Fire, earthquake and hurricane… he’s a hero

Lynn News, UK
24 March 2005

Bryan Kirby is not the sort of person who would ever describe himself as a
hero. But for the hundreds of people he has helped in crisis situations at
home and abroad over the past 35 years, the retained Fakenham fireman has
been just that.

It’s been a devoted commitment since he joined up as a tender 22-year-old
back in 1970, but now Bryan has decided to call it a day.

“The service has changed a lot in recent times, with new health and safety
regulations and revised training systems. I think it’s only right that
someone else should take it forward,” he said.

Bryan was encouraged to join the brigade in the first place by his Uncle
Harry who was a sub-officer at Fakenham. It was the start of regular
Wednesday night practice sessions and call-outs ~V or shouts ~V at any time of
the day or night.

“I was living at home with my parents and the rest of my family then and the
alarm was linked to the telephone. It made a helluva noise so you couldn’t
fail to hear it. Woke everybody up, of course.”

Over the years Bryan gradually achieved various promotions, moving up to
sub-officer and finally station officer.

In 1986 he became a member of the International Rescue Corps, a
multi-national group dedicated to immediate assistance for disaster areas
anywhere in the world.

His first mission was to a huge earthquake in Armenia and in 1989 he was
part of a team rescuing people stranded by Hurricane Hugo in Montserrat.
Subsequent calls found him in Iran, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Georgia and
Japan.

On the home front, Bryan is well known in Fakenham as a successful
businessman.

He started up Fakenham Tyres on the Hempton Road as a one-man band back in
1970 and now employs four full-time mechanics.

More recently he opened Fakenham Superbowl with his wife Kay and extended
its operations to include a children’s indoor play area. These enterprises
have gone from strength- to-strength.

Bryan says he will not miss the alarm calls, especially at night, but he
will definitely miss the camaraderie of all the guys at the station. “You
become very close, especially when you have to deal with things like serious
road accidents which can be very upsetting,” he said.

“Most of the time you get over it among yourselves and it helps to have a
kind of black humour. The service is very good and provides support for
anyone who needs it.”

Now with slightly more time on his hands, Bryan is considering various
business ideas for the future. He has never found it easy to be idle and
with two enterprises still on the go is unlikely to be found twiddling his
thumbs.

One pastime he especially enjoys is cycling and this could be on the
increase as he gets used to life after the fire brigade.

24 March 2005