Alerter

A helmet, a helmet, my kingdom for a helmet...

With apologies to The Bard...

Perhaps I'm being a tad old-fashioned but I thought the raison d'etre (that's French for 'reason for existence') of a Fire and Rescue Service was to get those big red lorries out of the doors when an emergency arises. It may be as simple as a cat up a tree or it may be something that threatens human-life - a fire, an RTC, whatever.

To get fire engines rolling you need a crew. And that crew must have all its necessary PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) - fire tunic and leggings, boots, gloves and the all important yellow helmet. If a firefighter doesn't have the correct PPE they don't get on the fire engine - it's as simple as that. But that one firefighter going 'off the run' may, in turn, take the pump 'off the run' because of crew availability. Now the big red lorry doesn't go out of the door to save life and property.

So, it was with complete dismay, that yesterday, I witnessed a firefighter having to take himself off the run because he couldn't get a replacement helmet - his helmet of 14 years had finally gone to meet its maker. And why couldn't he get a replacement helmet? Because there were none in stock in stores...
Surely the one thing you never run out of in stores is PPE. Without it we cease to be able to operate properly.

I realise that very soon (but how soon) we are due to be issued with the new Galle helmets. But until we are there is the need to keep a buffer stock to meet the need for replacements.

We've run out of helmets in stores but I bet the stationery cupboards in Endeavour House never run out of pens!

Shouts are like buses...

Date: 14th May 2008
Time: 2055
Type: Kitchen
Address: Clapham Road Central, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01 and 02

Shouts are like buses because you can wait ages for one and then three come along together...

And that's just what happened last night.

I'd just sat down in front of my PC, trying to get myself motivated to do update one of my customers' website. One sip of my tea, fingers poised above the keyboard and my alerter decides it's time for me to go for a jog over to the station.

I think this shout had come through simply as 'house', which can cover a multitude of sins. The address should have been the giveaway - Stanley Street, Lowestoft. And sure enough it turned out to be 'false alarm, good intent' - someone had seen smoke coming out of a building and naturally thought the place was on fire - except that it was actually the smokehouse on the corner of Stanley Street and Raglan Street!

So within 20 minutes I was back home and sipping my luke warm brew, feeling even less inclined to start any work. I don't think it was much over half an hour later and we're off again. This time it's a kitchen fire on Clapham Road Central.

We arrived at the incident a few minutes after White Watch to find that one BA team were in the property having dealt with a developing fire in the kitchen. Both myself and Howard Clark stood by as the Emergency BA Team and got used to clear the kitchen around the area of the fire. This was just emptying cupboards and then removing them from the kitchen. We pulled a small area of the ceiling down just to ensure that the fire hadn't took hold on the joists above.

Left the station just after 2200hrs to get the third and final shout of the evening less than an hour later. This time it was to a confirmed fire at the Birds Eye factory in Lowestoft. Thankfully plenty turned in, so I was surplus to requirements and able to get off home to my bed...

A fire, a grand prix and a trapped bird...

Date: 13th May 2008
Time: 1030
Type: Smoke issuing from roof
Address: London Road South, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01, Clifton 01
Final Attendance: Make Pumps 6 - Normanshurst 01, Clifton 01, Normanshurst 02 and 05, Beccles 01, Wrentham 01, Forward Control Vehicle, Operational Support Unit and support pump from Ipswich, Hydraulic Platform and support pump from Great Yarmouth, a sprinkling of white helmets and, finally, me in the station van!

I nipped into the station this morning to sign myself out for a couple of hours - 0900 - 1100 - that's all. I just needed to nip over Great Yarmouth to see a customer of mine. I had just left their office on the Harfreys Industrial Estate when my alerter went off (this was actually the second time it had been activated, the first time I didn't get the signal). Anyway, it's into Lewis Hamilton mode (although sticking to all relevant speed limits) for the drive back over to Lowestoft.

By the time I arrived the place was deserted except for the normal jumble of cars in the drill yard.

The incident had escalated to persons reported and because the fire was on the third floor, additional resources were mobilised. The Hydraulic Platform from Great Yarmouth is automatically mobilised to any fires in roofs, especially on buildings this tall.

There was just myself and Richard Belsey left on station to mind the shop. Richard rang Control and asked if we should act as guides on any Norfolk pump that was coming to standby at Normanshurst. After a short silence Control said they'd be getting a pump from Norfolk to standby at Normanshurst. A cynic might think that this had got overlooked in the excitement.

Sure enough, in time, a retained crew from Gorleston arrived and started to make themselves at home.

I then got a call from the incident to take the station van and collect BA cylinders to bring back and charge. After a few shortcuts around Road Closed signs and a few one-way street negotiated the wrong way, I made it to the job. I collected 13 empties and headed off only to see, in my rear view mirror, the Operational Support Unit (OSU) and its support pump arrive. I pulled over and rang Control to see if I should return to the incident and allow the OSU with its mobile compressor to charge the BA cylinders. After a few minutes I received a call back from Control to say carry on back to Normanshurst. It transpired that the OSU and its pump literally arrived and then they were sent back to Ipswich - nearly a 100 mile round journey for nothing. It would have been good to use this resource instead of sending me back through all the town traffic to then charge the cylinders and then, possibly, to drive all the way back again. As it was, by the time all the cylinders were finished, pumps were coming back on station and collecting their cylinders.

But not to be outdone by this six pumper I did get a turnout of my own with the PRT crew - to rescue a seagull trapped in netting on the roof of the telephone exchange! Very apt considering tonights lecture is Rescue at Height...

Oh, and the Gorleston boys got a shout whil ehere on standby - back to Great Yarmouth for a gas leak!

Meeting the new Dep...

Call me an old cynic, but it was with very little interest that we all trouped upstairs to meet the (relatively) new Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Dep) of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service. I suppose we were all thinking this would be the 'same old, same old' that we have witnessed on numerous occasions.
We usually ask plenty of questions and are promised plenty of answers but these tend to be as rare as hen's teeth! Some wit swore blind that the notes made at these little gatherings normally get chucked out of the car window as the Principal Office speeds back to Ipswich and the safety of Endeavour House!

Someone, somewhere, usually whispers to a Principal Officer that a visit to the wilds of North Suffolk is overdue and that they have pulled, metaphorically, the short straw. With a heavy heart, a full tank of petrol (in case they get lost) and SatNav that refuses to accept that there is life north of Ipswich, they head off into the unknown.

I'm sure Lowestoft is viewed a bit like the English view Scotland - you know it's a long way away, you know they speak differently, there's some nice scenery but you find every excuse under the sun for not making the journey.

Anyway, back to last nights little soiree...

I have to give it to the new Dep, he came across far better than previous incumbents and actually answered questions instead of deflecting them, politician style. Topics that are usually bones of contention were brought up by the Dep and, perhaps, defused before they had a chance to go off.

Having served all his career with just one brigade (Essex) has, I think, helped. He has seen how one brigade works from bottom to top and one that has a large retained firefighter complement too. Time will tell whether this makes the new Dep better than the usual brigade-hopping suspects!

If anyone from Normanshurst or Clifton has any comments about this, agrees with what I've said or wonders whether we were at the same gathering - leave a comment via the form below.

Much ado about nothing...

With it being a Tuesday evening, the great and the good of Normanshurst retained firefighters were congregated ready for parade. But with two minutes to go the bells went for two pumps.

A sight rarely seen other than at Princes Street in Ipswich - two pumps turning out at the same time - a spotters dream!

I was driving Ladder 2 and tucked ourselves in behind White Watch on Ladder 1 for a 'we've got ourselves a convoy' style drive to Lowestoft Railway Station.

And, as the title suggests, it was very much a case of 'much ado about nothing'. Someone had set fire to some old furniture on waste ground behind Commercial Road, which borders onto railway property. Mind you, on the drive there, the pall of black smoke was quite impressive and it seemed we might have a proper job... Alas, no.

And that was that. We arrived back at Normanshurst in time to just miss knocking the new Deputy Chief Fire Officer over in the drillyard. As my old school reports used to say, "Ian must try harder!"

New 999 text service for disabled

This just in from the BBC:

A new emergency text service for deaf and speech-impaired people is being launched by Sussex Police.

The new 65999 text number will enable those who cannot use a voice telephone to access the emergency services.

People can send a text starting with the word "police", "fire", "ambulance" or "coastguard", followed by their message, and get immediate help.

It will be dealt with by Sussex Police Control, who will reply to confirm receipt and then deal with the issue.

Ch Supt Chris Amber said the new system would ensure users could alert the emergency services quickly and effectively.

The launch of the new text service coincides with Deaf Awareness Week.

A similar service, using a different text number, was set up by Kent Police earlier this year.
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How long do you think it will be before some muppet abuses this system by putting in hoax calls? For those that can text faster than they can string a few words together, I'm thinking it won't be long! Every brigade has got their fair share of hoaxers, let's hope this doesn't bring them out of their dark  little corners...

A very lucky lady...

Date: 2nd May 2008
Time: 0252
Type: AFA - then persons reported
Address: Lorne Road
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01
Final Attendance: Normanshurst 01, 02 and Clifton 01

The mornings are getting lighter and the dawn chorus is starting earlier and earlier. But this morning it was my turn to wake the little birdies with the deafening (well it is at just before 3 in the morning) warble of my faithful alerter.

As usual, we get a shout when I haven't bothered laying out my clothes. Sod's Law is alive and well...

I got over to the station just after Cheesey, so he took the drivers tally and I went as first BA. The tip sheet showed that Green Watch had been tipped out to an AFA (Automatic Fire Alarm) in Lorne Road, Lowestoft - that's over the south side of the river. We were called out, along with Clifton, as the incident had now been escalated to persons reported - in other words the watch had turned up, found a fire and confirmed someone was still in the house.

And here's the odd thing. The neighbours each side of the house had been awoken by the smoke alarm of the affected property. Both had called 999 to report this. Just one pump was mobilised to what, technically, was an AFA. But the two calls constitutes multiple calls, it was to a house and it was in the wee small hours (the worst time for a house fire because the occupants are normally asleep and unaware of the fire). It's strange that at least two pumps weren't mobilised immediately (this is normal for a house fire) or that by questioning the callers it could be ascertained that it was highly likely that the house was occupied. This would then have made the incident persons reported straightaway and meant that both us and Clifton were alerted at least 10 minutes earlier.

As it was we were further delayed in being alerted because the watch couldn't access Lorne Road from the southerly end due to the parked cars. Andy English (Sub Officer) and Ben Horne hot-footed it down Lorne Road. Ben went round to the rear of the property and found that the back door was unlocked. He carefully opened the door only to be confronted with thick smoke and a developing fire over to his left in the kitchen. It was then that he could hear a womens voice coming from the front of the property. Ben did the right thing and resisted temptations to enter the house to find the casualty. If he had of gone in the chances are that he would have become another casualty...

At the same time the lady of the house had pushed her door keys out through the letterbox before collapsing behind the front door.

Ladder 1 was now being driven around via another route to enter Lorne Road from the opposite end. Pete Brown and Dale Wallace went in in BA to rescue the lady and then extinguish the fire.

By the time we got to the incident it was all over bar the shouting... This was a close run thing. The turnout being to an AFA, additional pumps not being mobilised until the watch actually got to the property and found the fire and the fact that the pump was unable to gain access to the incident.

Maybe, with hindsight, the factors mentioned earlier should have made this persons reported from the outset or, at the very least, a house fire with two pumps attending.

A big thank you should go to both sets of neighbours for raising the alarm - we were all amazed that they actually heard the smoke alarm going off! And a thankyou for the teas and coffees which were most gratefully received.

I don't think the young son of one of the neighbours could quite believe his eyes. He probably thought he was dreaming because there, right outside his house, were three big red fire engines and loads of firefighters. He'll have plenty to tell his friends about!

Scottish Modules...

Last night we had the joys of two RTC lectures - 4 and 5.

I've had a moan in an earlier post about the Scottish Modules and now it's time for some more!

These Modules are meant to be the mainstay of our training and certainly seem to take up a great deal of our limited drill time.

The first lecture was all about vehicle stabilisation and casualty extrication. Now, to say these modules were done on the cheap would be an understatement. There were just a couple of photos of RTC drills and the rest of the 'imagery' was made up of drawings seemingly done by the local nursery school!
From these pictures we are meant to be able to interpret the lecture notes (read out to us) and 'see' these depicted on the screen.

Is it beyond the collective means of all the individual Fire Service's to club together and get some decent films made of the various RTC themes we need to know? The films can be made of small segments showing, in detail, each of the areas that the lecture notes cover. Then put the whole lot together and show a mock RTC with all the individual themes rolled into the one drill.

Some of these Scottish Modules cover areas that we, as ordinary firefighters, will never encounter. Yet something that is our bread and butter is dealt with by a Powerpoint presentation that, quite honestly, doesn't cut the mustard.

We need to be able to put ladders up, pump water, extinguish fires, be competent BA wearers and be well versed in RTC procedures and techniques. These are the mainstays of the job. Knowledge of all these others areas is a bonus. Let's get the basics right first...

How not to catch a bus...

Date: 23rd April  2008
Time: 1045
Type: RTC
Address: A12, Lowestoft (junction with Blundeston Road)
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 05, 01 and 02

Seems ages since our last shout... Always comes as a shock when your alerter goes off after such a long gap.

Anyway, got to the station after what seemed the slowest drive ever. People weren't just sticking to the speed limit, they were halving it instead!

Blue Watch have taken the PRT (Normanshurst 05) and we take Ladder 1 (Normanshurst 01) with a crew of four. Mel Buck in charge, Pete Brown driving and myself and Al Soards riding BA.

There wasn't anything to do when we arrived. A double decker bus had been rear ended by a private car. The back of the bus was crumpled and it was leaking something on to the road, so Al just added more of the absorbent mixture we carry to the sack full put down by Blue Watch.

The bus wasn't in service at the time as it was on a test run with two mechanics who had only just finished some repairs on it... They'll be putting in some overtime on it now!

And that's about it. So there we were, primed and ready for action but, thankfully, we weren't needed to cut the car driver free.

Fire engine is rescued from beach

This article is courtesy of the BBC and can be found on their news website...

A fire engine had to be towed off a beach in Somerset after it became stuck in the sand.

Firefighters were called to Berrow beach - near Burnham-on-Sea - on Thursday evening after reports of a gorse fire on the sand dunes.

Three tractors were needed to pull the trapped Devon and Somerset vehicle out.

Five days ago an ambulance became stuck on Burnham-on-Sea beach and on 5 April a man and two young girls were rescued from a 4x4 stuck in the mud at Brean.

Mark Newman from the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (Barb) charity said the firefighters were "simply unlucky".

"We would advise other motorists to take special care when driving along the local beaches avoiding sand and mud.

"It's been a very active few weeks of beach incidents for Barb's 24-hour rescue crews."