Well that's the first shout we've had in daylight hours for what seems absolutely ages…
I was at work, concentrating hard (as I do) when my alerter burst into life, sending me about a foot into the air!
The traffic on the way to the fire station seemed to be going at a walking pace, with a line of cars stuck behind a frequently stopping bus.
I was second in, picked up one of the BA slots and then quickly changed into fire gear. Close behind came Dennis, using Fire Service jargon, saying "It's going like a bastard". If you hadn't worked it out for yourself, this means 'there is a well developed fire'.
Then Cheesey arrives giving us the same professional opinion of the fire.
We're off to Commercial Road in Lowestoft to a fire in a first floor flat. Soon after getting mobile we hear an assistance message go in for 'Make Pumps 4, persons reported'. That last bit always tends to focus the mind, especially if you're a BA wearer.
As we approached the railway station smoke was visible coming from the rear of the property and up over the roof from the front.
We pulled up behind Lowestoft 01 and Mel and I made our way to the BA board. Gary and Rudi from Red Watch were already in the building attacking the fire with a hosereel.
Mel and I started up and went into the building to assist team 1 in searching the property for any casualties, making our way up to the heavily smoke-logged second floor. We started opening windows to vent the property and could start to see a noticeable thinning of the smoke. We checked the second floor and were happy that no one was in there.
By this time the fire was virtually out on the first floor and that was found to be clear too.
And that was it for us. Out of the building, removed our sets, reported our findings to Rachael who was BAECO today. The BA board was set up in a rather unfortunate position – right outside the door to Lowestoft's only sex shop! And I didn't have my camera…
Final inspections of the property were carried out, all the gear and hose made up and we were off back to the station to clean our BA sets and back to work.
Which reminds me… I'm typing this when I should really get some jobs finished before the weekend.