We had a shout this afternoon to a car leaking petrol. Nothing unusual in that you might think.
But today was the first time at Normanshurst that we had encountered a new Fire Ground Order (FGO) that came into effect on the 1st September.
The new FGO states that two pumps will be mobilised to any incident that is on or near a roadway when that road is a 'fast' road (speeds in excess of 40mph). But because Control will never be able to know the speed of any particular road, the FGO will cover every incident that is on or near a road.
This may seem excessive but it is done for a good reason. The extra personnel can then ensure the safety of the firefighters working on the incident by directing or stopping traffic or even using the extra pump in the 'fend off' position.
And this all came about because of increasing worries about firefighter safety especially after the tragic death of a Stevenage firefighter (Watch Manager Paul Mallaghan). Paul was attending a car fire on the A1 when he and a colleague were struck by a VW Golf.
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