Alerter - the firefighters blog

Lowestoft firefighters sing Christmas carols for charity

"It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas"

It's that time of year when we serenade the good people of Lowestoft with the perennial Christmas favourites of carols and songs.

For the first time I was handed the Choir Masters baton to lead our motley crew in their two hour segue through all things festive.

From Silent Night to the crowd's favourite, 12 Days of Christmas, and everything in between we entertained the Christmas shoppers and gave them something to smile about.

And all in aid of a good cause or two.

We were raising funds for The Fire Fighters Charity and Pathways Care Farm.

And a big, BIG thank you must go to the generous people of Lowestoft who put pounds, pennies and notes into our buckets. The total coming in at over £1300!

Chuffed doesn't get close to how pleased we all were with that fabulous amount.

I was chuffed too.

Because... Never before in the field of firefighting has one firefighter issued orders to so many white helmets. At the last count it was three Watch Commanders, two Station Commanders, a Group Commander and the Chief. I could get used to this Choir Master malarkey...

It's not too late to donate. 

Head over to our Just Giving page and donate anything from £1 upwards - it really does make a difference. [Please note: online donations go just to The Fire Fighters Charity]

We had a compliment too...

Little old lady: My dear, you have the voices of angels!

Me: Aww, thank you.

Little old lady: Yes, Hell's Angels...

You can't win 'em all!

Merry Christmas everyone. Stay safe!

Suffolk firefighters practice high rise firefighting skills

The tragic fire at Grenfell Tower earlier this year has brought in to sharp focus the need for all Fire Service's across the UK to hone their skills at dealing with incidents in high rise buildings.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service has carried out a series of visits and inspections to the high rise buildings across the county. This has now moved to carrying out exercises for simulated flat fires in high rise blocks of flats - firstly in Ipswich and now in Lowestoft.

Even before Grenfell, fires in high rise buildings were always seen to be dangerous for the occupants and also the firefighters that would have to deal with a fire. Firefighters have been killed at fires in high rise buildings in Stevenage (Harrow Court, 2005) and Southampton (Shirley Towers, 2010).

All of this determines the need to train for such incidents and constantly look for ways to improve how we respond as a Fire Service.

Last night fire crews from across North Suffolk - Lowestoft South, North Lowestoft, Wrentham, Bungay and Beccles - took part in an exercise at St.Peter's Court (a 16-storey tower block) in Lowestoft.

Crews met at our station - North Lowestoft - for a briefing on the exercise and to be given the order in which the pumps would be mobilised to the incident.

The Watch from Lowestoft South would already be in attendance with North Lowestoft due to be mobilised next via the turnout system at 1935.

Suited and booted, we sat on the pump waiting for the bells to go down.

On cue the station alarmed warbled and the turnout printer chattered away confirming that we were off to St. Peter's Court.

Arriving at the incident we were informed that the fire was in Flat 115 on the 11th floor. Our crew started to get kit off the pump including 2 BA sets, lengths of 45, hand controlled branches, door enforcer, first aid kit, BA Entry Control board, EASE (Emergency Air Supply Equipment) and more all going up in the lift to the bridgehead floor - Floor 9.

Once the fire was confirmed we set up a bridgehead 2 floors below the fire floor as long as it's safe to do so.

It didn't take long for the bridgehead to get quite busy as firstly our BA crew prepared to go under air and more crews started to arrive.

I was BA Entry Control Officer (BAECO) so prepared myself to look after, potentially, quite a few wearers.

Three teams of BA wearers were got under air in quick succession with Jason and Ollie form North Lowestoft taking the lead as the firefighting / search & rescue team (A1). The next team (A2) followed them up to the 11th floor and wait just inside the stairwell with a covering jet to act as a backup for A1. The third team (A3) were to be used on the stairs to help manage the two lines of 45.

Jason and Ollie entered the flat on a right hand wall with the task of extinguishing the fire and searching for the occupant of the flat.

After a few minutes I received a radio message from Jason to say the fire was extinguished and that they were continuing their search. Then another message to say that they had located the casualty in the bathroom and were making they way out of the flat. A2 assisted with the task of getting the casualty from the flat to the staircase.

A fourth BA team were committed to search a part of the flat that the first team hadn't reached before finding their casualty.

And just in case any of the BA teams got into difficulty we had an emergency BA team waiting with me at the board.

Soon after this the exercise was terminated and all the BA teams headed back to me to get their tallies and drop their sets.

We all then had the chance to go up to Flat 115 to see the layout, where the fire was (kitchen) and where the casualty was located.

To see a brief video of the exercise head to this tweet - courtesy of Ben Horne (@999Ben).

It was then a case of getting all the kit, hose and firefighters down to the ground floor before we gathered for a debrief.

It's only when everyone's together you fully understand the resources required to carry out firefighting in a high rise building and effect a rescue. For a real incident there would have been more pumps and more firefighters. Out of the 25+ firefighters there last night 10 were used as BA wearers, showing how quickly resources get used.

All in all it was a very useful exercise. The firefighters learnt a lot as did our local managers and the other observers present.

I'm just keeping everything crossed that we don't have to do this for real one day...

Plans announced to fit sprinkler system to St. Peter's Court in Lowestoft

 

 

BA drill at derelict (haunted) Lowestoft hotel

The prospect of rummaging round the pitch black interior of the derelict Crown Hotel for a BA drill held no qualms for our crew from North Lowestoft Fire Station.

After all, we're rufty-tufty firefighters - right?

Rufty-tufty disappeared sharpish when you're gathered together in the smoke blackened kitchen and you see 'Help me' scrawled in the grime and you hear a low moaning sound from the gloom. 

I digress - anybody would think this was an episode of Most Haunted which, incidentally, did feature the Crown Hotel.

There were two search and rescue scenario's for us to do.

I was No. 1 on the first scenario with Seb as my No. 2 managing the charged 45.

The brief was to follow the left-hand wall through the front bar carrying out search and rescue to also include a raised seating area.

We made good progress following the bench seating round to the inner front doors and this is where we found our first casualty. Seb grabbed the casualty and I led us back out to BAECO.

Straight back in and quickly retrace our steps to where we had found the casualty. A few more steps and we were up on the raised seating area trying not to get ourselves too tangled in the furniture and wrapping the hose round the pillars.

When we had reached the far side of the seating area we found another casualty and again made our way back out to BAECO.

With a quick check of how much air we had left we committed on to the second scenario.

This time we would be taking the hosereel into the rear bar / dance floor, again with a search and rescue brief.

We changed places - Seb taking the lead and me looking after hose management.

This time there seemed to be even more chairs and tables to contend with plus loads of pillars to get the hosereel wrapped around.

We made good progress and found two casualties - always a bonus considering that's what we went in there for!

Once all three teams had completed their wears we were able to take a look round where we had been searching. Never ceases to amaze me that the place looks much smaller when you can actually see it. In the dark when you're just feeling your way around it somehow seems much bigger...

Thankfully we didn't come face-to-face with any ghostly apparitions although I thought I did see something spooky at one point. It was only after my brain had taken a couple of seconds to process it that I realised the ghostly face was that of a BA Instructor Rudi Mann lit up by the glow from the thermal image camera!

Joking aside it was really beneficial to do a BA drill off-site. I think we can't help but be in 'drill mode' when we wear in the Smoke House at Lowestoft South Fire Station. Using a derelict and haunted (maybe) hotel added a degree of realism to the drill.

 

Water rescue at Slater's Pit, Lowestoft

As always, when shouts have been thin on the ground, my alerter going into overdrive sends me up in the air like a cartoon character. Thankfully, as I hit the ground, my legs are spinning like Billy the Whizz!

Over to the Fire Station to find we're going to a water rescue incident barely a few hundreds from the station, as the crow flies, but well over a mile by how the fire engine drives...

Within minutes we're pulling up behind the ERT and water rescue van plus a gaggle of police vehicles, paramedic's car and ambulance.

Now Slater's Pit is best described as a large pond surrounded by plants and of indeterminate depth set in open ground on a housing estate.

Emergency services were called when a man that lives close by heard someone calling out from the direction of the Pit. On investigating her saw someone in the mud and went off to make the 999 call. When he returned the female had disappeared from view.

Two Swiftwater Rescue Technicians from the Watch got suited and booted and made their way to search the area. Four other firefighters including Ben Horne and Ollie Denby from S16P3 (North Lowestoft) dressed in floodsuits to enable them to search the edges of the Pit.

The Air Ambulance arrived and carried out a couple of slow passes to see if they could spot anything from their vantage point. They then set down on the open grassed area close to Slater's Pit.

While the searching firefighters inched their way round the area we got the inflatable boat ready to launch. This then did a search of the water and surrounding vegetation - all to no avail.

Crews searched for well over an hour after which it was confirmed that the female had left the water before we all turned up.

Time then to decontaminate all the gear before making it up and heading back to the fire station.

For us at North Lowestoft Fire Station it's unusual to get directly involved in a water rescue job. It was good to get hands on experience of the kit and how these incidents progress...

Flooding in Lowestoft - we were ready...

It didn't bode well that the predicted flooding in Lowestoft and along the East Coast was scheduled for Friday 13th.

The previous day we were asked for volunteers to crew our pump as part of the Fire Service response to any flooding in the North of Lowestoft.

Plans were already underway in Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex to draft in additional resources from other Fire and Rescue Services across the country as part of the National Resilience capability.

Our first stint on standby at North Lowestoft Fire Station ran from 0800-1200 on Friday to cover the first high tide of the day. We were joined by a water rescue team made up of off-duty wholetime firefighters from Lowestoft South Fire Station.

A similar set up was in force south of the river with the duty watch providing another water rescue team with support from the on call firefighters at Lowestoft South.

The morning's high tide passed without incident and we headed home to grab some grub and wait till we were next required at 1800 hours.

The evening high tide, at 2145, would be higher than the earlier one with the added factor of a strengthening wind. This was the one that was causing most concern.

As the day progressed more and more water rescue teams and their support crews were arriving at holding points in Suffolk to await orders on where they would be positioned for the high tide.

When we arrived on station we found out that we would be joined by the Water Rescue Unit and Command Support Unit from Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service (WRU from Fareham and CSU from Eastleigh).

The guys looked a tad shell-shocked to be this far 'up North' but soon settled in, waiting for the call.

Newmarket took the two hour drive to Lowestoft to provide fire cover in the North of the town as we would be providing support to our own water rescue team.

And not to forget two volunteers from 4x4 Response - at the disposal of the emergency services to ferry people through flooding.

Our little one pump station played host to around 30 people (not forgetting our Ambulance Service colleagues). Every chair was taken, floor spaces were littered with equipment and people and the air was filled with chatter and plenty of banter - wouldn't be the Fire Service without the banter...

Just before high tide was due we led a small procession of vehicles into town to the now closed Bascule bridge and down Commercial Road. We were giving the Hampshire guys a tour of likely locations they'd be working in and it gave us a chance to inspect the water level.

Then down to the Wherry and Mutford Lock before heading back to the warm fug of Lowestoft North.

In the end, with the wind having died down, there was no flooding in Lowestoft for us to deal with. Good result.

It's a shame to see some people say that it was a bit overkill of all the emergency services. Maybe. But I don't think so.

On the best available predictions flooding was imminent. But the weather, and us Brits do like the weather, changed. The wind slackened off and flooding was averted by a matter of inches.

Our crews were ready, suited and booted, to be deployed immediately. We would have been on scene in Lowestoft within minutes, ready to get to work.

Not days. Not hours. But minutes.

Far better to have all those resources in place and prepared than to be on the back foot playing catch up.

A big thank you to Hampshire, East Sussex, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, West Mids and all our other Fire Service colleagues for being there for Lowestoft and all along the Suffolk coast.

 

 

 

 

 

Boat fire in Lowestoft

If you've read any of my blogs posts you'll see that there's very rarely an ideal time for my alerter to spring into life and have me hotfooting it to the fire station.

Yesterday proves the point.

I've recently started working with a great local business and was in the middle of taking on board a ton of technical information, praying that my little grey cell could cope. And the shrill call of my alerter going ape had me mumbling apologies and heading for the exit at speed.

With the incessant noise rattling in my ear I found myself driving behind Miss Daisy all the way to the fire station. It only took minutes but seemed a lifetime!

Got my tally up as driver, fire kit stowed on the pump and a few seconds later we were heading off towards Oulton Broad. The tip sheet informed us it was a boat fire and the boat was moored alongside.

As we approached Harbour Road we were greeted by a guy pointing us in the right direction. Straight after the level crossing another man points us into Sea Lake Road. And the guidance continued right to where we needed to be.

Now it's worth pointing out that this was really helpful for us. We knew where Sea Lake Road was but off this there are numerous tracks leading to boatyards, slipways and the like. We could see the growing pall of smoke but would not have been able to guess the right track to take. So thanks folks!

This is not to be confused with someone standing right opposite a burning building pointing out that the one with the flames coming out of the windows is the property we're looking for...

I digress.

Unusually for us we were first pump in and having threaded our way through some tight gaps we were confronted with the sight of a motor cruiser well alight.

We couldn't get close to the boat so lengths of 45 were run out and round onto the jetty. Water on and our crew starting to knock back the flames. But at this rate we would be out of water in short order.

By now the watch from Lowestoft South had arrived but had been mobilised in their water rescue capacity. Thankfully our on call firefighter colleagues from Lowestoft South were close behind and were able to supply us with their tank of water.

But we'd still need more and the nearest hydrant was over 300m away.

So light portable pump off and set into the river to supply our pump and on to the deliveries.

By now a dividing breach had been added to allow two 45's to be got to work on the jetty closely followed by our hosereel, extended to the full 120m.

As driver I need to be keeping tabs of what equipment gets taken off the pump but with all the hose gone, LPP, TIC, axes, ceiling hook, lifejackets, lighting, DeWalt saw and who knows what else - I gave up!

Although using jets from the jetty had subdued the fire it was decided to commit two BA wearers on to the boat. Now with the boat starting to settle by the stern and severely damaged by fire the BA team were ever so slightly alarmed when the engine started, ran for a while and stopped and then did it again. Needless to say they were not keen on taking the boat for a jaunt down the river in its present condition!

With the excitement over it fell to us to hang around in the gathering darkness and rain while the Harbour Masters team set up environmental protection to prevent fuel leaking away from the boat.

Back at North Lowestoft Fire Station the rest of our crew were on station for our Tuesday night training had nipped to the chippy for us and then set to cleaning all the hose and equipment.

And because of the fire we missed doing our prearranged training... a BA wear on board a ship in Lowestoft harbour, simulating a ship fire and searching for casualities. Maybe next week...

 

 

Lowestoft firefighters take the #22PushUpChallenge

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects large numbers of our serving and ex-serving military personnel.

UK charity, Combat Stress, is raising funds to help them carry on their great work by getting people to take the #22PushUpChallenge.

Originally started in the US, there's now thousands of people taking the challenge here in the UK.

Why 22 push ups?

In the US 22 ex-military personnel commit suicide because of PTSD. That's the reason...

Here in Lowestoft quite a few firefighters are working their way through twenty two days of doing 22 push ups each day. 

It includes Ben Horne, Ben Whale, James Field, Martin Burglin, Mark Frances, Andy 'Begz' Jackson and myself.

Here's a video on my Day 7 push ups with Ben Whale and James Field...

  

Please donate £5 to Combat Stress by texting PTSD22 to 70004.

Thank you...

 

Busy old station...

August is turning into a busy month for the firefighters at North Lowestoft Fire Station...

12 shouts so far ranging from the bowling alley fire in Great Yarmouth and exploding cylinders in Long Road, Lowestoft to fires in the open, AFA's and 'male on bus shelter'.

Yep, we've had them all so far.

'Male on bus shelter' did raise the odd eyebrow but that's exactly what we had...

What the tip sheet didn't mention (because no one had told Fire Control) was that there was a young female requiring medical attention at the same location.

So an assistance message was put back requesting an ambulance. I then spent a few minutes on the mobile chatting to Ambulance Control as they asked a few probing medical questions.

I think my medical terminology left a lot to be desired but it certainly made the control operator laugh.

If my medical knowledge is anything to go by I'm not sure how the proposed co-responding will fair!

Do you fancy joining us as an On Call Firefighter? We have vacancies at North Lowestoft Fire Station. 

Visit the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service website for more information...

Fire in Lowestoft goes with a bang!

Sunday evening, just finished my tea and my alerter springs into life shattering the peace.

Yes, I know, it's been quite a while since I last posted on here. But oddly enough we've been quite busy these last couple of weeks including our crew being sent to the Make Pumps 15 fire in Regent Road, Great Yarmouth.

Anyway, back to the plot...

The alerter's incessant racket always has me clattering round the house - change from shorts to jeans, pull on a pair of socks, shoes, pick up keys, mobile and the still clammering alerter.

The usual jog across to the fire station only to be confronted with the tip sheet saying we're on standby... Bugger! Always the bridesmaid and never the bride...

A call to Control and seconds later the station turnout alarm gets itself all worked up and us grabbing fire kit and heading for the pump.

It's a Make Pumps 3 now to a shed fire.

Now I don't know about you but my shed measures a pretty measly 8 x 6 - certainly not warranting 3 pumps. Maybe it's a super-sized shed of epic man cave proportions. Time will tell...

I'm driving and we head out on to Normanston Drive in the direction of Oulton Broad and our final destination of Long Road, Lowestoft. In the back of my mind as I weave the pump through traffic is that this can't be much - maybe supply them with water, job done, home for tea and medals. How wrong I was!

We pull up and immediately two BA are required from our pump. Now, usually, as driver you're not first choice for BA, that's the job of the guys in the back. But because we had mobilised with a crew of four and Ollie, our newest recruit, hasn't done BA training as yet, I got the short straw.

James and I got our sets on and reported to BA Entry Control. We were told to go under air straightaway and were tasked with going to where the fire had started - the shed. The hosereel was already in place and we gave a second shed that was starting to burn a good soaking. But now to the main event...

The first shed was very close to a brick built workshop and right up against an oil tank that was now leaking. The fire had been so intense that it had it had spread to the workshop and was now going through the roof. A call on the radio from BA Entry Control (BAECO) had us withdraw as there were possibly cylinders present in the workshop.

Out to BAECO and wait to be retasked. Seconds later we were told to go to the main entrance of the workshop and direct a 45 into the building from there. Other BA teams joined us as we tried to hit the fire through the door and windows and also through the gaping holes in the roof.

Then the ominous sound of gas cylinders exploding, blowing large holes in the roof and sending flames shooting in the air. But with our heads down concentrating on keeping up the flow of water on to the fire, there's only the briefest chance to contemplate if any large lumps of cylinder are about to crash down on to you.

As we're working in the open we carry on working till just before our 'time of whistle' and then head back to BAECO. Tallies in our sets and then back to our pump and a very welcome bottle of water...

In all 8 BA teams were used, facing the threat of exploding cylinders at very close quarters, working hard to contain the fire and not let it spread to adjacent homes and businesses.

And just under four hours after arriving we made up all our gear and headed to Lowestoft South Fire Station to clean and service our BA sets. Then back at North Lowestoft Fire Station all our fire kit gets bagged up for cleaning as we seem to have been covered from head to toe in oil, paint and for some, 'dog toffee'.

So what was meant to be a relaxing Sunday evening in front of the box ended up being completely different.

All credit to the highly motivated firefighters from Lowestoft South (wholetime and on call) and our crew from North Lowestoft, Wrentham and Beccles...

Fire on South Lowestoft Industrial Estate

I know! It's been far too long since I posted anything on here about shouts.

No excuses really - work, life and couldn't be arsed all come into play.

So let's make amends now...

I was sitting chatting to the present Mrs. C, waiting the arrival of a health care professional to help us with Karen's ongoing care requirements. I won't bore you with the details suffice to say, if you don't already know, that Mrs. C broke her neck 27 years ago, uses a wheelchair to get about but leads a busy life that makes me knackered trying to keep up.

Enough of the back story.

So, with two minutes to go before the arrival of our 'guest' my little black number throws a wobbly and has me apologising profusely to The Boss before I head out the door and hot-foot it across to North Lowestoft Fire Station.

Archie, who's part of the South Lowestoft On Call crew is crossing the road with all his kit. To help keep pumps on the run, Archie has one of our alerters as his building work sees him working even closer to the fire station than me.

Just as we get in the front door the turn out alarm starts, changing what was obviously a standby into a turn out.

The incident is on Pinbush Road on the South Lowestoft Industrial Estate and it's now Make Pumps 3.

I'm driving and, as usual, it's an interesting drive through Oulton Broad negotiating the traffic and the drivers that seem blissfully unaware of the fourteen ton truck lit up like a Christmas tree and emitting a plethora of load noises - bull horn included. Such fun!

We pull up behind the two South Lowestoft pumps and immediately run hose from us to their second pump to supplement the water supply. They're using loads of water as the fire is well developed involving fuelled vehicles in a building and gas cylinders too. So hosereels, 45's and ground monitors are sending gallons upon gallons of water onto the fire.

Archie and I take our pump away to fill up at a hydrant that's not on the same main as that already being used. So, It's A Knockout style we rock up at a hydrant and set to to get the water into the tank as quick as possible and then back to the fire ground.

With plenty of hard work from the crews the fire was brought under control quickly.

It's interesting to note that today's fire may well reflect how things will be in Lowestoft if the proposed cuts to frontline fire engines goes ahead. At the time of the shout South Lowestoft were only able to crew one of their two pumps - that's why we were sent on the Make Pumps 3. But after the cuts, which I feel are inevitable, this is how it will be - only three fire engines in Lowestoft, not four.

Fire calls may well have dropped but the unique geography of Lowestoft, the large housing developments that are underway or planned plus the new wind farm business mean we're growing.

These cuts mean there's no spare capacity.

A person reported house fire gets three fire engines. That'll be all the fire engines in Lowestoft after the cuts. There'll be nothing left over for any incident - bin fire, RTC, whatever.

Sorry, I'm rambling. Told you it'd had been far too long since I posted anything. Think I just made up for that!