Alerter

Cow in ditch...

Date: 17th June 2008
Time: 2007
Type: Cow in ditch
Address: Marsh Lane, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 02 and 06 (Unimog)

It was Tuesday evening, so it's Drill Night and, of course, another lecture! Pete Gray was half way through a lecture on radiation and the new kit we are getting to detect it, when the bells went.

Our crew on Ladder 2 were first pump out as Red Watch were having a tour of a ship in Lowestoft harbour.

It was nice to get a shout but there was a collective groan when we learnt it was to a cow stuck in a ditch!

We drove as far as we could down Marsh Lane, parking at the railway crossing and then getting the Unimog plus a load of extra gear across the line and onto the track that leads down to the marshes.

We were led to the stranded cow by a guy who'd been out walking his dog when he spotted the unfortunate animal.

Gradually our plan evolved. A hearth sheet was laid out on the bank of the ditch to give us some purchase (as the whole area was muddy and brimming with cow dung!). The Unimog was positioned face on to the ditch so that we could, if necessary, use its winch to pull the cow out.

After a bit of pushing and shoving (in the style of James Herriot) Al Soards was able to work a strop under the cow's body, just in front of its rear legs. Unfortunately getting the front strop under was so easy. However with Rudi Mann and Phil Cornford from Red Watch togged up in their dry-suits they were able to work more closely to the cow. They discovered its front legs were tucked right up under its body and this was why we were having difficulty getting the strop under.
So, to create some space we heaved on the line attached to the rear strop, basically lifting the cows backside up into the air. This did the trick and the front strop was positioned successfully.

Then it was down to brute force as we pulled at front and rear and hauled the cow sideways out of the mud. After a short breather (for the cow and us) we all pulled again and she made it, unsteadily, to her feet.

Job done...

Ten firefighters, an RSPCA inspector and the farmer plus half a dozen onlookers and one bewildered cow, glad that the whole episode was now over. Just a case of getting all the gear back on the Unimog including its coating of glutinous mud and ever so slightly minging cow shit!
The light was fading as we trudged back to the railway line and Ladder 2. Just time to rinse off the worst of the muck and then back to Normanshurst for 40 minutes of washing and scrubbing - our kit, tools, fire engine, Unimog and us!

All that for a cow. Just goes to prove that we are still a nation of animal lovers...

I'm hoping to get some pics on here soon. One of our small but appreciative audience was armed with a camera and took plenty of photos. I'll try and lay my hands on some of those. You never know, there may be one of us all falling on our backsides when the rope on the halter broke as we were doing a bad impression of a pub tug-o-war team!

And this was Little Pete's (Pete Brown) first shout in charge. Much more memorable than an Automatic Fire Alarm... Not exactly a baptism of fire, more like a baptism in mud!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Just realised that a year has gone by since I made my first blog entry...

A big thank you to all my regular readers and to everyone who has given me encouragement to keep bashing away on the keyboard.

Don't forget that you can comment on any of the blog entries - it's always good to hear from you. Only problem is that you'll not be able to post a comment from a Fire Service computer as 'social' sites like this blog are automatically blocked.

So what will our second year bring? Who knows... There'll be the usual mix of Shouts, Training, Video's and Rants, Raves and Whinges and anything else that I can think of. I'm also considering adding guest authors, allowing them to post their own blog entries. Obviously, only completely trustworthy individuals who can be relied upon not to say anything they shouldn't about the Fire Service will be invited on board. So, I think it's safe to say that it'll just be me for some time to come!!

Get out of jail card...

I've hunted high and low for this video and I've come up trumps!

Any retained firefighters needing to find an excuse for not doing the DIY, not cutting the grass, not washing up or, indeed, any other job your better half has lined up for you - play this video and make sure the volume is turned up. Then find your shoes and head for the door.

Note: Make sure your alerter is actually near to the computer before attempting this bit of skullduggery. Most other half's are adept at spotting the wool being pulled over their eyes!

And for anyone who has not experienced the sound of an alerter at full tilt - just sit back, turn the sound up and imagine this going off at 3am...

Enjoy...

Emergency Services Open Day - Saturday 28th June 2008

After too long a gap we are holding an Emergency Services Open Day at Normanshurst Fire Station, Lowestoft.

There'll be plenty to see and do... tons of equipment and fire engines from Suffolk Fire and Rescue including all three of our appliances, the Turntable Ladder and Operational Support Unit from Ipswich and much more.

We also look forward to welcoming our colleagues from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service with their Urban Search and Rescue team - their kit is well worth the journey to see!

We're also hoping to see Suffolk Police and the East of England Ambulance Service.

There will also be stalls, displays and, of course, Woody Bear to open the whole shebang.

Don't miss this chance to meet your local emergency services!

Hot, sweaty and smelling like kippers!

"It's all in the mind...", said George Moran, talking about the temperature and conditions inside the smoke house at Bury (Bury St.Edmunds) fire station. "The mind plays tricks on you, makes you think it's hotter than it is", he continued. Note to readers - in the interest of brevity I have left out expletives!

So here we were, eight of us from Normanshurst to do our hot fire training - BA Risk Critical 2 to give it its proper title. We had four from Green Watch - Mel Buck, Pete Brown, Al Soards and Chris Randall and then the rest of the motley crew made up from the retained section - myself, Richard 'Shambles' Lambert, Jason Balls and Howard Clarke.

George was giving us a lecture in a style that only George can deliver. It's to the point, there's no waffling and you feel like you've been told 'as it really is'.

After the lecture we made up our BA sets and then had a quick tea break - the ubiquitous cheese and onion sandwiches making their usual appearance!

We divided up into pairs, one wholetime firefighter with one retained firefighter. A good idea as we can all learn from each other whether wholetime or retained. We all work with each other regularly anyway as three of the Green Watch members are also retained firefighters at Normanshurst.

Mel and I paired up with Mel going as No.1 for the first drill. Our brief was to enter the building at ground floor, advance up the staircase and carry out search and rescue on the first floor and the mezzanine floor.

Just to back track, I'll explain how this is hot fire training. There's a room on the ground floor of the smoke house that has a fire set in it. It's literally a couple of bales of straw in a cradle which has water sprayed on every so often just to keep the smoke going. You wouldn't think that this would create much heat but temperatures can reach 200^oC. In fire terms that isn't very hot but it's plenty hot enough for dragging hose around and dragging dummies out!

Anyway, back to the drill. After doing an initial search just inside the door we advanced to the first floor. I swept out to the left on reaching the landing and immediately found a casualty - a tiny baby sized dummy. So back down the stairs and leave the casualty outside. We then resumed the search on the first floor and up onto the mezzanine floor. It's just a tad warm on that mezzanine but thankfully no casualties to manhandle down the Vertical Metal Ladder (VML).
We continued on the first floor until we found a second casualty literally at the end of where we could get to. As Mel had the most air he took the casualty and I led the way out.

We had our debrief which was very positive especially about our communication with each other.

A quick change of cylinder and we were out for our second wear. I was No.1 this time and our brief was to enter the smoke house at first floor level and carry out search and rescue. We took the left hand wall and searched a number of 'rooms' finding two casualties. Again, we had a good debrief followed by copious amounts of water to try and rehydrate ourselves.

The final drill of the day took place after lunch and was a combined drill using all four BA teams. The first team (Pete Brown and Jason Balls) entered the smoke house on the first floor (from the drill tower) carrying a charged 45. Their brief was to advance through the building and find the main staircase (situated on the opposite side of the smoke house). They were to descend to the ground floor and start a search as this was a 'persons reported' incident.

The second team (Al Soards and Shambles) were committed soon after the first team to assist with getting the hose through the building and down the stairs. Al and Shambles were volunteered for this job as it was felt that their strength and destructive powers would undoubtedly clear a path straight through the smoke house!

Next in were Mel and myself. We made it to the top of the stairs where we were informed by one of the other teams that more hose was needed. So we retraced our steps and dragged through another 30 foot or so. By now both previous teams had passed us on there way out, each with a casualty.

When we arrived on the ground floor we started searching off the left hand wall and then entered the fire compartment. We could see most of the room from the glow of the fire and sure enough there was a casualty tucked away behind the fire! Mel led the way out with me bringing the casualty. We stopped for what seemed an eternity to brief team four (Chris Randall and Howard Clarke). Standing there, directly above the fire and carrying the dummy I could feel my legs starting to cook. And with legs like mine they wouldn't have looked out of place as a bit of KFC!

And that was that...

As George had said, "It's all in the mind...". He was right. If you started to think how hot it was then strangely it seemed to get hotter. While I was stood there waiting for Mel to brief team four, I had the chance to let my mind wander and, yes, it started to think "f**k me it's getting hot in here!"

The debrief for this drill and the whole day was very positive - nobody had  cocked up...

Just clearing and cleaning up lweft to do plus the hour and a half drive back to Lowestoft with a bunch of weary firefighters and the very strong smell of kippers!

DIYers Delight

Yesterday the drill yard at Normanshurst was turned into a spotters paradise and would have sent shivers down the spine of all hardcore DIYers.

And the reason for all this - Norfolk's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team had made it over the border from Wymondham and set up camp in the most of the drill yard. Luckily they only brought four of their five trucks with their dismountable modules. The one that is basically a truck full of timber was left back on station in Wymondham.

All four modules were dismounted and opened up with plenty of the kit out for us to look at and 'Oooh' and 'Ahh' to.

These guys work 12 hour shifts, two days, two nights and four days off. A crew of seven is on duty at all times with another seven available at the beckoning of an alerter. Norfolk's USAR team is one of two such units in East Anglia (the other is based in Essex). Norfolk serve their own county as well as Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and are available for any national incidents. Their services were called upon at the tragic incident at Atherstone upon Stour where four firefighters lost their lives in a warehouse fire.

On their own admission they very rarely get turned out. They primary function is to provide USAR in the event of a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. These station visits are designed to raise awareness in neighbouring brigades so that we might call upon their services, especially now that we know what they are capable of.

It takes a lot to impress a bunch of firefighters but the kit is definitely not the cheapest available (makes a change), it's serious kit and the crew came across as very knowledgable and friendly (I had to say that, they may be reading this...).

Wouldn't it be nice if the Government put something nice and shiny our way? Please add your wishlist via the Comments link. If there's a clear winner I'll have a word with Mr Brown (Gordon, not Paul or Pete) and see what I can do...

Ladders that stick like glue...

Interesting recruits video from the US - all done in the name of fun! Umpteen casualties in the tower on various levels so requires quite a few ladders.

But just take a look at the 9m ladder. Three man pitch and, unlike ourselves, there's not three rounds above the sill. Now take a look at the foot of the ladder - no one is footing the ladder for more than a few seconds at a time. And right near the end of the clip you can see there are now two people on this unfooted ladder.

That's a training need if ever I saw one!

Firefighters stop someone getting the hump!

There must be lurv in the air when romancing couples go anywhere near Normanshurst Fire Station.

It's not that long ago that a teenage couple were spotted on top of the drill tower (that's five floors up) indulging in a little bit of love-making.

And only a few days ago Paul Henderson acted as the ultimate contraceptive by stopping a young man from crashing his purple-headed womb broom into the old wizards sleeve - if you catch my drift.

Paul was doing his rounds, making the station secure when he disturbed the couple as they tried to copulate (much more pleasant a word than others I could have used) in the delightfully romantic setting of the Ancillary Bay!

The couple made a sharp exit and disappeared into a bush (no pun intended).

Now this is where Red Watch turned themselves instantly from a highly trained bunch of firefighters into Suffolk Fire and Rescue's own version of Sherlock Holmes. A Thermal Imaging Camera off one of the pumps was used to track down the couple as they hid in the undergrowth. Unsurprisingly, they glowed red - not sure which part of their anatomy was the reddest though!

The boys in blue duly turned up to escort the couple from the station...

Needless to say, station security has now been given a makeover. Not just to stop the amorous goings-on of couples but also to stop bits of kit going missing. Yes, some stations have had cutting gear stolen which is then used by certain ne'er do wells to carry out various criminal activities. Let's hope they don't require our services to cut them from a mangled car and all we've got is a rusty tin opener!

What were they thinking?

A Bright Bunch...

Today I was asked if I wanted to visit Roman Hill Middle School to assist with the educational visit by White Watch. Not having done one of these before I agreed and rearranged my day job to fit around the visit.

Al Soards and myself went along as backup, just in case the Watch got a shout and had to shoot off.

The first part was done in the classroom of the Year 8 students and they certainly weren't shy in coming forward with plenty of answers to our questions. They also asked some well-thought out questions with only a few references to how things are done on telly in America!

Then it was outside to the playground for a tour of Ladder 1 and to see me in all my fire kit and wearing BA.

Hopefully this hour with the children and, more importantly, what they learnt will stay with them and may, one day, save theirs or some one else's life...

By the time Al and I got back on station, White Watch had received a Fire Priority for burning undergrowth in the local churchyard. And then minutes later the bells went for Ladder 2 and the PRT to go to a disused boat shed in Oulton Broad...