Firefighters during the Troubles: The men and women on the frontline tell their stories

Before the outbreak of the Troubles, a typical firefighter's year might have included call-outs to chimney fires, the occasional house fire or road accident, and - even more rarely - a large factory or hay shed fire. While a firefighting career was always inherently exciting and risky, for most firefighters moments of high drama were anything but a daily occurrence. Then everything changed, and Northern Ireland's firefighters spent almost every day of the next thirty years racing to the scenes of atrocities, running towards the gravest danger. In this powerful book, men and women who served in the fire service during the Troubles tell their own stories in their own words - the events that have never left them, the victims they have never forgotten, the extraordinary bond between colleagues, the emotional burden and fallout from the job. The stories cover a uniquely challenging period for firefighters - full of exhilaration, fear, bravery and sorrow. What comes across is a universal desire to honour the uniform, to be brave when the need for courage is acute, and to be determined to cover your mate's back - no matter what.

About the Author :
John Wilson was a firefighter from 1981-2011. He has worked closely with Clean Slate Television on the forthcoming BBC NI documentary, Firefighters: On the Front Line. He lives in Moira with his wife. This is his first book.

Review :
The unsung firefighting heroes who risked their lives to save hundreds of other people after bombings and arson attacks in Northern Ireland during the worst of the Troubles have shared their harrowing stories for the first time in a powerful new book. No fewer than 34 former firefighters have spoken to author John Wilson, who wanted to chronicle the bravery and the sacrifices of the courageous crews who, without regard for themselves, often ran towards burning buildings as others ran away to safety. Among the moving accounts that John has collated is one from a fireman who was given the Last Rites as his cousin lay dead beside him in a collapsed building, and the story of a devastated officer who carried the bodies of the three Quinn children from their fire-ravaged home in Ballymoney in 1998 after a loyalist petrol bomb attack. "When you think of all the times we turned out to deal with fires that were started by bombs and incendiaries, it defies logic that more officers weren't killed by secondary devices. I can remember more than one occasion when we were standing beside bombs that didn't go off, or ones that did explode. There must have been angels on our shoulders," Many of the names of Northern Ireland's most gruesome terrorist bombings, including the Abercorn, La Mon, McGurk's, Enniskillen and the Shankill, figure prominently … Firefighters During the Troubles is another important Northern Ireland book as told by people who were in the the thick of it. It is not an easy read at times but there is warmth (if you’ll pardon the word) in the way some of these stories are told and I reckon after reading it, it is impossible not to feel greater respect for the men and women of the fire service. They deserve our eternal gratitude. John Wilson has done them proud in this exemplary collection of real and honest memories. The book includes personal accounts from men and women who were on the frontline during the conflict. Their stories are full of exhilaration, fear, bravery and sorrow. What comes across is a universal desire to honour the uniform, to be brave when the need for courage was acute, and to be determined to cover your mate's back - no matter what.