Alerter blog

Month: May 2008

  • Hot, sweaty and smelling like kippers!

    "It's all in the mind…", said George Moran, talking about the temperature and conditions inside the smoke house at Bury (Bury St.Edmunds) fire station. "The mind plays tricks on you, makes you think it's hotter than it is", he continued. Note to readers – in the interest of brevity I have left out expletives!

    So here we were, eight of us from Normanshurst to do our hot fire training – BA Risk Critical 2 to give it its proper title. We had four from Green Watch – Mel Buck, Pete Brown, Al Soards and Chris Randall and then the rest of the motley crew made up from the retained section – myself, Richard 'Shambles' Lambert, Jason Balls and Howard Clarke.

    George was giving us a lecture in a style that only George can deliver. It's to the point, there's no waffling and you feel like you've been told 'as it really is'.

    After the lecture we made up our BA sets and then had a quick tea break – the ubiquitous cheese and onion sandwiches making their usual appearance!

    We divided up into pairs, one wholetime firefighter with one retained firefighter. A good idea as we can all learn from each other whether wholetime or retained. We all work with each other regularly anyway as three of the Green Watch members are also retained firefighters at Normanshurst.

    Mel and I paired up with Mel going as No.1 for the first drill. Our brief was to enter the building at ground floor, advance up the staircase and carry out search and rescue on the first floor and the mezzanine floor.

    Just to back track, I'll explain how this is hot fire training. There's a room on the ground floor of the smoke house that has a fire set in it. It's literally a couple of bales of straw in a cradle which has water sprayed on every so often just to keep the smoke going. You wouldn't think that this would create much heat but temperatures can reach 200oC. In fire terms that isn't very hot but it's plenty hot enough for dragging hose around and dragging dummies out!

    Anyway, back to the drill. After doing an initial search just inside the door we advanced to the first floor. I swept out to the left on reaching the landing and immediately found a casualty – a tiny baby sized dummy. So back down the stairs and leave the casualty outside. We then resumed the search on the first floor and up onto the mezzanine floor. It's just a tad warm on that mezzanine but thankfully no casualties to manhandle down the Vertical Metal Ladder (VML).
    We continued on the first floor until we found a second casualty literally at the end of where we could get to. As Mel had the most air he took the casualty and I led the way out.

    We had our debrief which was very positive especially about our communication with each other.

    A quick change of cylinder and we were out for our second wear. I was No.1 this time and our brief was to enter the smoke house at first floor level and carry out search and rescue. We took the left hand wall and searched a number of 'rooms' finding two casualties. Again, we had a good debrief followed by copious amounts of water to try and rehydrate ourselves.

    The final drill of the day took place after lunch and was a combined drill using all four BA teams. The first team (Pete Brown and Jason Balls) entered the smoke house on the first floor (from the drill tower) carrying a charged 45. Their brief was to advance through the building and find the main staircase (situated on the opposite side of the smoke house). They were to descend to the ground floor and start a search as this was a 'persons reported' incident.

    The second team (Al Soards and Shambles) were committed soon after the first team to assist with getting the hose through the building and down the stairs. Al and Shambles were volunteered for this job as it was felt that their strength and destructive powers would undoubtedly clear a path straight through the smoke house!

    Next in were Mel and myself. We made it to the top of the stairs where we were informed by one of the other teams that more hose was needed. So we retraced our steps and dragged through another 30 foot or so. By now both previous teams had passed us on there way out, each with a casualty.

    When we arrived on the ground floor we started searching off the left hand wall and then entered the fire compartment. We could see most of the room from the glow of the fire and sure enough there was a casualty tucked away behind the fire! Mel led the way out with me bringing the casualty. We stopped for what seemed an eternity to brief team four (Chris Randall and Howard Clarke). Standing there, directly above the fire and carrying the dummy I could feel my legs starting to cook. And with legs like mine they wouldn't have looked out of place as a bit of KFC!

    And that was that…

    As George had said, "It's all in the mind…". He was right. If you started to think how hot it was then strangely it seemed to get hotter. While I was stood there waiting for Mel to brief team four, I had the chance to let my mind wander and, yes, it started to think "f**k me it's getting hot in here!"

    The debrief for this drill and the whole day was very positive – nobody had  cocked up…

    Just clearing and cleaning up lweft to do plus the hour and a half drive back to Lowestoft with a bunch of weary firefighters and the very strong smell of kippers!

  • DIYers Delight

    Usar-truck Yesterday the drill yard at Normanshurst was turned into a spotters paradise and would have sent shivers down the spine of all hardcore DIYers.

    And the reason for all this – Norfolk's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team had made it over the border from Wymondham and set up camp in the most of the drill yard. Luckily they only brought four of their five trucks with their dismountable modules. The one that is basically a truck full of timber was left back on station in Wymondham.

    All four modules were dismounted and opened up with plenty of the kit out for us to look at and 'Oooh' and 'Ahh' to.

    These guys work 12 hour shifts, two days, two nights and four days off. A crew of seven is on duty at all times with another seven available at the beckoning of an alerter. Norfolk's USAR team is one of two such units in East Anglia (the other is based in Essex). Norfolk serve their own county as well as Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and are available for any national incidents. Their services were called upon at the tragic incident at Atherstone upon Stour where four firefighters lost their lives in a warehouse fire.

    Usar-module-open On their own admission they very rarely get turned out. They primary function is to provide USAR in the event of a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. These station visits are designed to raise awareness in neighbouring brigades so that we might call upon their services, especially now that we know what they are capable of.

    It takes a lot to impress a bunch of firefighters but the kit is definitely not the cheapest available (makes a change), it's serious kit and the crew came across as very knowledgable and friendly (I had to say that, they may be reading this…).

    Wouldn't it be nice if the Government put something nice and shiny our way? Please add your wishlist via the Comments link. If there's a clear winner I'll have a word with Mr Brown (Gordon, not Paul or Pete) and see what I can do…

  • Ladders that stick like glue…

    Interesting recruits video from the US – all done in the name of fun! Umpteen casualties in the tower on various levels so requires quite a few ladders.

    But just take a look at the 9m ladder. Three man pitch and, unlike ourselves, there's not three rounds above the sill. Now take a look at the foot of the ladder – no one is footing the ladder for more than a few seconds at a time. And right near the end of the clip you can see there are now two people on this unfooted ladder.

    That's a training need if ever I saw one!

  • A Bright Bunch…

    Today I was asked if I wanted to visit Roman Hill Middle School to assist with the educational visit by White Watch. Not having done one of these before I agreed and rearranged my day job to fit around the visit.

    Al Soards and myself went along as backup, just in case the Watch got a shout and had to shoot off.

    The first part was done in the classroom of the Year 8 students and they certainly weren’t shy in coming forward with plenty of answers to our questions. They also asked some well-thought out questions with only a few references to how things are done on telly in America!

    Then it was outside to the playground for a tour of Ladder 1 and to see me in all my fire kit and wearing BA.

    Hopefully this hour with the children and, more importantly, what they learnt will stay with them and may, one day, save theirs or some one else’s life…

    By the time Al and I got back on station, White Watch had received a Fire Priority for burning undergrowth in the local churchyard. And then minutes later the bells went for Ladder 2 and the PRT to go to a disused boat shed in Oulton Broad…

  • 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…

  • 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!"

  • New 999 text service for disabled

    This just in from the BBC:

    A new emergency text service for deaf and speech-impaired people is being launched by Sussex Police.

    The new 65999 text number will enable those who cannot use a voice telephone to access the emergency services.

    People can send a text starting with the word "police", "fire", "ambulance" or "coastguard", followed by their message, and get immediate help.

    It will be dealt with by Sussex Police Control, who will reply to confirm receipt and then deal with the issue.

    Ch Supt Chris Amber said the new system would ensure users could alert the emergency services quickly and effectively.

    The launch of the new text service coincides with Deaf Awareness Week.

    A similar service, using a different text number, was set up by Kent Police earlier this year.
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    How long do you think it will be before some muppet abuses this system by putting in hoax calls? For those that can text faster than they can string a few words together, I’m thinking it won’t be long! Every brigade has got their fair share of hoaxers, let’s hope this doesn’t bring them out of their dark  little corners…