devastated.”
Fergus Ewing, the minister for community safety which includes fire services, said: “I shocked and saddened to hear about this incident.
‘It is a tragic reminder of the debt which all of us owe to our fire and rescue professionals.”
(The Herald,
Thursday January 24, 2008. Page 2)

 

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