I've lost track of the times that we've collectively commented that a Tuesday drill night passes so much quicker when we are actually doing something practical.
And last night proved the point.
After doing all the weekly, monthly and quarterly tests on Ladder 2, we changed into fire kit and mounted our trusty steeds (Ladder 2 and the PRT) for an exercise in the drill yard.
I was driving Ladder 2 and we were the first to be mobilised to the incident – fire in a derelict building, persons reported. The story was that three children had been seen entering the building, smoke was then seen issuing from the windows but that the children hadn't been seen leaving.
The two high pressure hosereels were run out, ready for two BA teams to be sent in searching for the children. A covering jet was also provided, as usual, just in case.
The BA teams made good progress, finding two of the casualties before we were warned that the building was in danger of imminent collapse. We then needed to warn the BA crews to evacuate the building as quickly and safely as possible. BA Entry Control contacted the crews on their handheld radios backed up by the rest of us on our Acme Thunderers. These are whistles, similar to those used by football referees, which we all start blowing in short blasts until the BA teams have exited the building.
A quick debrief followed and then all hands needed to make the kit up.
Ladder 2 was due for its quarterly tests on the main pump and the Lightweight Portable Pump (LPP) – which is neither lightweight nor particularly portable!
So it was off to Caldecott Road and set into Oulton Broad with the hard suction, primed the main pump and then suck water from the broad and squirt it back in again. After the required 15 minutes of this it was the turn of the LPP.
And those two hours of drilling had flown by. [Section deleted…]
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