Alerter - the firefighters blog

Fury as retained crews miss out on jobs

Just thought you might like to read an article from our local newspaper. It's all about retained firefighters applying for jobs as wholetime firefighters in Suffolk.

Only 13 out of 47 retained firefighters that made an application got through the first round.

Have a read and make your own mind up. I know what I think but it would be unwise of me to vent my spleen here.

Fury as retained crews miss out on jobs - The Lowestoft Journal

One unsuccessful applicant said, “It is a bit of a blow really when you have got years of service going in at 2am and 3am and you have got commitment and loyalty and then you receive an email saying that you do not have the correct skills and attributes”.

Hmm...

 

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Two bay or not two bay...

... that is the question.

Now before I get into the groove and let rip with my weekend rant, please take the time to read the headline again and remember it as you follow me with this venting of the spleen!

With headline writing like this I should be employed by The Sun...

Ok, here goes...

Rumours are circulating that the new Normanshurst retained fire station may well get two appliance bays instead of the planned single bay.

When we first saw the plans for the station we all couldn't believe that at the initial build there wouldn't be two bays. Instead the fire station was being shoe-horned on to the smallest possible plot, undoubtedly to maximise the return on the sale of land to any house builder.

We were told that there would still be room to add a second bay at a later date. This would entail removing the BA servicing room amongst others and adding a few feet on to the east wall. How crazy is that? So, just a few years from now when extra space is needed for a Special or a second pump, major building works would be needed to extend the existing bay. Why not add the second bay at the original build phase. The cost has got to be significantly cheaper than adding it later.

And now the second bay is being mooted. Is it because the 'Powers that be' have listened to us or have seen sense? No. It's because the Government has dished out some extra cash to the various Fire Service's in East Anglia.

So, Suffolk are now thinking about the second bay and what could be put in it. Maybe, the new Normanshurst Fire Station will get to keep the Unimog. Or, maybe, we'll get one of the other Specials - FCV, bowser - who knows?

What would be eminently sensible [so there's no chance of it happening then], would be to keep two pumps in the north of the town and have two pumps at the fire station with no name in the south of Lowestoft.

By doing this there would be no need to reduce Normanshurst's existing establishment of 21 retained firefighters by more than a handful. And, conversely, there would be no need to recruit retained firefighters at the new fire station in the south of the town.

As it stands, if the new Normanshurt only keeps one pump, we will see our establishment shrink from 21 to 11 retained firefighters. What a waste of years of experience, knowledge and dedication.

The argument for keeping two pumps north of the river is compelling.

North Lowestoft is on an island. There are only five bridges onto this island. Two in Lowestoft, one at St.Olaves (a long detour via Beccles to reach here) and two in Great Yarmouth. Anyone who knows Lowestoft will understand the complete frustration experienced when trying to reach the other end of town. The journey is barely two miles but can take well over half an hour.
It wouldn't take more than one bridge being out of action (a regular occurence) and the time it would take the wholetime Watch to reach our side of the river could be disastrous.

Much of our high-risk premises are in the North of Lowestoft - Birds Eye, Norbert Dentressangle (was Christian Salvesen), St.Peters Court (15 storey block of flats) - the list goes on.

So why is the new super-duper fire station being built where it is? Well, prior to 2004 it was said that Suffolk Fire and Rescue couldn't achieve the necessary standards of fire cover in Kessingland (five miles South of Lowestoft). Moving the wholetime station nearer would rectify this.
However, the Fire And Rescue Services Act 2004 removed standards of fire cover. So cover for Kessingland was no longer an issue.

A new reason was now required to justify the build.

Bingo! The new location would ensure that the PRT could reach its furthest turnout point in a designated time. Phew, pulled that one out of the bag!

But what's happened now? They've only gone and stuck a PRT at Leiston, effectively halving the distance the Lowestoft PRT will need to travel. Surely it would always have been the cheaper option to have a PRT at Leiston than build a new fire station. Of course not. The new build is PFI funded - it's on the never, never.

Too late anyway. The new fire station is up and being fitted out...

But it's not too late for Suffolk Fire and Rescue to do the sensible thing and keep two retained pumps at the new Normanshurt and have a pump and the ERT South of the river.

I may be pleasantly surprised. But I'll not hold my breath if it's all the same with you.

And there you have it.

Two bay or not two bay?

That Was The Week That Was - Part 2

On Wednesday this week I was riding with White Watch, making up their numbers to compensate for Luke being on the Water Rescue course.

Most of the morning and part of the afternoon was taken up with a visit to the Denes High School in Lowestoft. An Alcohol Awareness day was being run for Year 9 and there were Police, Ambulance, health workers, the Fire Service and other agencies on hand to give their perspective of the problems with alcohol.

We were given the use of the Lecture Theatre to run impromptu road safety presentations lasting around twenty minutes each.

We quickly got into a routine with Neil Henderson starting the session followed by me describing the work that goes on at an RTC. The session ended with some short video clips.

The kids we saw were generally quite boisterous and weren't paying any attention to their teachers' pleadings to be quiet. The noisy buggers were still chattering away even when Neil was talking. I did what the teachers don't seem to want to do and shouted at them to shut up and listen. There seems to be so much pussyfooting around with kids these days. They may have been excited at seeing all these visitors but good manners would dictate that you stop talking when your guests start their presentation.

After the initial 'bollocking' all groups did settle down and, by the time we had finished with them, were quieter than church mice tip-toeing across cotton wool! It even moved one teacher to say, "I wish we could get them that quiet". Enough said...

In the middle of the second presentation of the afternoon we got a call from Little Pete that we'd got a shout. Leaving Neil to finish off, we hotfooted out to the pump and I drove back to Normanshurst on blues - yet again. Yes, it was another Water Rescue shout. This time to a horse that had decided to take a dip in a swimming pool.

I stayed on station with more retained firefighters making up the crew as the Unimog headed south on the A12. They hadn't got too far when the Stop came in - the horse was out of the pool, probably by walking out at the shallow end!

We then returned to school to pick up Neil. By this time he was in the school hall with all the other agencies, taking part in a Question and Answer session. We slipped into the back just in time to hear the following questions from the floor:

• "Will drinking alcohol give me a better erection?"
• "Will drinking alcohol make my breasts sag?"
• "Does drinking alcohol offset the effect of Viagra?"
• "If I have sex with a thirteen year old will the Police do anything?"

It seems that all this group of thirteen year olds were interested in was sex and alcohol! Either I had a very sheletered upbringing or I missed this session when I was at the Denes way back in the '70s.

Kids today, eh?

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...

The Titanic stood a better chance!

Tuesday night is Drill Night. The night when retained firefighters in Waveney either spend two hours listening to a lecture on something completely unrelated to what we do or, perhaps, an evening spent at an ADO's (Assistant Divisional Officers) exercise.

This week we were treated to the latter. Four pumps were involved (two from Normanshurst, Beccles and Clifton Road) plus the Forward Control Vehicle from Beccles.

Many hours (hopefully) of meticulous planning had gone into organising this exercise on a disused naval landing ship in Lowestoft harbour. The scenario was that a disgruntled matelot (sailor to us landlubbers) had used some petrol to set fire to the Captains cabin before doing something unspeakable to the First Mate (this is the Navy) in his cabin. The added bonus in the scenario was that the ship was packed to the gunwhales (another nautical term!) with ammunition.

Myself and Nubbs (Paul Newberry) were tasked as BA wearers to make our way up to the Captains cabin, extinguish the fire (a blue flashing lamp) and then conduct a search of the other cabins, particularly the First Mate's.

Things started badly when, after all its hosereels had been run out and tons of kit taken off it, we were told that the PRT was stiil on the run and couldn't be used in such a pivotal role. So, everything gets made up and the Beccles pump takes the place of the PRT.

Eventually we get committed in BA. After checking four shower cubicles, the heads (Navy speak for the bogs), a few cupboards, the galley and a raking metal ladder to nowhere, we were informed that we were slightly off track! Bollocks! Once we found the correct raking metal ladder we were like rats up a drainpipe, into the Captains cabin, 'extinguished' the fire and searched the bathroom and sleeping cabin. And that was it for us. Time to make an exit as we were approaching our time of whistle (indicating that we have about 50bar in our cylinders).

Well, there's nothing like a good BA wear... and that was nothing like a good BA wear.

And the shame and ignominy doesn't end there. Off we go to the FCV for a debrief (for 'debrief' read 'bollocking') from the ADO. It was suggested that we should be fully aware of our brief and therefore the route through the ship to be able to carry out that brief. As far as myself and Nubbs were concerned, we were fully aware of the brief given to us. But whether, Chinese Whispers style, that brief had changed by the time we 'understood' it, whether we got the wrong end of the stick or it was just one of those things - who knows. But the upshot was that we headed off into that ship with a route in mind, gleaned from the information presented to us. As the ADO observed, this has presented a training need - hopefully not just for me and Nubbs but for everyone involved in the exercise - Officers, JO's and firefighters alike.

I like to think that I'm pretty good when it comes to wearing BA. I enjoy it and relish leading the team. Our performance on this exercise was out of the ordinary - it's never this bad. I've done exercises aboard ships before and all went very well. But this time it was different. Perhaps I had a bad night or maybe there were other influences playing their part... I think the look on my face summed up how I felt about the evening proceedings - thunderous, murderous, pissed off or all of the above!

One seasoned individual summed it all up when, in response to the ADO saying that the whole thing had gone well, said, "He must have been at a different exercise then!"

Am now going to apply for Gold membership of the Grumpy Old Man's Club...

All Quiet on the Eastern Front...

Has the world, or more specifically Lowestoft, suddenly become a safer place?

Have people stopped burning their tea, does no one have prang in their car any more?

We've had just two shouts in the last week, both of which were at silly o'clock in the morning and with nothing for us to do...

Even the kids being on half-term hasn't generated any calls!

You only have to take a look at some of the people in town to get a reassuring feeling that something will undoubtedly need our attention soon...

This really was a mini-CMMI...

Everyone is familiar with the saying, "They couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery!"

Well, tonight proved the point beyond doubt.

But before I lose the plot let me take you back a few weeks...

I don't get to check my Fire Service e-mails very often - maybe once a week, on Drill Night. To my surprise I had received an e-mail, not actually addressed to me, just CC'ed, talking about a mini-CMMI course that was being planned and here was a list of people who might be suitable. And yes, my name was amongst the chosen few.

No one actually asked me if I wanted to do it or indeed suggested why I should do it. But this is Suffolk Fire and Rescue and communication isn't one of its big strengths. Telepathy and second-guessing are the normal methods used.

Perhaps I should explain what a mini-CMMI actually is. Well, CMMI stands for Crew Manager, Managing Incidents (please note the use of Manager and a derivative of this word, Managing). Before a firefighter can take a pump out on a shout as OIC (Officer in Charge) they must have passed a CMMI course. This is a five day course, run at Normanshurst, that puts the candidates through many different scenarios both paper-based and in the drill yard. If you are successful you can be in charge of a pump.

Unfortunately, there isn't always a high pass rate and a number of stations are having problems getting pumps out because there are no JO's (Junior Officers) or CMMI trained firefighters.

So, as always, the answer seems to be to move the goalposts. Run three 2 hour sessions, culminating in a drill, and, if you pass, you can go in charge of a pump, as a last resort.

But what constitues "a last resort"? Who decides that we have reached the last resort? Is it down to the mini-CMMI trained firefighter? Does he or she ring control to get the necessary clearance from them? What if things go tits up? Will the hapless mini-CMMI'ed firefighter get the full support of his superiors and the Fire Service?

Lots of questions and I still haven't got round to the whole point of this blog entry... Stay with it, I will get to the point.

Last night, just before Drill, I checked my e-mails and there was nothing of any great interest. Just an invitation to Chat with the Chief but that isn't high on my list of things to do on a Thursday lunchtime!

Tonight I left home in plenty of time for the drive to Beccles for the first two hour session of the mini-CMMI. Paul Henderson of Red Watch at Normanshurst (representing Clifton Road) was already there when I arrived and we went in a started to chat about the efficacy of the mini-CMMI. Times flies and the awful realisation dawns that no one else is going to arrive.

We tried ringing some of the Beccles guys who were meant to be on this course, tracking one of them down to the real CMMI course in progress at Normanshurst. Then I rang Tim Bray, the Sub Officer at Beccles, only to be told that he had received an e-mail a few days back to say that the course had been postponed until October.

Hmm, now we have Paul fully exercising his entire vocabulary of Anglo-Saxon swear words and me doing a half decent impression of a pissed off Victor Meldrew - "I don't believe it!"

Somehow the message had managed (there's that word again) to make its way down the chain of command to everyone except myself and Paul. We've received all the other e-mails about this stop-gap, finger in the dyke ( the little Dutch boy that is, not the porno film) scheme but not one to tell us that it was off!

I can certainly think of plenty of better things to do with my Wednesday evening than have a fruitless drive over to Beccles and then spend the rest of the evening bashing frantically on the keyboard writing this blog entry! I could have cut my toe nails, emptied out my belly button fluff or, quite simply, just vegged out in front of the box.

Right now, I really can't be arsed to join in the fun when the course finally gets off the ground in October. But if I change my mind, you'll be the first to read all about it, right here...

Nighty, nighty...

The overweight fire engine...

It was brought to my attention by an informant that there was a blog post just waiting to be typed. All I had to do was search for the story on a certain newspaper's website and all would be revealed.

I duly headed off to the Evening Star website, searched for "fire engine bury" and the full, unbelievable story was there in front of me.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue have recently taken delivery of a new fire engine. It's a fire engine with a difference. It's called a CARP - Combined Aerial Rescue Pump and is to be stationed at Bury St.Edmunds to replace it's ageing Turntable Ladder (TL).

As the name suggests, this is a fire engine but with aerial rescue capabilities, albeit not as great as that of the TL.

But what do we find once the thing has been delivered. It's too heavy! And why? Well, when all the specs were being drawn up someone forgot to add in an allowance for the weight of water and the crew. Unbelievable but true.

I feel this quote from the Evening Star report says it all:
"A Suffolk County Council spokeswoman said the vehicle's weight issues had been discovered during “acceptance testing”.

She said the addition of water, firefighters and extra equipment had not been considered when the weight of the bespoke vehicle had been calculated.

Joanna Spicer, Suffolk County Council portfolio holder for public protection, added: “There have been design issues but we expected glitches.

“It is just heavier than we ordered. It is possible to reduce the amount it carries - even if it is potentially dangerous it can be corrected and we are seeking expert advice."

I like the phrase "we expected glitches". That has to the understatement of the year!

All this aside, it seems that CARP's haven't had too favourable a reception in other brigades.

Here's a quote I found on another website:
"Carps just keep falling over, breaking down or off the run."
[http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number3936.asp]

What will become of our CARP - the jack of all trades but master of none?

I expect right now, in the corridors of power, there's plenty of people fishing for an answer!

One Suffolk... but minus Lowestoft

Ever felt that nobody loves you? Ever felt like the black sheep (or is it sheep of multi-ethnic origin - just trying to be PC) of the family? Ever been sent to Coventry? Or to Norfolk?

Well, we all know that dear old Lowestoft has its problems. Being a deprived area and being a little too far from Ipswich has got the Boundary Committee for England thinking that we'd be better off as part of Norfolk.

I've read the report from the Boundary Committee and, admittedly, some of it makes sense. The reason they are thinking about moving the border is down, basically, to failed attempts by Norwich and then Ipswich to become unitary authorities. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has asked the Boundary Committee to look at alternatives. The sad thing is that the favoured option for Suffolk is 'an Ipswich & Felixstowe unitary authority and a Suffolk unitary authority comprising the rest of the county apart from the Lowestoft area.'

Is it me or am I developing an inferiority complex?

But looking on the main Suffolk County Council website we see that our paymasters have actually been thinking about two ways forward to achieve their utopian dream of 'One Suffolk'. Here's what it says:

The Boundary Committee for England has today announced it sees merit in the 'One Suffolk' proposal. The Committee has backed the joint proposal from Suffolk County Council and Mid Suffolk District Council – ‘One Suffolk’ - as one of the proposals upon which it is consulting.

It will consult on two proposals for Suffolk:

The first is for two unitary councils: a North Haven unitary council, including Ipswich, Felixstowe and many rural areas; and a Suffolk unitary council covering the remainder of the county, excluding Lowestoft. Lowestoft is proposed to move into Norfolk.
The second proposal is for a single unitary Suffolk council excluding Lowestoft. Lowestoft is proposed to move into Norfolk.

Councillor Jeremy Pembroke, Leader of Suffolk County Council, said, “If people and local organisations support the ‘One Suffolk’ proposal, then the Boundary Committee will put that to the Secretary of State. Our 'One Suffolk' is the cheapest solution - it would save the equivalent of £100 for every household in Suffolk. It would make all services easier to use and give local people in each area a bigger say. Our task is to ensure that our residents don’t lose out through any changes. I remain convinced that a unitary Suffolk – one council for the county – would benefit the people of Suffolk.”

Well thanks a bunch mate! I'm alright Jack because we're getting rid of Lowestoft and that'll save £100 for every household in Suffolk. So it's not about whether it's the right option and the benefits it'll deliver, it's down to the old pounds, shillings and pence - yet again!

Mr. Pembroke may come to regret his boyish enthusiasm as the groundswell of public opinion looks set to go in the opposite direction. Time will tell.

Moving Lowestoft into Norfolk depends on five criteria laid down by the Secretary of State. These are (now stay with this. I read the whole bloody document so I'm sure you can manage a bit more...):

• attract a broad cross-section of support - LOOKS UNLIKELY
• provide for strong, effective and accountable strategic leadership - DOUBTFUL
• deliver the empowerment of citizens and communities, so that all communities have power and resources to influence the decisions that affect them in their localities - POSSIBLE
• provide value-for-money services – services should be provided effectively, efficiently and in an integrated and coherent way, ultimately driving up customer satisfaction - NOT SURE IF SUFFOLK HAVE ACHIEVED THIS YET, SO UNLIKELY
• be affordable – the change to a unitary structure should deliver value-for money and be self-financing, with transitional costs being capable of being paid back within a five-year period - EXTREMELY UNLIKELY

I'd say it will fall down on four out of the five criteria, meaning that on aggregate the idea gets binned.

Where does this leave Lowestoft with its new fire station about to be built, literally under two miles inside the new Norfolk border - Norfolk will extend down the A12 to just before the north end of the Kessingland bypass and cut back across the A146 at the westerly end of Rookery Park Golf Club?

Would Norfolk want a brand new fire station and the annual repayments on the PFI? Would they prefer to keep more pumps on 'the island' and therefore be happier to do a refurb on Normanshurst? That's just the tip of the iceberg on the fire service side of things... These changes extend into other services to - Police, highways, refuse, housing and so many more.

There are some merits about shifting the border but it does feel awfully like being sent to Coventry...

I'll stop now because you've read far too much in one go and probably need to have a lie down.

Feel free to post your comments. You may think this is a fantastic idea or you may think it's Norfolk and Good!

Here's how the local media are covering the story:

Suffolk Free Press - New look for Suffolk gets cool response

Bury Free Press - Councils unite against Suffolk proposals

EADT - MPs' anger over unitary proposals

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...