'You can’t make a living from it': Retained firefighters to escalate industrial action

Retained firefighters have begun strike action over what they say are impossible pay and conditions

Jonathan Madden, Station Officer at Mallow Fire Station, Co Cork. Picture: David Creedon

When Jonathan Madden’s pager beeped on Sunday morning, he immediately left his breakfast and rushed to the fire station.

Minutes later, he was at a house fire where his crew broke down a door, entered a house through thick smoke and lashing flames, and rescued a man trapped inside, tending to him medically before the ambulance arrived.