Today the IWFBF is not a formal organisation, in fact, to be totally honest, it's just me.

I'm Damon, an adopted son of the Isle of Wight who began this life of firefighting as a retained member of the service at Ryde in 1996.

Shortly after that I wangled my way into civil aviation and worked my way up to Station Manager concurrent to running an aviation crash/rescue unit to List-X MoD standards until 2010.

During that time I was fortunate to have followed many varied and interesting paths. In addition to working towards Crown Standards of fire protection under the guidance of the Defence Fire Risk Management Organisation I also had the privilege to be appointed MoD Regional Post-Crash Management Incident Officer on behalf of the Royal Air Force following a course of education at the Defence Aviation Safety Centre at RAF Bentley Priory. 

In the same year I was named as the joint winner of the 2005 United Kingdom Airport Rescue and Firefighter Supervisor of the year award in my category and presented with the Silver Axe and plaques at the International Fire Training Centre by the sponsor Bristol Uniforms. 

This was followed by two invitations to speak at the annual International Fire Service Managers seminar on the subject of Military Aircraft Post-Crash Management. I was also one of the first two fire officers in the UK to be trained by the Cirrus Corporation of Minnesota with the skills and knowledge to identify, disarm and disassemble Ballistic Recovery Systems at the site of non-deployment post-crash incident sites. Additionally I undertook the learning required to deliver offshore firefighter training, evolving to the design and delivery of an Advanced Firefighting course to enable a client to meet the standard audited by the Maritime Coastguard Agency. 

Since then I remained operational within the service until 2016 when I applied for the role of co-ordinator of the training product during a phase known as Delivering Differently in Partnership, the formal beginnings of closer liaison with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. Following that I served as the service's Inspection Readiness Officer, tasked with preparing the service for its first visit and audit by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's and Fire and Rescue Services, before turning my attention back to my greatest passion - training, and today I remain with the combined Hampshire and Isle of Wight FRS in the Learning and Development department. 

My interest in the history of Isle of Wight firefighting began within weeks of joining the service when a new colleague, now a long established friend, advised me to take a look at a small but important pile of documents that were retained from the old station at Ryde when it moved to the new facility on Nicholson Road in 1994. The bug got me when I began reading a diary written by a teenaged Ryde fireman of the war, describing events in places that I knew so well but in an unimaginable context. The diary ended suddenly, literally mid-sentence, and therein germinated the beginnings of a desire to know more which, after many years, resulted in the publication of eight books serialising the fascinating history of the fire services that have protected this garden isle. 

Today I utilise the IWFBF brand as a platform from which to raise awareness of the Island's firefighting history and to raise funds for the Firefighters Charity, just like our forebears did back in the pre-World War Two era, holding events of which the Widows and Orphans Fund were the beneficiaries. 

Below is a list of significant dates in the IWFBF timeline, with dates of future events placed for clarity.

If you would like to arrange a talk for your group, please use the contact page to get in touch. The most popular presentation I do is called 'Heroism, Humour and the Hump', and it's never the same twice, see why here. 

If you have enjoyed this page, why not make a small donation to the Firefighters Charity.