German fire officers visit Mayo to help copperfasten twinning links

THE chief fire officer of Mayo County Council, Tony Shevlin, has welcomed his friends and colleagues from Höchstadt Fire Brigade to Castlebar and Mayo as part of their twinning links spanning 23 years.

The delegation consisted of Benjamin Obexer, Felix Wasel, Jochen Tohol and Stefan Effenberg, some of whom were visiting the west of Ireland for the first time.

An extensive itinerary included practical training combined with visits to the pharmaceutical company Baxter Healthcare, Ireland West Airport’s fire service, the onshore gas terminal at Ballinaboy and Ballyglass Lifeboat Station.

Training and the exchange of experience was central to the visit. There was an entertaining and engaging discussion on an array of equipment and tactics used so that each could benefit from the experience of the other.

Among other things, the use of specialist fire blankets for dealing with vehicle fires, particularly where thermal runway occurs in electric vehicles, was demonstrated.

Following extensive training at the fire service training centre at Ballinrobe, the German officers achieved the required standard and certificates of competence were awarded to them.

Also of particular interest was the use of the ICR tablet system. This is a software tool designed to empower and support those in charge of an incident response, with a robust and reliable platform for incident management and reporting with time stamped data and images from the scene.

Away from the training there was also an opportunity for engagement at a social level and a chance to meet recently retired colleagues Seamus Murphy and Pete McDonnell.

The opportunity to climb Croagh Patrick was also seized and all were successful in ascending to the summit of the pilgrimage mountain.

The commander of the Höchstadt Fire Department, Benjamin Obexer, said: "We at the Höchstadt Fire Department were delighted to be able to fulfil our promise made in 2019 to make a return visit.

“For Jochen and I, it was our first visit to the Mayo County Fire Service, but we were received so kindly as if we had been part of it for years.

“Felix has been involved since the beginning of the partnership and was thrilled to see how the comrades always put together an extensive exciting programme each time.”

In response, Tony Shevlin commented: “It was great once again to work with our friends and colleagues from Höchstadt Fire Brigade and we look forward to many more years of this warm and rewarding partnership.”

Benjamin Obexer concurred, stating what started as an initial exchange of experiences has developed into a deep friendship.