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)