UP CLOSE...with Francis Etienne Quatre, deputy chief fire officer |02 April 2019

Mr Quatre

From accounting to fire-fighting

Francis Etienne Quatre can be described as a ‘fearless and disciplined man’. Fearless in the sense that he decided to change his career path from accounting to fire-fighting, and disciplined as he demonstrates a lot of discipline in his daily work as deputy chief fire officer at the Airport Fire and Rescue Services. 

Meeting up with him recently, Mr Quatre proudly and willingly shared his career journey with this newspaper.

Adventurous childhood

The soon-to-be 46-year-old who was born on April 17, 1973 at Anse Royale in south Mahe, is the ninth of 10 children – five brothers and five sisters.  

He grew up at Pointe Au Sel, a sub district of Anse Royale.

‘’I remember going to crèche there in a small chapel which was surrounded by bushes and coconut trees. Then, as from primary one to primary nine, I went to school at Anse Royale and had to walk through the hills then onto the main road to school. I had to work hard as my parents could not understand the studies I was undertaking, thus I took ownership of my personal learning and development,” Mr Quatre recalled.

“I used to read a lot during my childhood and playing football and swimming were my hobbies. At times, I would spend nearly a day out at sea, fishing and diving for octopus,” he said.

Moving on towards adulthood 

After completing two years at the National Youth Service(NYS), spending one year at Ste Anne 1 in 1989 and the other at Cap Ternay in 1990, he joined the school of Business Studies and Accounting at the Seychelles Polytechnic in January 1991.

“There I sat for my O-Levels in Accounting, English, French, Commerce and Computing. I spent two years but did not complete my third year because I left school to start work as an account assistant with the Ministry of Agriculture in 1993,” Mr Quatre recounted.

From accounting to fire fighting

Francis Quatre never imagined that he would leave the world of figures to be part of the adventurous and risky world of a fire-fighter.

“As a young boy or even as an adult this never crossed my mind. When the new Airport Fire and Rescue Services opened, I was encouraged by a good friend to enrol as a fire-fighter. I initially started to work for the then Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) on June 1, 1997 as a trainee fire-fighter as my old neighbourhood friend who encouraged me to join the airport’s fire service was also an employee of the DCA. I took his advice because it was so appealing and I applied for the job immediately and I was successful,” he stated.

Mr Quatre started as a trainee fire-fighter and had to undergo a six-month probation period before being confirmed into the post. There were indeed many challenges and new opportunities for this young man.

“I was able to start diving, do practical fire fighting and other aspects the work entails, enabling me to progress rapidly. I also received management training. It was a drastic change from what I had learned in accounting,” he recounted.

Growing with SCAA

Mr Quatre has seen the growth of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) and witnessed its transition to become an autonomous body.

“I am happy to say that the Airport Fire Service is operating to its full capacity in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) standards and best practices. The service is now equipped with state-of-the-art fire fighting vehicles and rescue equipment, a better structure and we also have bilateral co-operation/fellowship programmes that we have established with other countries allowing us to stay focus on the latest development of the Airport Fire and Rescue Service worldwide,” Mr Quatre explained.

“With the Airport Fire Service, I have been moulded into a professional, however, you never stop learning. I still feel like I have a long way to go to fulfil my potential. Discipline, perseverance, motivation, good attitude, teamwork, team spirit, willingness to learn, humbleness, and commitment are the key attributes that a young fire fighter must have to succeed,” Mr Quatre pointed out.

He therefore strongly encourages youngsters who believe they possess these characteristics to join the force as this profession offers a lot of opportunities and prospects to grow and progress career-wise.

Fire fighting no child’s play

Going back in time Mr Quatre pointed out that during his long years of service luckily and thankfully they have only encountered minor incidents without major casualties.

The first incident which had an impact on Mr Quatre occurred in September 1997 on his first night duty after completing his initial training. This was during a British Airways flight scheduled to land at 8.30pm, from Nairobi, Kenya. He had this to say about the event: “The incident made me realise how quickly things can go wrong during a normal operation and how things can suddenly catch you by surprise. I was posted in Green Watch as within the Airport Fire Service, our four shifts are represented by the colours Red, Orange, Blue and Green. We were given instructions to man the vehicles that had already been placed in line for emergency operations. The fire engines being used at that time were three protectors and one trident.

“I was on the Rescue/One RIV which was a smaller fire engine that held 840 litres of foam and 5,000 litres of water. As the aircraft was approaching the runway, we could observe that it was above the runway lights. As the aircraft touched down, there was a loud noise. The aircraft went across the runway and crossed in front of our vehicle. It came to an abrupt stop about 100 metres from the end of the runway. The fire engines rushed to where the aircraft had stopped and approached cautiously. The captain was advised to switch off the aircraft’s engines as we had to carry out routine inspections. The captain stated that the aircraft was overall still in good condition and requested that we remain with the aircraft as the undercarriage was indicating ‘overheated assembly’. With the evaluation that took place, results showed that the aircraft had sustained one burst tyre and had to be pushed back and towed into bay. Luckily the over 300 passengers including crew on board the flight were safe,” Mr Quatre still remembers.

“Being a fire fighter and being in charge of the Airport Fire and Rescue Services is no joke,” he stressed. Hearing and looking at Mr Quatre gives us hope that if you put your mind to something, you will be able to achieve great things. Francis Quatre is a model for young Seychellois who are still struggling to find their call.

The Airport Fire and Rescue Services 

The principle objective of Seychelles International Airport Fire and Rescue Services is to save lives in the event of an aircraft accident or incident.

This objective must assume the possibility of, and the need for, extinguishing a fire that may occur immediately following an aircraft accident or incident, or at any time during rescue operations, including the suppression of cabin fires and rescue of aircraft occupants.

The Airport Fire and Rescue Services provides the initial response to an incident, pending the arrival of the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency from Victoria.

The Airport Fire and Rescue Services must, by law, be able to reach a crash site within two minutes and should not exceed three minutes. Equipped with E-ONE TITAN HPR and Kronenburg CT 009 fire trucks, this can easily be done.

A fire service control room monitors the runways and is always permanently manned by fire crew. It is the central point for all emergencies and alert. The control room contains the ‘crash alarm’.

By Vidya Gappy