Clive congratulated by NIFRS colleagues after winning award

Clive Hamilton with Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Michael Graham (left) and Chief Fire Officer, Dale Ashford (right)

Clive was nominated by NIFRS for this Award because of his dedicated service throughout his career and because of his Volunteering work outside NIFRS.

Clive has worked in the Regional Control Centre in NIFRS HQ in Lisburn for over 25 years and is currently a Crew Commander with Red Watch.

He fulfilled a lifelong ambition when he joined the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service 25 years ago. Handling 999 calls Clive deals with potential life and death situations.

Clive Hamilton, Crew Commander, Regional Control Centre, NIFRS

As the Crew Commander, Clive oversees the 999 calls handled by Red Watch during their shift, either directly taking the 999 call, acting as the Mobilising Officer or in another supervisory/support role.

When Clive is not directly answering the 999 call he is the Mobilising Officer who is responsible for informing the Firefighters of the incident and mobilising the correct level of resources to the incident as quickly as possible.

Clive is also the Chairperson and Team Leader of the Lisburn Fire Cadets Programme. Clive was one of the founding members of the Fire Cadets Scheme 14 years ago and still gives his time voluntarily to run the Lisburn Fire Cadets class one evening a week at Lisburn Fire Station.

Another big part of Clive’s life is his Volunteer role as a Team Leader for the ‘Fire Emergency Support Service’ (FESS) based at Cadogan Fire Station in Belfast.

Clive Hamilton and colleagues from Red Watch, Regional Control Centre with Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Michael Graham (far left) and Chief Fire Officer, Dale Ashford (far right)

As part of the British Red Cross’s emergency response, the Fire and Emergency Support Service (FESS) in partnership with NIFRS, aims to help people who have been affected after a fire, flood or other emergency.

This assistance is given immediately after the incident and supplements the support available from any statutory services.

Additionally, the FESS provides support to NIFRS at large or prolonged incidents by assisting to provide feeding, comfort and rest facilities to Firefighters.

In May 2014 Clive dealt with a 999 call to a block of flats in Belfast with reports of people trapped. He reacted on gut instinct to deploy a specialist appliance which resulted in a man being rescued from the blaze.

NIFRS was delighted that Clive was chosen as the winner in the ‘Emergency Services’ category as it is a great testament to Clive, his colleagues in Red Watch and across the Regional Control Centre. Everyone in NIFRS congratulates Clive on his Award.