Alerter - the firefighters blog

Pumping practice

Last night was a chance for those not normally stood at the back of the pump to hone their skills.

A dam was constructed near the smoke house, filled from the nearby hydrant and then had the LPP set into it. From there a line of 70 was run out to Ladder 2 and from this a line of 70 to the ERT. Finally, another 70 from the ERT into the dam.

The idea was that the LPP, acting as base pump, had to keep the two main pumps supplied with water without overrunning its supply (the dam). Simples, tch!

Throw in a pump 'failure', start squirting water from a hosereel, a 45 and a 70 and some juggling is required to keep all pump operators happy...

And, what a surprise, the two hour drill session goes really quickly because we're actually doing something - not just listening to one of the Scottish Modules up in the classroom.

So, we're all up to speed again with operating the LPP and the main pumps... All we need is some orange stuff to squirt water at. We're going through a real slow patch - literally a week goes by without a shout. And when we do get something, it's nothing to write home about let alone post to the blog about!

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RTC drill with car upside down...

I must be keen...

Saturday morning and I'm over at the fire station with two of my retained firefighter colleagues, taking part in an RTC drill.

Green Watch with Mel in charge had got a fairly elaborate scenario set up and it really needed a few extra bods to make it work.

The scenario was that the smoke house was actually a multi-storey car park and our car had come over the edge, landing on its roof in 6 foot high bushes. Where are all the neatly trimmed bushes when you need them?

The car had two casualties, both still held in by their seatbelts.

We made our equipment dump and, when looking at it afterwards, it looked like we had completely emptied the ERT of all its kit!

By splitting into pairs we started to dismantle the car. The hatchback came off first simply by stripping the trim and undoing a couple of nuts. It was now that the child casualty took a turn for the worse and had to be removed immediately on a longboard.

On the other side of the car, in the space created in the thick bush, both doors were removed, including the B post to give maximum space to get at the remaining casualty.

And, after a bit more space creation we were ready to get our big casualty on to the longboard, strapped on and then out through the side of the car.

That was it, job done.

It was a good drill, giving us the opportunity to use a wide range of kit that's carried on the ERT. Rightly or wrongly, depending possibly on the rank you hold, the one piece of kit that is so obviously missing is a set of StabFast.
The thinking is that the ERT will always have other appliances with it and they will have at least one set of StabFast. However, when the ERT arrives on scene first the quick deployment of StabFast could make all the difference in the minutes before the next appliance turns up.

Anyway, I digress...

Sad thing is that, just as we are getting acquainted with the ERT and its capabilities, we'll be waving goodbye to it in two months time when it disappears to the new Lowestoft South fire station. We then revert to a tin opener and a large hammer!

Bitter and twisted? Me? Never!

First Aid is simple...

"There's nowt to it. First Aid is simple", were the words uttered by George, the lead instructor on our four day First Aid course.

It seemed there were so many things that we just wouldn't be able to assist with. And in George's words "there's f**k all you can do abart it". So much so that, by Day 3, when he asked us what we could do we'd all chorus, "F**k all!"

I even thought about weaving it in to one of my practical sessions that signalled the end of the course today. In fact, thinking about it, I did... When I'd finished dealing with an unconscious casualty who then needed CPR, I was asked a set of probing questions by our Fire Service examiner. I answered these as fully as I could but the last one was asking me how I'd deal with a certain injury. I answered by saying, "as George would say, F**k all!".

A pass on that bit. Thank you...

Then the long wait to do the practical session with a live casualty and being assessed by an external nurse (this means she wasn't part of the Fire Service and not that she sat outside while assessing us...).

The whole shebang probably didn't last more than 10 minutes but it felt like a lifetime. Thankfully I remembered to ask my casualty about SAMPLE. This isn't to be confused with asking the casualty for a sample. Unless, of course, I was going to add pregnancy testing to my basic First Aid repertoire!
SAMPLE means asking about Signs and Symptoms, Allergies, Medication, Past medical history, Last intake of food or drink and Events leading up to the me finding the casualty.

After I had applied a state of the art, almost Tourniquet style dressing, I had a one sided conversation with the Ambulance control, telling them the life history of my casualty and hoping this pergatory would end. It didn't so I started asking questions again about the banged head, took the pulse and generally made things more comfortable for the casualty.

And finally it was over. Pass. And only George there to congratulate me... Everyone else with much further than me to travel had gone in with furthest first, leaving old Billy No Mates to go last.

Back to the real world tomorrow and four days worth of work and e-mails to catch up on... Oh joy!

Risk Critical Training: Combination Drills

After the shambles of a couple of weeks back when this Risk Critical drill had to be cancelled, Tuesday night saw us have another go.

Our previous attempt had been interrupted by three shouts, as the retained firefighters at Normanshurst covered the town for our wholetime colleagues.

So it was back to Combination Drills with the Training Department keeping an eagle eye on everything we did.

We were split into two crews and Mel was Incident Commander.

First it was a confined pitch of the 9m ladder to the side face of the drill tower with a hosereel jet got to work from the head of the ladder. I was part of the crew that then made a dam, using two sections of the short extension ladder, the dam braces, four step chocks and a salvage sheet. The finished article beats any paddling pool you'll find in Argos!

Then it was get the LPP into position next to the slowly filling dam, connect two lengths of hard suction and then a length of 70 off in the direction of the ERT. I had the dubious honour of operating the LPP, which I've always hated because of the problems it caused me on my recruits course. But, for once, everything went swimmingly and I got water first time - which shouldn't be a problem as you're not exactly having to lift the water any great distance...

While all this was happening a ladder crew were doing a confined pitch of the 135 ladder to the front face of the drill tower. The plan was then for some poor soul to climb the ladder in the stiffening breeze and get a 45 to work from the head of the ladder into the third floor window. At least it won't be me, I thought smuggly, as I made myself look busy, fussing around the putting and spluttering LPP.
Just then Mel shouted that he was changing the crews around so that we can all try something that's out of our comfort zone. I didn't need Mel to tell me that it would be me shinning up the ladder.

Off I go with the branch draped over my shoulder, plodding methodically up to just below the window sill on the third floor. Ben then made his way up to just below me and fixed the hose becket level with my bottom foot and then fed plenty of hose through. Just to explain - the hose becket effectively takes the weight of the the hose and all the water that's in it, as this would be impossible for the 'branch man' to hold.

A minute or so of soaking the inside of the tower and then we got the order to advance into the tower, get water on again and then advance up to the fourth floor using the vertical metal ladder.

So water off, water pressure released at the dividing breach, becket off, into the tower followed by Ben, becket on again just below the sill and water on... Now up to the fourth floor and a bit more squirting.

And then, faintly, on the breeze and over the radio I heard the words that are music to my ears - 'Knock off and make up". That's it, the drill is over. It's just a case of making all the gear up and getting it all stored away again.

General consensus was that everything went well, it was good to get our hands on bits of kit that we don't get the opportunity too often to do. No one was taken off the run, which is good. And to round off the evening it was time for a bit of storytelling as we filled in our brand spanking new Individual Training Records...

Combination Drills interrupted...

It seemed like every man and his fire engine was at Normanshurst last night.

Beccles and Bungay crews were there for a risk critical BA session - simulated dwelling fire, persons reported, plus the added bonus of gas cylinders involved.

Meanwhile Clifton were dealing with an RTC involving two cars in the fire station driveway.

And finally two retained crews from Normanshurst were starting combination drills with confined pitches of the 135 ladder.

Each crew took a different face of the drill tower for their pitch followed by getting water to work from two lengths of 45 from the head of the ladder. Then we advanced into the tower, sending cascades of water down the inside of the tower to avoid soaking everyone else on the drill yard!

Not long after I'd hauled myself into the third floor of the tower, the station alarm sounded. Hoping for two lights up as I was on the next pump after the Watch. No lights so not sure what was going on. Carry on with the waterfall effect in the tower.

The bells go again just a couple of minutes later but it's only for Ladder 1. Then, over the handheld radios, the first retained crew is being called to crew Ladder 1. Pete Brown, Shambles and I do a nifty descent down three sets of vertical ladders, getting soaked by the remaining water on its way down...

We were off to M&H Plastics in Beccles for an AFA. Thankfully no fire as it would have had a chance to get a good hold in the time it took us to get out to Beccles.

Our arrival seemed to be the highlight for some of the ladies on the evening shift. Never really understood this 'thing' that certain ladies have for firefighters. It's just the uniform and the idea of being 'saved' - it certainly isn't about what or who is inside said uniform. If the ladies that go weak at the knees at the sight of a firefighter could hear the dawn farting chorus when we're all together at five in the morning, they'd soon go off the idea...

Anyway, a slow drive back from Beccles was called for and, with any luck, all the gear and ladders would have been made up.

Then we hear Ladder 2 book mobile to an AFA at Birds Eye which, like ours, is nothing to write home about. Still, they should be back before us, so we should be OK for missing out on the make up.

Just heading back through Worlingham and we get a Fire Priority to a garage fire in Spashett Road, Lowestoft. Pete picks up the pace and we race off back to Lowestoft, hearing Ladder 2 book mobile to the same job.

We make it all the way back to the Shell Garage in Oulton Broad before the Stop message goes in.

It seems it wasn't a garage on fire, just a very small pile of rubbish that succumbed to two buckets of water!

And all we had to do back at Normanshurst was get the two 135 ladders down.

Our night of combination drills is now being rescheduled...

Firefighters rescue some real crash test dummies...

It's funny how you find your self 'volunteering' for something. Sometimes you don't realise that you've done it and other times you're sold a pup. I think my 'volunteering' fell into the second category...

In the wee small hours of last Sunday morning we were getting ready to pull a rather large horse out of a rather muddy ditch. My brain was still mush and trying desperately to get itself in gear, when Gary Smart sidled up to me and asked if I'd like to be a casualty in an RTC district exercise. At that time of the morning it sounded more appealing than running around, sweating your bits off, cutting casualties from cars - so I said 'yes'...

And that's why I found myself and three other 'willing' helpers across at the fire station, an hour before drill, getting made up with all manner of wounds. Mine was a head wound with a lump, a cut and some blood.

The drive up to Jeld-Wen drew some odd looks from anyone who happened to catch sight of these four battered and bruised individuals being transported in the back of a Fire Service minibus!

The RTC involved three cars - one on all four wheels with two female casualties (the driver had been drinking...), another on its side with its roof up against a skip (Richard Belsey was in this car with a badly broken leg) and finally me, in an upside down Peuguot.

I'd picked the car on its roof because, being a lazy git, I thought I'd be able to make myself comfortable on the roof liner and have a nice little doze - keeping in the character of being semi-conscious. But when I looked at the car I couldn't believe the amount of crap that was in it. I think someone had been using it as a skip! So I got in and laid with my head just resting in the open window, trying to nestle down in all the rubbish that was all over the place.

First pump in was Wrentham and I could hear them surveying the scene, checking on the vehicles and the state of the casualties. I was deliberately incoherent and slipping in and out of consciousness, gradually giving information to the firefighter and then to the St Johns Ambulance staff. Could detect a rise in the voice as I slipped away - 'Ian, Ian, wake up!'

And so followed an award-winning performance as the car was dismantled around me and we waited for a long-board to become available. As time wore on I was getting more and more uncomfortable and started to kick out - hopefully emulating the effects of a head injury - while trying to get some feeling back into my legs!

I've decided not to 'volunteer' to be a casualty again. Sweating your bits off as a firefighter has got to be so much better than lying, helpless, having a car cut from around you - especially for Richard who had Al cutting a post just an inch or so from his head. I know the sound cutters make, the sound of glass being managed and the sound of a Remsaw. But, even so, it was unnerving being on the receiving end.

So, when volunteers are called for again, I shall be taking three steps back...

Firefighters rescue rave dummies...

The retained firefighters at Normanshurst had a somewhat extended BA drill last night. We were also covering the town as Green Watch had taken the Water Rescue van (NT0V) and were off up the river having a paddle about.

The scenario saw Ladder 2 (NT02) followed by the ERT (NT06) tip out to a fire in a disused warehouse that was staging a rave. There were multiple persons reported and the added bonus of cylinders stored in an adjacent outbuilding.

I was driving Ladder 2 and we pulled up short of the drill yard which was already heaving with a Recruits Course (now known as Approved to Ride) and some of our guys playing with the new Tirfor winch (the TU32 for all you winching experts!).

First job was to get the ground monitor set up to deluge the outbuilding. Three lengths of 70 were run out to this and three lengths of 70 run out from the hydrant to Ladder 2. Water on to the monitor. At the same time as the monitor was being got to work the hosereel was being extended, giving us a working length of 120m - enough to get from Ladder 2, across the drill yard and right round inside the 'disused warehouse' - the smokehouse. Then it was the covering jet consisting of three or maybe four lengths of 45. And, if this was a real incident, as pump operator I'd have been putting back radio messages too..

I was somewhat detached from the action and could only watch from 100m away as BA teams were committed to the 'warehouse'. Then, right in my line of sight, one of the drill yard flashing red lights started up, accompanied by the turnout alarm. The four of us that were riding Ladder 1 - myself, Denis Newton, Pete Brown and Richard 'Shambles' Lambert - ran back to the appliance bay with me heading for the printer and the tip sheet. What feat of heroics were we about to perform? What blazing inferno were we about to valiantly extinguish? None by the looks of it. Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) at a local carpet warehouse. But you never know. Just because it's an AFA doesn't mean that it isn't, in Denis' vernacular, 'going like a Bastard!'

Within a few minutes we had pulled up at the carpet warehouse and there was no immediate sign of fire. Rather suspiciously, there was a van parked outside belonging to an alarm company. And, sure enough, an alarm engineer sheepishly stuck his head out of the door to see what all the excitement was. False Alarm, engineer working on system...

Back to Normanshurst and pick up where we left off.

The only two BA wearers still to go in were myself and Shambles. We were then starting to don up when the turnout alarm sounded yet again. While struggling to free myself from my BA set, the crew for Ladder 1 was rejigged so that we could get our wear in.

I went as team leader with a brief to enter on the ground floor, follow the right hand wall until we found the stairs and then take these to the first floor. From there conduct search and rescue off the left hand wall.

A gauge check just before we enter the smoke filled 'warehouse' and then in till we found the stairs. Made quick progress up the stairs and with enough hosereel on the first floor we started our search. The first room we entered was a bathroom - now what a bathroom was doing in this 'disused warehouse' I don't know. After a bit of fumbling and back tracking, we located the toilet door. I think this had previously been hidden behind a cupboard. But once that cupboard had landed on my foot the door to the toilet became more obvious!

And here was our first casualty, stuck behind the toilet door. Now why is it that it's always the big buggers that collapse in the bog? I squeezed into the toilet and started to push the casualty out to Shambles. A quick radio message to BAECO and we made our way out.

With the casualty outside we checked out pressure and were both on 140bar and made the decision to re-enter and continue the search.

We moved quickly back to where we had found our casualty and resumed the search. In and out of a number of rooms until we came to a room with armchairs and other items of furniture. Shambles had gone out to the side of me to maximise our search area and found a casualty on the floor, just below a window. Message back to BAECO and retrace our steps - Shambles carrying the casualty and me bringing out the hosereel and branch. Both of us were now down to 90bar so time to call it a day.

With five of our number out on Ladder 1 it fell to us remaining to make up all the hose, the hosereel and service the BA sets. Time for the more elderly amongst us to take a breather...

As usual when we are doing something practical, the time flies by. And it was a good drill, made to be a lifelike as possible, even down to the music blaring out at this rave gone wrong.

Next week we have a lecture to look forward to all about sewers and silos - I can just feel the excitement building!

Chemical incident with firefighter 'injured' - it's just a training night!

We were all set for a talk from the police accident investigator but this was cancelled because, you've guessed it - he'd had an accident. Hopefully not a bad one but enough to mean the talk had to be called off.

So we attended a chemical incident instead on the front grass at Normanshurst.

Ladder 2 turned out first to reports of children that had collapsed close to some drums of chemicals.

A BA team from Ladder 2 (Rachael and Peter Read) carried out a snatch rescue while the rest of the crew started to prepare for the full chemical circus.

We arrived on the ERT and helped to cordon off the area - hot, warm and cold, put together the decontamination dam, laid out the hosereel, buckets, brushes, emergency air supply from 2 BA sets, four Gas Tight Suits (GTS), paperwork - the list goes on...

The first GTS team of 'Cheesey' Armes and Jason Balls were committed to the scene to get more information about the leaking chemical. They were closely followed by the second GTS team of Paul 'Nubbs' Newberry and Peter Read. The second team would be relaying the chemical information back to BAECO so that more details could be gleaned about the chemical and its potential dangers.

Part way through the exercise Jason, at a signal from Mel, collapsed in a heap with an Oscar winning performance. The other 3 GTS wearers initially just stood there and stared at the crumbled heap of yellow plastic on the grass in front of them. Then, galvanised into action, they reported back to BAECO that they had a 'firefighter down' and proceeded to drag Jason towards the decontamination area.

The rescue of Jason wasn't easy. For a start moving in a GTS isn't very easy let alone trying to grip a lifeless form in another GTS and carry him 50m to the decontamination area. The plastic viewing panels were steaming up as Cheesey, Nubbs and Peter burnt some calories lugging their casualty to safety. Every so often you'd see an arm swipe across the plastic window like a windscreen wiper just to give them a glimpse of where they were heading.

And finally they made it. With much hilarity for the onlookers, Jason was dumped, unceremoniously into the dam. And while he was being taken care of by the decontamination team we had to give the emergency supply of air to two of the rescue party.

Once all four GTS wearers had been washed down and stripped of their GTS suits we had a quick debrief before making all the equipment up.

Not sure what all the passing motorists thought of this spectacle unfolding before their eyes - Gas Tight Suits, decontamination, casualties... Perhaps they thought that we were rehearsing for when / if swine flu finds its way into sleepy old Suffolk!

It was a good drill, everyone enjoyed it and got something out of it and, more importantly, it makes the two hour training night go so much more quickly...

Firefighters fight 'fire' in the fog...

Last night was one of those rare occasions when we get off station to do some drilling...

Two pumps headed down to the old North Denes caravan site to fight a simulated house fire - actually a boarded up toilet / shower block.

Ladder 2, with Ian 'Billy' McMillan in charge, were the first pump in and got a hosereel onto the 'fire'. Almost immediately Billy made up for another pump to assist with the water supply.

We turned up on Ladder 1 and set about running a line of 70 from us to Ladder 2, supplementing our tank from a hydrant that was about four lengths away. I think it was nine or ten lengths of 70 to get over to Ladder 2 - and as the line got longer firefighters were disappearing into the thickening fog...

With a reasonable supply, the Ladder 2 crew were able to get two main jets working, one through a monitor.

Then we had a 'failure' of the Ladder 1 pump. We made a dam at the midway point along the line of 70 and let this start filling from the less than adequate hydrant. Four of us then lugged the LPP (Lightweight, Portable Pump - neither lightweight or particulary portable!) the 150 metres from Ladder 2 to the now filling Fire Service paddling pool. We were then able to pump water on up the line to Ladder 2, but were quickly over-running the supply from the hydrant.

And after a few minutes of this we got the 'knock off' from Mel. A short debrief in the gathering gloom was followed by a pretty brisk make up, especially as the clock was moving swiftly towards 2100hrs and the end of drill night.

These simulated incidents / off-site drills make our training more realistic - not just squirting water at the drill tower with a good hydrant just feet away. We also get seen by the public, our customers, which generates interest and the chance to have a chat with them - again far better than us being hidden away on the drill yard. And, finally, the time goes much quicker. Two hours spent in the classroom on the Scottish Modules or fannying around on station really does make the clock stand still...

Retained Firefighters provide cover for Lowestoft

Last Wednesday a crew of five retained firefighters provided fire cover for Lowestoft - Red Watch had a day out in Sudbury for a Water Rescue exercise.

The town was in the 'safe' hands of Mel Buck, John Hubbard, Al Soards, Richard 'Shambles' Lambert and me.

We started off the day getting standard tests done on Ladder 2 and the PRT - weeklies, monthoes and quarterlies...

After tea-break Mel had lined up a couple of BA drills for us, ostensibly for us to get a BA wear in using the new helmets before we actually wear them at a job.

The first drill was just a simple moving in darkness wear following a guideline in the smoke house. The wear wasn't demanding but it did give us the chance to don up, adjust the new helmets and get a feel for how they differ from the old Cromwells when crawling, climbing etc in BA.

The second drill was set to simulate us turning up at a job. We pulled up at a derelict building and were informed that there may be children inside as they were known to build dens in there.

When Mel and John did their 360 of the building they found a casualty hanging out of a first floor window. We did a confined pitch of the nine metre ladder and Shambles 'rescued' the casualty.

Then it was me and Shambles in BA to do search and rescue on the ground floor, with entry through one of the front windows. Shambles went as Number 1 carrying the branch, with me follwing carrying the door enforcer. I pulled in a good length of hosereel and then we set off following the left hand wall. Fairly quickly we made our way right around the ground floor, back to our entry point. We then had a message from BAECO that there was a den in the middle of the building that would need to be searched.

We retraced our steps until we found an opening into the den. There then followed a tight maze of the metal cage walls. Entry to a section was either through a doorway or a 'window' section. Having weaved our way through most of the maze we informed BAECO that we were at our turnround time and were making our way out.

I think my arms were a couple of inches longer after lugging the door enforcer round with me!

With the smoke cleared we took at look at the route we took. It always seem so much further when you're shuffling along in thick smoke... And we'd been on a real twisting and turning route.

The new helmets with BA had worked well, so at least I know what to expect when we get a job.

And we wound down the day with some home fire safety checks, culminating in Al and Richard making the day of two old ladies - 'Oh young man!'