46 By the Dart • Neil Whitemore


life size real weight dummy to retrieve. “When the men first sign up we make them take turns being a human dummy,” Neil says with a cheeky smile. “It’s not as rotten or dangerous as it sounds. It’s so they put themselves in the casualty’s shoes. When you’re sat in a car with five men in masks cutting bits of metal out around you, you realise how scary being rescued can be.” Neil, a carer in a local retirement home, has been a


retained firefighter for 34 years - over half his life. Both his father and great grandfather also fought fires so he says it was ‘the thing to do’. He’s certainly witnessed a few weird and wonderful call outs in his time; “there was the python on the roof on Victoria Road - that was funny. We put a ladder up and helped the owner onto the roof to coax the thing down. there was no way we were touching it! then there was the man who had super glued his hand to a phone in a call box, we didn’t ask any questions!” then there are some more harrowing tales and Neil’s keen to point out the counselling that’s offered to firefighters who witness a death; “People deal with that sort of thing in different ways, some men just shut down and


would rather not talk about it and others try and laugh and move on”. It’s clear in Neil’s voice that he is fond of his team and he tells me he’s very proud of them all. over his three decades of service Neil has seen some changes; “there aren’t as many call outs as there used to be, I would say numbers have halved since I joined. I think that’s because of new build houses


“There was the


python on the roof on Victoria Road - that was funny.”


and better community safety advice in schools. People are generally more pro-active now. We are often called into homes to do a free safety visit where we point out possible hazards and escape routes.” the one thing that hasn’t changed is the need for volunteers and as our interview draws to a close there’s a question for me; “are you going to sign up then?” asks one of the men – half joking, half serious. With high house prices and few jobs for young people in Dartmouth, Neil tells me many potential recruits are forced to move away to bigger towns; “Any one over 18 can


join us as long as they pass the interview, medical and entrance exam. We have landscape gardeners, painters, plumbers and mechanics who all do one thing during the day and save lives in their spare time.” If it’s for you, ring 01392 872294 or visit www.dsfire.gov.uk•


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