He tells CHSJ News when he was a fairly new firefighter back in the 1980s, a ship carrying bales of jute caught fire in the harbour. After four days of fighting it, crews believed they had the fire put out; however, when they went in to do a check, a malfunction with the air ducts trapped two fellow firefighters.
The incident nearly claimed their lives. Clifford says it was the first time that he realized he wasn't invincible, and his axe might not be enough to get him out safely.
Clifford says over 30 years later he's happy to see firefighters starting to get training on what to do in that scenario.
