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!