Alerter

If you want to get ahead, get a hat...

As the saying goes, "If you want to get ahead, get a hat" - actually it's an advertising slogan from the 1940's.

It seems this blog is reaching dizzying heights. As a humble retained firefighter, stationed miles from the Ivory Towers of Ipswich, it's very hard to get yourself noticed. And, as usual, the way to get noticed isn't to be good at your job, get involved with Community Safety projects and keep your nose clean, no, you have to do something 'wrong'...

My wrongdoing, it seems, was to start this blog. Before you know it Principal Officers are taking a peek, just to see what's going on. Next, the Chief pays a visit, on a pre-arranged trip, to Injun Country and the reliable lads of a certain watch mention the hassle surrounding my musings... So, with very little effort on my part, I'm now known to the Chief!

So, before long we may have an addition to Chat with the Chief and Dialogue with the Dep, perhaps Banter with the Blog...

Instead of running for the hills and becoming a tad Luddite about all this, embrace the technology, run an official Fire Service blog and invite frontline firefighters and Control staff to become regular contributors. Take a look at how Manchester to do it with their firefighter blog and Control Operator blog.

Calling all Driving Schools!

The old grey matter isn't what it used to be... That's probably why it's taken me awhile to come up with this idea.

As the number of firefighters involved with Learn and Live grows, we need to increase our potential audience. Lowestoft College has come on board wholeheartedly and we're seeing more sessions booked almost on a daily basis. The local high schools are now being contacted and visited with a view to getting Learn and Live and To Young To Die into their already busy schedules.

Now here's the cunning plan... We would like to hear from any driving instructors in the Lowestoft and Waveney area (or anywhere in Suffolk) who may be interested in getting their pupils into a Learn and Live presentation. The sessions are, of course, free of charge and we would look to host them at the Fire Station on Normanston Drive in Lowestoft - however we can travel if required...

This presentation is so relevant to your pupils as they embark on their driving experience. We are more than happy for you to sit in on one of our presentations at Lowestoft College. Just get in touch using the e-mail address below.

If you are a driving instructor or you are currently learning to drive and think attending the Learn and Live presentation would be beneficial - just drop me an e-mail to blog [at] alerter [dot] co [dot] uk (it may not be obvious but substitute the [at] for a '@' and the [dot] for, well, you get the idea... Just trying to stop all those e-mails offering certain tablets and extension potions!).

We welcome all enquiries and look forward to hearing from you...

Haven't the foggiest...

Date: 18th February 2008
Time: 1425
Type: Make Pumps 3 - acetylene cylinder
Address: SLP, Hamilton Road, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 01
Final Attendance: Normanshurt 01, 02, 05 plus Hydraulic Platform (HP) and support pump from Yarmouth

When an acetylene cylinder is involved in a fire or it has become heated we get out the kid gloves, retire the required 200 metres and keep everything crossed.

We left the station in glorious sunshine only to meet a blanket of fog as we neared the sea. As we arrived, hundreds of workers from SLP were trouping out towards the security gate, putting plenty of distance between themselves and the potential timebomb sitting beneath one of their accommodation modules.

The crew of Ladder 1 had already set into open water (the dock) to supply the copious amounts of water that are needed for the 24 hour cooling of acetylene cylinders. We then pitched in with running out 70mm hose towards the cylinder and setup two ground monitors which would then pour thousands of gallons of cold sea water onto the offending article.

And that's as exciting as it gets I'm afraid! After that it's regular inspections of the cylinder and its cooling - not much else.

Luckily we were able to get away by about 1730, leaving Green Watch there until relieved by Red Watch after 1800. And, as we all expected, the alerters went off just before 2200 to get a relief crew from the retained to take over from Red Watch. Thankfully there were quite a few 'volunteers' willing to sit it out within yards of the freezing North Sea and in a pea-souper! With any luck they should have been able to get back to station sometime after 0200 this morning!

And that makes a hat-trick!

Date: 15th February 2008
Time: 1615
Type: RTC
Address: Leisure Way, Lowestoft (Tesco Petrol Station)
Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 05, 02 and 01

That's the third RTC I've been to this week! I haven't posted details of the one we attended on Wednesday - barely half a mile from the station. Roof off, spine board - the works...

Anyway, back to today.

We'd been called in on standby for a house fire in the south of the town (Ladder 1, Red Watch) and Clifton 01. Andy 'Cheesey' Armes had just got on the phone to Control to see if we could be dismissed only to be told of the RTC and that all three pumps from Normanshurst would be going.
To tell you the truth I thought Cheesey was winding us up, even when he started to get his fire kit on. But, sure enough, about 30 seconds later the bells went and all three lights came up and we're off!

I was driving Ladder 2 with Mel Buck in charge and Al Soards and Greg Osborn in the back. Dennis had taken the PRT (Normanshurst 05) with Cheesey driving and Rudi Mann and Rachel 'Princess' O'Connell (I have checked...) - both from Red Watch - and Ben 'Horney Ben' Horne in the back.

It only takes a couple of minutes to get to Tesco's and we were confronted by a car that had gone straight at some substantial bollards that presently block off a piece of unused roadway. The car had bent the bollards to the floor and it had come to rest a few feet beyond. The driver was out of the vehicle and was subsequently taken into custody by the boys in blue. He wasn't too keen on the idea but they persuaded him that was what he wanted to do...

The car was stabilised and glass management done before moving on to removing the roof. The female front seat passenger was then removed on the spine board and off to hospital. Just for good measure we also removed the bollards by using our airbags to lift them from their holes. These bags can be inflated steadily from a BA cylinder and can be used to lift heavy objects - lorries etc. So they made light work of loosening the bollards.

Job done.

A good team effort, as usual, from all the guys (and gal) at Normanshurst...

You can't beat local knowledge...

Date: 12th February 2008
Time: 0920
Type: RTC
Address: Boundary Lane, Lound
Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 05, 01 and 02

Second shout of the day and I haven't long been at my desk. I'm halfway through a mug of coffee and a Snickers bar when my alerter goes off. So down the stairs from my office and a sprint (*?!) to the car.

The guys from Green Watch had literally just left the station after their night shift so were back in double quick time - Mel Buck, Pete Brown, Al Soards and Ben Horne - ready-made crew!

I got my tally up to drive Ladder 2 - the second of the retained crewed appliances for this incident.

We headed off in the general direction of Lound and caught up with Mel and his crew on Ladder 1 just past the Village Maid in Lound. Mel knows this area well so we followed him into what is Boundary Lane, quickly coming up to police and ambulance vehicles. The PRT had come a different route and arrived shortly after us.

Thankfully the two occupants were out of the car which had ended up on its side in a field. So, no action by us except putting the car back on to all four wheels.

It just goes to show that good local knowledge and knowing which roads to avoid in a fire engine go a long way to getting us quickly and safely to an incident without getting lost or stuck!
If anyone's interested in knowing where Border Lane is just follow this link to Streetmaps: Border Lane, Lound

More and more readers...

I've just looked at the stats of how many people are viewing this blog. And the good news is that more and more people are taking time out of their busy schedules to read my musings, stories and whinges.

So, a big thank you to everyone who has paid a visit here, whether you're a firefighter at Normanshurst, serving elsewhere in Suffolk or just an interested member of the public.

If you haven't already found it, the easiest way to get back here is to visit www.alerter.co.uk.

Don't forget you can comment on any of the postings and as long as you haven't said anything rude or defamatory, I'll probably publish it!

Hug a firefighter don't throw stones at them!

Is it me?

When did firefighters go from being the good guys to being targets for certain sections of our community to hurl sticks, stones, fireworks and even petrol bombs at?

Now, here in Suffolk, we're very lucky. I've not heard of any instances of this behaviour in the county and I hope it stays that way.

I'm trying to understand the reasons behind this upsurge in violence towards firefighters but can't. Is it that we represent figures of authority and are therefore fair game? Is it that all respect for others has totally disappeared? Or is it that these individuals know that there is little chance of being caught and, if they are caught, thay can claim that a broken home / family is to blame. They then get to visit a fire station, play with hoses and generally have a good day out as a form of 'punishment' to show them the error of their ways. What about the kids who never cause any trouble? When do they get the chance of a 'freebie' and playing firefighter for the day?

Anyway, that's enough from me. I could say more but to do so may upset too many people in different quarters.

So hop on over to the BBC which has launched a Have Your Say section on their website called What should be done to protect firefighters?

Loads of comments there, all make interesting reading...

The word is getting around...

Well, Al and I have just completed two more Learn and Live presentations at Lowestoft College - one to catering students and the other to the Uniformed Services course.

And it seems that each time we get back from the College an e-mail has arrived to book in more sessions. So, it's great to see some of the other guys coming along to see the presentations with a view to them coming onboard - Ray Long, Conrad Peck and Steve Mullen have been to this weeks sessions.

Bookings are now coming in from various high schools in Waveney, so the extra bodies will help to spread the load. And to be honest, you don't want to do too many of these Learn and Live presentations in a short space of time. The reason is you are relating your own experiences so, in some respects, it's just like attending an RTC (Road Traffic Collision).

I notice that Norfolk had some great coverage in the Eastern Daily Press for the launch of their equivalent to Learn and Live. Come on Suffolk Fire and Rescue - this is a positive bit of news. Time for us to sing our own praises - no one else will do it. Let's get the local press and radio involved, show the people of Waveney how proactive the Fire Service is in trying to reduce the level of fatalities and serious injuries on Suffolk's roads...

Off the soap box and time for tea before heading back to the station for drill night. Yet another lecture?