Alerter - the firefighters blog

Drills for the Leading Firefighter candidates...

I was hoping to have a reasonably relaxed Drill night last night but the feeling in my water told me otherwise.

A vacancy has arisen at Normanshurst for a Leading Firefighter with the retained section. And last night was the chance for the four candidates to strut their stuff.

By the time we arrived they were well into their 10 minute lectures on a piece of equipment of their choice.

This is where the feeling in my water comes in...

Some how I got 'volunteered' to be part of the five man (or is it person) drill crew. Seems like it was a good idea not stuffing my face with bangers and mash before going to the fire station!

One by one the candidates appeared in the drill yard to take charge of a drill. Each drill had a maximum running time of 10 minutes including the briefing, the drill, the make up and the debrief. So, with this time constraint, none of the drills were too exacting.

The drills are run in a similar fashion to the recruits course - 'fall in three paces behind and facing Normanshurt 02'. You get your safety brief and then are detailed with the drill.

First drill was for two of the crew (myself and Greg) to make our way to the second floor via the internal vertical ladder and then haul aloft a short length of 45. Meanwhile the dry riser was being charged from Ladder two, supplemented by the hydrant. As soon as we had water spraying across the drill yard it was 'knock off and make up'.

The second drill involved the 9m ladder, again into the second floor. This time it was the hosereel carried aloft (by me) and got to work from within the drill tower.

Thirdly is was a simple pumping drill - hosereel got to work supplied solely from the tank of Ladder 2.

And finally we had to set up all the lighting - stem light and scene lights on Ladder 2, generator and two lighting clusters lighting the east face of the drill tower. This was followed by slipping and pitching the 9m ladder into the second floor of the drill tower.

So nothing too hectic but we wanted to ensure that we gave all the candidates the best we could. The spotlight wasn't on us, so anything we could do to make things go smoothly would make the ordeal all that much easier for the four hopefuls.

And that was us finished. While the interviews started, we had a quick brew before finishing off the weekly tests on Ladder 2.

I don't know as yet who was successful. I'm doing some Learn & Live presentations today so may get to hear when I'm over at the station. Can't reveal who my money was on - but then all we witnessed was the drill section of the whole process...

Gaggle of Fire Engines...

Not sure if 'gaggle' is the correct collective noun to describe a group or gathering of fire engines. All I could find on the Internet was a forum where some ladies had posted their collective nouns for various sized groups of firefighters. These ranged from a 'moist of firefighters' for the equivalent of one crew, a 'damp of firefighters' for two crews and lastly a 'drippingly wet of firefighters' when more than 20 firefighters were spotted in one place!

Hmm... Think I'll just settle on a gaggle of fire engines for this post.

Last night was our drill night and arranged before us was a veritable bevvy of brand-spanking new fire engines - well three of them to be precise.

For the retained firefighters at Normanshurst this was our chance to look over the new appliances and for the drivers to take them out for a run.

These three appliances will all be used as Pump Rescue Tenders (PRT's) in other parts of Suffolk. Normanshurst is due to get the same truck but with different equipment as an ERT (Enhanced Rescue Tender). There is a rumour that to fall in line with the new 4 letter acronyms being used by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (e.g. CARP - Combined Aerial Rescue Pump) the ERT needs an extra letter. As these appliances are still used as fire engines then it would be fitting to add the letter P ('I'll have a P please Bob!'). Therefore the new ERT's will be known as Pump, Enhanced Rescue Tender or PERT. Then we can all describe it as a 'PERT little fire engine'!

Five of us drivers piled into one of the pumps for a guided tour of the 'flight deck'. There are controls everywhere. You got central locking on the doors and lockers, a computer that displays everything under the Sun to you, lights, strobe bars, red rear strobes and a set of sirens that can probably be heard in the next county!

The driver can control the siren form either the traditional foot switch, a button on the end of the indicator stalk or the two road horn buttons situated on the steering wheel. If these don't attract the attention of other road users there's always the bull horn. If that doesn't do the trick we have a PA at our disposal - 'Oi, dickhead. Didn't you hear the sirens, see the lights and wonder why all the traffic parted like the parting of The Red Sea - move over!!'. And, failing all that, just resort to the good old normal road horn...

I went off for a drive, with Fred (one of the brigades driving instructors) in the OIC seat. I was hoping that Fred wasn't going to treat me to his usual tirade of 'F**k this, f**k that, for f**ks sake', etc. And, thankfully, we had a good drive over to Gorleston and back, some at speed and on blues and two's (not quite right now as it isn't the usual neenah anymore...).

These new pumps have got a top speed of around 72mph, which is slower than our dear old Ladder 2. This M reg pump can make it up to around 85mph on a good day. But what the new pumps lack in top end speed they more than make up for in grunt. They certainly get a good head of speed up from a standing start and you're over 40mph before you know it.

And to round the evening off we had a tour of the lockers, equipment stowage, tried the hosereels (now high up in the middle lockers) and all had a go at getting the fire engines to sit down at the rear or to kneel up - all done from a little remote control in the pump bay.

Not a bad drill night, if I say so myself. It's boys and their toys I suppose...

Assessed RTC drill

It was Drill Night last night and, for once, we spent most of the evening outside in the drill yard.

We were to be assessed on our RTC skills by two of our resident RTCI's - Ian Pettitt and Gary Smart.

I was driving the PRT and we were first in to the single vehicle RTC with Ladder 2 following close behind. Pete Brown was our OIC so his every move and decision was under the spotlight.

The RTC was a simulation of a car going under the rear of an HGV. The car, with two casualties, was also towing a trailer. The car was being driven by Rachael 'Princess' O'Connell (I'll not make any cheap jokes about female drivers...) and her front seat passenger was Al 'I didn't touch it' Soards. Knowing how Al can break anything, he should really have been in the driving seat...

So casualty care was started, stabilisation, glass and plastics management too. At the same time an equipment dump was made of all the gear we would need to extricate our two casualties. And with it being a dark and dank night we needed to supplement the PRT's stem light and scene lights with our fluorescent lights.

Steady progress was made through removing the glass, cutting all the posts, removing the roof and eventually getting Rachael and Al out on longboards.

Overall the assessment was very good, a few learning points for everyone and just the make-up to do in double-quick time. It always amazes me how quickly a mountain of equipment can be cleaned, dried and stowed when there are plenty of hands about (and when the clock is advancing to 9pm!).

Flat fire in Lowestoft is suspected arson

It wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out that the flat fire we were tipped out to last night was arson. But just to protect the possibly guilty, we'll refer to it as 'suspected arson'.

And why am I so sure of myself when I say it was arson? Could it be that Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service have now been to this address six times - five of which I've been to?

OK, there was a difference this time. Instead of the empty first floor flat being torched, it was actually the ground floor flat that was set on fire - the flat that housed the couple that may have been playing with matches...

It is a sorry story. This couple have been desperate to be rehoused by the Council. A series of fires in the upstairs flat hasn't made this happen. So last night saw an upping of the stakes. Now rehousing will have to take place.

Knowing the background to this particular address and that the ground floor flat would normally be occupied, the incident became Persons Reported. This mobilises a third fire appliance and we get the attendance of the Ambulance Service and Police.

When Ladder 2 arrived on scene, approximately 5-6 minutes after Ladder 1, the fire was still going well with flames shouting out of the front window.

On station we heard the assistance message go into control making this Persons Reported and were getting suited and booted as the bells went down. I was driving the PRT and we were soon at the scene where plenty of smoke was still issuing from the flat.

Nobody was found in the flat which is always a relief but firefighters lives were potentially put at risk while fighting the fire and searching the property. Four BA wearers were committed to the flat to search for life. No matter how well trained you are as firefighters (wholetime or retained) things can and do go tits up. And that's when people are seriously injured or, heaven forbid, die. All because someone, who may not be fully compos mentis, thinks that torching their flat will get them rehoused. They may find that the only rehousing they get is into the Big House, the one with bars at the window and lots and lots of locks on the door!

Do I feel better for that rant? Not really... I sort of feel sorry that someone has got into this state. But then I look at the danger they have put my fellow firefighters into and my compassion tends to fade away...

And on top of all that, my beauty sleep was disturbed! Looks like I'll be having a hot date with the sofa again today - me curled up in the foetal position, dribbling on a cushion - what a lovely sight...

2009 - the year for change...

Well thank f**k all the fireworks have finished!

I've never been one for New Year celebrations and so, with midnight approaching I did some work on www.alerter.co.uk and turned into a sort of Scrooge-like character - bah humbug!

Myself and seven other retained firefighters at Normanshurst were keeping our two pumps on the run as Old Father Time ambled into 2009. So the nearest thing I got to having a 'celebratory' drink was a quick sniff of the Blue Nun cork...

So we've turned the page on the calendar and found ourselves in 2009. And this year will see many changes for all firefighters in Lowestoft - retained and wholetime.

Later this year - should be November - the brand spanking new fire station will open for business up on the roundabout on Bloodmoor Road, with the station nestling between Tom Crisp Way and Stradbroke Road. It's a bijou little site - that's estate agent talk for 'cramped'.

The pumps will turn out onto Stradbroke Road before attempting to negotiate the roundabout with it's six exits, traffic lights and constantly heavy traffic. At the same time the retained firefighters (the old Clifton Road mob) will have to fight their way through the same build-up of traffic if they get a shout...

And, as yet, the new fire station hasn't got a name. Most fire stations, and therefore the call signs of their appliances, are named after the town or village where they are situated, e.g Beccles 01, Bury 05. Where there is more than one fire station in a town it is sometimes named after the road on which it sits - Princes Street 01, Clifton 01. Or, in the case of Normanshurst, it is named after the old house that was on the present site that was used as the previous fire station.

So, will the new fire station simply be called 'Lowestoft', with call signs of Lowestoft 01, Lowestoft 02 etc? Road names aren't any good. You can't use the name of the road that the fire station resides on, Stradbroke Road, because the village of Stradbroke has got a fire station. Tom Crisp 01 just doesn't sound right and a call sign of Bloodmoor 01 really doesn't send out the right message!

So what will the new fire station be called? Send your ideas in to me via e-mail at ian[at]alerter.co.uk and I'll post the best (and worst)...

Then, when the wholetime watch's have upped sticks and left for the south side of town, the retained firefighters at Normanshurst will be left to rattle around in the old fire station. The training department will still be using Normanshurst but we will have the run of the place while our new fire station is being built on the western end of the current site.

And so, by this time next year, Normanshurst will be a one pump station having always been a multi-pump station with specials including, in its time, a Unimog, Suffire (boat), a bowser and the Forward Control Vehicle.

A ray of hope appeared this week when we were told that the new Normanshurst fire station will at least have footings added so that it can be later extended to a two bay station. We've always said that the initial build should include two bays. The north side of Lowestoft continues to grow. We have plenty of the town's high risk premises - Birds Eye, Christian Salvesens, St. Peters Court (15 storey block of flats) and the Marina Theatre, to name just a few.

And we mustn't forget the local geography. Take a look on a map of this area and you'll quickly see that north Lowestoft is basically on an island. This island extends westwards to St.Olaves and up to Gorleston in the north. There are only five road bridges on to this island - two in Great Yarmouth, one at St.Olaves and the two crossings in Lowestoft. That's why Blundeston Prison was built - escaping prisoners have to get off the island to make good their exit...

It only takes something big to kick off in the north of Lowestoft, the main river bridge to be out of action (which is quite often) and the traffic to be snarled up in Oulton Broad and things could go tits up quickly. The only other fire engine on the island is the retained pump at Gorleston.

Splitting Lowestoft's four fire engines equally - two north and two south - seemed eminently sensible. You already got an establishment at Normanshurst that crews two pumps, so no need to run-down the numbers or to recruit at the new station to build up the numbers from Clifton Road.

At least with the space available for a second bay there is the chance that we may get another pump in the future or we may get a special, perhaps the FCV or a bowser. Time will tell...

Oh, I nearly forgot. This could all be eclipsed if, later in 2009, we find that Lowestoft is given on a free transfer to Norfolk!

Have a happy, healthy and safe 2009...