FIRE BRIGADE HAD VITAL ROLE IN SEARCH AND RESCUE
Fire Brigade had vital role in search and rescue
FIRE officer John Langtry came to Omagh four years ago as the district officer for the area. In all he has notched up 17 years with the Fire Brigade, but nothing would have prepared the firemen for the horrific scene: in the town on August 15.
"During my 17 years with the Brigade I have seen and been involved in a number of bomb incidents and a lot of quite horrific accidents. But none of them would have prepared us for the sight that we were met with," he recalled.
Mr. Langtry was off duty and working in his garden when he heard the bomb explode. His first impulse was to contact the Brigade's control room, to ask if they knew a bomb had gone off in Omagh.
"At that stage they were just getting the first calls from the police -that was at nine minutes past three," he said.
"I told them that I would attend to give officer cover, and I arrived at the scene about three minutes after that.
"I was there exactly five minutes after the bomb had detonated," he recalled.
"When I arrived my colleague, Gerry Warren, also an assistant divisional officer, had arrived at the scene one minute before me, and was attending to some casualties.
"It looked as if hundreds of people were injured and it was difficult to differentiate between the injured and those who were helping them," he said.
"My initial concern was that a fire would break out, and, indeed, a small fire had started in one of the shops, and another was smouldering in parts of the wreckage of the vehicle. A hose reel was deployed and we dealt with these fires within the first few minutes.
"Myself and my colleague made a quick reconnaissance of the scene, and immediately called for assistance, and asked for a further five pumps to attend," he said.
"On the street we were faced with multiple casualties, ranging from those in shock to those that
were seriously wounded. There were a lot of people there helping the injured.
"Mr. Langtry said the priority was to check buildings for further fires, and prevent fires from occurring, as well as to establish if any people needed rescued from the debris in the buildings," he said.
"As more crews arrived, the search and rescue efforts proceeded more quickly. However, the first crew that was there performed far beyond the limits of their training.
"All the police, the ambulance personnel and civilians dealt with the casualties, and were extremely brave, and also greatly helped the Fire Brigade by allowing them to concentrate on search and rescue efforts," he said.
Mr. Langtry continued: "At some stage we were told there was a secondary device and as we had already established that anybody left in the debris was beyond help, we decided to evacuate along with the rest of the emergency services until the scene was declared relatively safe.
"Whenever the operation resumed, we knew we only had two buildings left to search, and as more personnel arrived and the search area became smaller, it left time for officers to think about their own families, and a number of men were released to check up on them," he said.
"One of the toughest jobs faced by the firefighters was to assist in the removal of the dead from the buildings," Mr. Langtry said. "The last appliance left the scene one minute before 10 o'clock that evening."
At that stage the Omagh firemen, assisted by colleagues from other stations in the district, had spent around seven gruelling hours dealing with the horrific aftermath of the bomb.
"I would like to thank those that helped in any way, and to express my condolences to all those bereaved or injured, and wish them, on behalf of myself and my colleagues, the best for the future," Mr. Langtry said.
FIRE officer John Langtry came to Omagh four years ago as the district officer for the area. In all he has notched up 17 years with the Fire Brigade, but nothing would have prepared the firemen for the horrific scene: in the town on August 15.
"During my 17 years with the Brigade I have seen and been involved in a number of bomb incidents and a lot of quite horrific accidents. But none of them would have prepared us for the sight that we were met with," he recalled.
Mr. Langtry was off duty and working in his garden when he heard the bomb explode. His first impulse was to contact the Brigade's control room, to ask if they knew a bomb had gone off in Omagh.
"At that stage they were just getting the first calls from the police -that was at nine minutes past three," he said.
"I told them that I would attend to give officer cover, and I arrived at the scene about three minutes after that.
"I was there exactly five minutes after the bomb had detonated," he recalled.
"When I arrived my colleague, Gerry Warren, also an assistant divisional officer, had arrived at the scene one minute before me, and was attending to some casualties.
"It looked as if hundreds of people were injured and it was difficult to differentiate between the injured and those who were helping them," he said.
"My initial concern was that a fire would break out, and, indeed, a small fire had started in one of the shops, and another was smouldering in parts of the wreckage of the vehicle. A hose reel was deployed and we dealt with these fires within the first few minutes.
"Myself and my colleague made a quick reconnaissance of the scene, and immediately called for assistance, and asked for a further five pumps to attend," he said.
"On the street we were faced with multiple casualties, ranging from those in shock to those that
were seriously wounded. There were a lot of people there helping the injured.
"Mr. Langtry said the priority was to check buildings for further fires, and prevent fires from occurring, as well as to establish if any people needed rescued from the debris in the buildings," he said.
"As more crews arrived, the search and rescue efforts proceeded more quickly. However, the first crew that was there performed far beyond the limits of their training.
"All the police, the ambulance personnel and civilians dealt with the casualties, and were extremely brave, and also greatly helped the Fire Brigade by allowing them to concentrate on search and rescue efforts," he said.
Mr. Langtry continued: "At some stage we were told there was a secondary device and as we had already established that anybody left in the debris was beyond help, we decided to evacuate along with the rest of the emergency services until the scene was declared relatively safe.
"Whenever the operation resumed, we knew we only had two buildings left to search, and as more personnel arrived and the search area became smaller, it left time for officers to think about their own families, and a number of men were released to check up on them," he said.
"One of the toughest jobs faced by the firefighters was to assist in the removal of the dead from the buildings," Mr. Langtry said. "The last appliance left the scene one minute before 10 o'clock that evening."
At that stage the Omagh firemen, assisted by colleagues from other stations in the district, had spent around seven gruelling hours dealing with the horrific aftermath of the bomb.
"I would like to thank those that helped in any way, and to express my condolences to all those bereaved or injured, and wish them, on behalf of myself and my colleagues, the best for the future," Mr. Langtry said.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0291
Published Date: 27-Aug-98
Related Images
