"THIS FIRE IS NO SURPRISE" THOUGHTS FROM A FIREFIGHTER ON GRENFELL TOWER
July 1, 2017
In response to the London Tower fire I want to speak out. I want to applaud my colleagues of the London Fire Brigade who have performed above and beyond what can be expected. I want to applaud the people that came to help in the aftermath of the fire. I want to applaud the forensic teams who are now performing the horrific and painkilling task of recovering all human remains and identifying them.
On the other hand, I am disappointed and frustrated. As a firefighter who has had the job on the frontline for 17 years, I struggle with accepting that EU regulation and legislation has not been able to avoid such a predictable tragedy. On 16th of May of this year I participated in a hearing organized by the EU commission. The subject was whether further research was needed to determine the toxicity of smoke during a fire.
March 2, 2014
This is Jeannine Goossens Sirault, a true Superfan of the Brussels fire department. Posing in-between some of the last recruits that will startto work in our department.
I got to know her in the Sint Pieter Hospital in Brussels. I saw an her arriving at the ER. The ER of the Sint Pieters Hospital can be a bit hectic. So I walked up to her to ask wether she needed help. She was helping her husband who had a mild injury to the head that needed attention. Just the fact that she decided to come to the hospital on her own means deserves respect. Many younger people these days would have called for an ambulance. It tells something about this lady. And when I informed why she didn't call us, she replied "You guys have more import and work to do..." It stunned me.
She asked for my name and the same night...
The events in Kiev touch me on a different level then other similar events… This does not justify any other dictatorship in the world and it also does not deny the suffering of other people. I am as shocked by the events in the Central African Republic as many others. Thousands have been butchered, those who are fleeing have to be protected. And those who are angry are this for a reason. It is, as so often, a tragedy with two sides. But nothing can justify the religious cleansing that happened there in the past weeks. It is total dehumanisation… It is fair to say that 15% of the population of the Central African Republic has been killed, disappeared or is fleeing....
February 18, 2014
This article was published in the Belgian magazine 'Brandweerman'. It has been translated to English and is available for download or you can read it online in the blog.
"In Europe, and Belgium more specific, some fire departments and training institutes are considering to start the formation of a RIT. With the training institutes wanting to provide the necessary training. But RIT has as many critics as believers. And both have their arguments that make sence. First of all a RIT has to be seen in the right perspective and secondly training has to be given in a proper way with a logic learning process. And this regarding each individual firefighter and the potential RIT member.
The idea and concept of RIT, founded in the USA early ‘90ies, is in the first place a personal responsibility for each and ...