Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2017 | Page 45

Interview
Lumberjacking
in Canada
Matt (circled) joining the Merchant Navy
started his 14-weeks of training at Newport Fire
Station (then the only full-time station on the
Island) in late 1978.
“At that stage it was just a job – I guess at the
age of 19, I just wanted to go out and explore
different things” he says. “But I was surprised
at how quickly I got to love it. I loved the job
and I also loved the time off that it allowed me,
because of the shift patterns”.
Camaraderie
Matt also enjoyed the unique close-knit
community in the fire station, where colleagues
literally would work, rest and play together.
In fact during the first couple of decades of his
fire service career, Matt was surrounded by many
ex-Forces people, many of whom were much
older than him.
“The culture was very close and supportive.
You not only worked together, but because you
slept at the station, you’d also have your meals
together, play darts and socialise together, and it
meant you really got to know people”
Nowadays, the age profile of staff is generally
younger, which means many have young families
and big financial commitments, so the job tends
to be much more than just a job, rather a culture.
The other big difference when Matt joined the
service was the equipment – which would be
almost unrecognisable to a modern firefighter,
used to lots of hi-tech gear.
The vehicles were much less sophisticated for a
start: in the late 1970s and early 80s, fire engines
were petrol-driven, much smaller – with room
Martin Lapham, Matt Sainsbury and Kelvin Wright today
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