It’s a disturbing feeling when you have to enter a fire wearing one of these sets. I always had full confidence in the old sets we had but now I am filled with fear. I don’t need distractions like that when I’m trying to do my job. My wife doesn’t need the extra fear saying goodbye to me as I leave home to start my shift. The citizens of Dublin don’t need this when I’m called out to rescue them and save property.
If you want to experience what an airflow stoppage feels like, put clingwrap on your mouth and nose and breathe. It’s a bit dangerous really. It may kill you. When you take it away you can take in a big deep breath. A firefighter cannot take off the mask in heavy smoke conditions. Toxic smoke can kill with one breath. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Let’s all hope that egos get put to the side and common sense and decency can prevail before we bury a firefighter or member of the public due to this.

They won’t be happy until there’s firefighter / public fatalities resulting from this, and then they’ll fight it all the way in courts pleading ignorance!
How dare they be so cavalier with people’s lives, have they learned nothing???

I live outside Dublin, many years ago there was a house fire near me, some fool told the firefighters there was children in the house and two of them got kitted up and went in. Now I can’t describe what they went into, you see these buildings on fire on TV but it is nothing like that in reality, even 30 feet away you had to shield yourself but these lads went in. I have to be honest, nothing would get me to go into that.
If we expect our firefighters to do things like this, and we do every day, then the very least we can do for them is equip them with the best gear that they can rely on. This is shameful to say the least, and whats worse is that they have to go to the media and threaten legal action to get something as basic as this sorted. I’m begining to think Eamon Dunphy was right and this is a kip of a country, though I hate to admit it.

It’s appalling in the extreme to have a situation like this. These brave firefighters deserve much better. Shame on those in charge for allowing this to happen.

What exactly is the fire services call out charge for? Is it to pay management large bonuses for placing firefighters lives at risk and profit from bad deals!

With all the money DCC got from non residential tax you would think they could purchase the equipment, instead of 12-D rubbish collection vans. Both the equipment and D.C.C not fit for purpose. Where is the legendary Health Safety Executive when you need them.

And what is the manufacturers response?

Sadly this sounds all too familiar a tale, kit that doesn’t work properly and a dismissive attitude from those who should be dealing with it and getting it sorted, only when there is a fatality or a serious accident will the people responsible do anything about it, usually after the event and then it will be the usual bullshit, legally drafted apology, insincere bleating about the ‘tragedy’ and the old “lessons learned’ chestnut. The ones in charge know full well that in the ‘republic of unaccountability’ their jobs are safe and they won’t have to answer for anything, such is the way of things in Ireland, the culture of the gombeen and the cute hoor will always protect the incompetent and reckless, they have learned nothing and they never will. It’s going to take a massive shift in the Irish psyche to change the culture that allows this sort of reckless incompetence to go unchecked. Firefighters deserve better than this.

Which manufacturers have you tried to contact? – Although most users would lay blame at the BA manufacturer, the fact of the matter is that internal faults are most commonly the caused by poor air quality – look first at the BA compressor, air quality testing and compressor maintenance, particularly moisture levels. Ice on the outside, as you can see pictured is quite normal in heavy use – as the air expands it cools causing outside moisture to condense and often freeze on the outside of hoses and fittings. It’s ice on the inside which causes problems and is difficult to identify as it melts by the time any investigation starts!