Firefighter dies in crash on way to false alarm

A FIREFIGHTER was killed when the engine in which he was travelling crashed while responding to a false alarm at a primary school.

John Noble, 46, was killed when the vehicle came off the A91, near Tillicoultry, in Clackmannanshire, and struck a tree at about 1:30pm yesterday.

Three of his colleagues from the fire-and-rescue station in Alloa were injured.

No other vehicle was involved in the accident, which happened close to the Harviestoun Country Hotel, at a bend in the road. The immediate area is believed to be an accident black spot.

One of the injured crew was described as being in a "serious" condition after being airlifted to the Southern General Hospital, in Glasgow, which specialises in head injuries.

Two colleagues were being treated for minor injuries at Stirling Royal Infirmary.

Mr Noble, who lived in Alloa and had been with the fire service for 22 years, was married with two children.

He had only recently returned from Texas, where he underwent specialist training in how to deal with the aftermath of disasters like terrorist attacks.

He made the trip with 21 other Scottish firefighters for the two-week urban search-and-rescue course. They are the only firefighters in the UK to be certified as structural-collapse technicians.

Mr Noble, who had previously been to Texas for another course, in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, also visited Russia last summer to teach rescue workers how to deal with road accidents and extract crash victims from wrecked cars.

Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service has launched an investigation into the accident, which led to the closure of the A91 from Tillicoultry-Dollar.

The team had been on its way to Strathdevon Primary, in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, in response to an alarm call. It later emerged that the alarm had set itself off.

Jim Wallace, one of the directors of the fire and rescue service, said: "Mr Noble was an experienced and popular firefighter and individual.

"He'll be sadly missed in what is a very small, close-knit organisation. We're devastated."

Arie Rodenburg, a worker at the Hillfoots Garden Centre and Golf Driving Range, near the scene of the crash, said: "We just heard a big noise. It seems as if they were going a bit too fast round the corner and crashed."

Chief Inspector Donald McMillan, of Central Scotland Police, said that it was too early to discuss the cause of the incident and that an investigation is ongoing.