Alerter

Buses come in three's, what about fire engines?

No, that's not the start of some corney joke... The answer is four. For what seemed the first time in absolutely ages, my alerter went off while I was at home, not in the middle of the night and not when I'm on leave!

Jogging towards the station I could see the PRT was tipping out and when I saw all three turnout lights I up, I assumed we were all going to an RTC in this neck of the woods. As I was first in I took a look at the printer to see where all the action was. The tip sheet didn't show NT05 (the PRT), just NT01 and NT02 to smoke issuing from a flat on Kirkley Cliff in the south of Lowestoft. This meant that Clifton must be out with the PRT otherwise they would have been the other pump at our shout.

So, now I was driving Ladder 1 as first pump in to a fire in a four storey building. And with it not being our normal pump (we usually take Ladder 2), my brain is racing to make sure I know where everything is and the idiosyncracies (what?) of Ladder 1. If anyone wants a definition of that long word just drop me an e-mail!

Now the drive through the early evening rush hour. Denmark Road towards the railway station is always good. Outside of the queueing traffic, wrong side of all the islands, a quick shimmy through the traffic lights, a few choice words at a motorist who is more concerned with his phone call than moving out of our way and over the bascule bridge.

We pull up outside the property number we've been given but there's no sigh of fire or anybody waiting for us. Then, up ahead, I spot a man standing in the middle of the road waving frantically. When we pull up there's a male casualty, face blackened feeling slightly worse for taking a few lungfuls of smoke.

Two BA off, pump engaged, hosereel coming off, the BA team go under air and make their way up to the third floor. Luckily the chip pan is out and the level of activity suddenly drops dramatically.

I think the guy that had waved at us had probaly narrowly missed being run down by the PRT and Clifton as they responded just prior to us to an incident up at Pakefield Cliffs. All, I can assume is that this guy is fast on his feet and was able to jump out of the way pretty sharpish! 

Now, if the technology works, this post should appear on my Facebook profile... Here goes...

Camp Fire...

Date: 24th June 2008
Time: 2338
Type: Fire
Address: Camp Road, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01
Final Attendance: Normanshurst 02

These night time shouts are getting to be a habit now. I, along with all the others, need my beauty sleep. And judging by what I saw staring back at me from the mirror the other morning, I need it more than most!

My finely tuned hearing picked up the reserve Ladder 1 going out on a shout. As the alerter hadn't gone off I felt rather smug as I rolled over and promptly fell asleep. It could only have been a matter of minutes before my alerter was jumping around out in the hall.

Usual routine but not first across to the station. Denis was still there, with writers cramp, after filling in a raft of forms in relation to the little mishap earlier in the evening with Ladder 1.

When we arrived at Camp Road you could see that the fire was in the centre of the complex of buildings that occupy this corner site. Danny O'Neill and Rudi Mann had entered the building wearing BA and extinguished the fire. The fire had taken hold on a stairway and had advanced up to the first floor of what is an empty warehouse.

I went into the building with Dennis, Al and Shambles to hit hot spots and monitor the situation with the Thermal Image Camera. We had to ne careful as we moved about on the first floor as the floor was very unsafe - we had already had the odd foot and even leg disappear through the flooring!

And that was about it... Another disturbed night. Dozing off on the settee is a distint possibly this evening.

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!

Shouts are like buses...

Date: 14th May 2008
Time: 2055
Type: Kitchen
Address: Clapham Road Central, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01 and 02

Shouts are like buses because you can wait ages for one and then three come along together...

And that's just what happened last night.

I'd just sat down in front of my PC, trying to get myself motivated to do update one of my customers' website. One sip of my tea, fingers poised above the keyboard and my alerter decides it's time for me to go for a jog over to the station.

I think this shout had come through simply as 'house', which can cover a multitude of sins. The address should have been the giveaway - Stanley Street, Lowestoft. And sure enough it turned out to be 'false alarm, good intent' - someone had seen smoke coming out of a building and naturally thought the place was on fire - except that it was actually the smokehouse on the corner of Stanley Street and Raglan Street!

So within 20 minutes I was back home and sipping my luke warm brew, feeling even less inclined to start any work. I don't think it was much over half an hour later and we're off again. This time it's a kitchen fire on Clapham Road Central.

We arrived at the incident a few minutes after White Watch to find that one BA team were in the property having dealt with a developing fire in the kitchen. Both myself and Howard Clark stood by as the Emergency BA Team and got used to clear the kitchen around the area of the fire. This was just emptying cupboards and then removing them from the kitchen. We pulled a small area of the ceiling down just to ensure that the fire hadn't took hold on the joists above.

Left the station just after 2200hrs to get the third and final shout of the evening less than an hour later. This time it was to a confirmed fire at the Birds Eye factory in Lowestoft. Thankfully plenty turned in, so I was surplus to requirements and able to get off home to my bed...

A fire, a grand prix and a trapped bird...

Date: 13th May 2008
Time: 1030
Type: Smoke issuing from roof
Address: London Road South, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01, Clifton 01
Final Attendance: Make Pumps 6 - Normanshurst 01, Clifton 01, Normanshurst 02 and 05, Beccles 01, Wrentham 01, Forward Control Vehicle, Operational Support Unit and support pump from Ipswich, Hydraulic Platform and support pump from Great Yarmouth, a sprinkling of white helmets and, finally, me in the station van!

I nipped into the station this morning to sign myself out for a couple of hours - 0900 - 1100 - that's all. I just needed to nip over Great Yarmouth to see a customer of mine. I had just left their office on the Harfreys Industrial Estate when my alerter went off (this was actually the second time it had been activated, the first time I didn't get the signal). Anyway, it's into Lewis Hamilton mode (although sticking to all relevant speed limits) for the drive back over to Lowestoft.

By the time I arrived the place was deserted except for the normal jumble of cars in the drill yard.

The incident had escalated to persons reported and because the fire was on the third floor, additional resources were mobilised. The Hydraulic Platform from Great Yarmouth is automatically mobilised to any fires in roofs, especially on buildings this tall.

There was just myself and Richard Belsey left on station to mind the shop. Richard rang Control and asked if we should act as guides on any Norfolk pump that was coming to standby at Normanshurst. After a short silence Control said they'd be getting a pump from Norfolk to standby at Normanshurst. A cynic might think that this had got overlooked in the excitement.

Sure enough, in time, a retained crew from Gorleston arrived and started to make themselves at home.

I then got a call from the incident to take the station van and collect BA cylinders to bring back and charge. After a few shortcuts around Road Closed signs and a few one-way street negotiated the wrong way, I made it to the job. I collected 13 empties and headed off only to see, in my rear view mirror, the Operational Support Unit (OSU) and its support pump arrive. I pulled over and rang Control to see if I should return to the incident and allow the OSU with its mobile compressor to charge the BA cylinders. After a few minutes I received a call back from Control to say carry on back to Normanshurst. It transpired that the OSU and its pump literally arrived and then they were sent back to Ipswich - nearly a 100 mile round journey for nothing. It would have been good to use this resource instead of sending me back through all the town traffic to then charge the cylinders and then, possibly, to drive all the way back again. As it was, by the time all the cylinders were finished, pumps were coming back on station and collecting their cylinders.

But not to be outdone by this six pumper I did get a turnout of my own with the PRT crew - to rescue a seagull trapped in netting on the roof of the telephone exchange! Very apt considering tonights lecture is Rescue at Height...

Oh, and the Gorleston boys got a shout whil ehere on standby - back to Great Yarmouth for a gas leak!

Much ado about nothing...

With it being a Tuesday evening, the great and the good of Normanshurst retained firefighters were congregated ready for parade. But with two minutes to go the bells went for two pumps.

A sight rarely seen other than at Princes Street in Ipswich - two pumps turning out at the same time - a spotters dream!

I was driving Ladder 2 and tucked ourselves in behind White Watch on Ladder 1 for a 'we've got ourselves a convoy' style drive to Lowestoft Railway Station.

And, as the title suggests, it was very much a case of 'much ado about nothing'. Someone had set fire to some old furniture on waste ground behind Commercial Road, which borders onto railway property. Mind you, on the drive there, the pall of black smoke was quite impressive and it seemed we might have a proper job... Alas, no.

And that was that. We arrived back at Normanshurst in time to just miss knocking the new Deputy Chief Fire Officer over in the drillyard. As my old school reports used to say, "Ian must try harder!"

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!

How not to catch a bus...

Date: 23rd April  2008
Time: 1045
Type: RTC
Address: A12, Lowestoft (junction with Blundeston Road)
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 05, 01 and 02

Seems ages since our last shout... Always comes as a shock when your alerter goes off after such a long gap.

Anyway, got to the station after what seemed the slowest drive ever. People weren't just sticking to the speed limit, they were halving it instead!

Blue Watch have taken the PRT (Normanshurst 05) and we take Ladder 1 (Normanshurst 01) with a crew of four. Mel Buck in charge, Pete Brown driving and myself and Al Soards riding BA.

There wasn't anything to do when we arrived. A double decker bus had been rear ended by a private car. The back of the bus was crumpled and it was leaking something on to the road, so Al just added more of the absorbent mixture we carry to the sack full put down by Blue Watch.

The bus wasn't in service at the time as it was on a test run with two mechanics who had only just finished some repairs on it... They'll be putting in some overtime on it now!

And that's about it. So there we were, primed and ready for action but, thankfully, we weren't needed to cut the car driver free.

A skip, a van and plenty of underage drinking...

Date: 15th April  2008
Time: 2101
Type: Fire
Address: Wollaston Road, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01 and 02
Final Attendance: Normanshurst 01, 02, 05

We were all just leaving from drill night when the bells went. Two lights up for Ladder 1 and Ladder 2. We booked mobile with a crew of six - Dennis Newton (OIC), Mark Saunders (driver), Paul 'Nubbs' Newberry and myself as BA, 'Cheesey' Armes as BA Entry Control and Rachael as No.6.

It seems that a skip was on fire that was spreading to the back of a Transit van and starting to move to the adjacent workshops. Quick action by Green Watch preventing the fire taking hold in the building. We transferred our tank of water to Ladder 1 while Rachael went off in search of the nearest hydrant (about 150 metres away on the junction with Norwich Road). Mel Buck had put in an assistance message (Make Pumps 3) as it was looking likely that the building was going to be involved more heavily than it was.

Nubbs and I had BA on and were waiting by BA Entry Control in case we were needed. We were immediately surrounded by a throng of around thirty children, teenagers and adults. Everyone was jockeying for position to get the best view. It became apparent quite quickly that many of the youngsters had what must be a fashion accessory in that neck of the woods - a bottle of vodka or cans of some cheap lager. They tended to be boisterous and lippy so we set about clearing them from the immediate area and setting up a cordon with our magic Traffic tape. That stuff has the stopping capability of a brick wall - no one crosses the thin red line!

Thankfully we weren't out long and got back on station bang on 2200hrs.

Is it bedtime yet?

Date: 9th April  2008
Time: 0120
Type: Shed
Address: Normanston Drive, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01
Final Attendance: Normanshurst 01, 02

Knowing that I'd got a heavy day of Learn and Live presentations today, I just knew that we'd get a shout in the middle of the night. Sod's Law, call it what you like.

I must have only been dozing because I heard the wholetime crew turnout - living barely 100 yards from the station and knowing (sadly) the sound of our engines means you don't have to have the hearing capacity of a bat to know that! I remember thinking to myself, "What's the betting the alerters go off?" And immediately fell asleep again. It could only have been a few minutes later and, yep, the blessed alerter kicks off, shattering the peace. I swear those things could raise the dead!

Again, Sod's Law states that whenever I can't be arsed to get clothes ready for such an eventuality, we get a shout. It's then a case of fumbling around looking for clothes, making sure you go to the right wardrobe - would be a tad unseemly to turnout dressed in womens clothing!

Anyway, my slow departure from home meant I arrive at the station at the same time as Cheesey, who went as driver and I took one of the BA positions.

It was a Make Pumps 2 to a shed between two houses on Normanston Drive, barely a quarter of a mile away.

On arrival we gave our water to Ladder 1 (Green Watch). Howard Clarke and I donned our BA sets as Green Watch already had one team working on this made-to-last, brick built shed. We weren't required so dumped our sets and 'Horney' Ben and I took Ladder 2 off in search of a hydrant. We were able to locate one nearby and were back to dump more water into Ladder 1 fairly quickly.

It took the combined efforts of our two crews to remove tiles from the shed and to extinguish the smouldering joists and rafters.

Everything wrapped up after 3am with our second crew also getting a turnout on the PRT to a washing machine that had been set alight in a car park off the High Street.

I think I got back to sleep after 4am only to be woken by my alarm at 5.30am.

Just hoping that I wouldn't nod off in the Learn and Live presentations...