Alerter blog

Author: charley-farley-737

  • 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.
    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    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…

  • How not to catch a bus…

    Date: 23rd April  2008
    Time: 1045
    Type: RTC
    Address: A12, Lowestoft (junction with Blundeston Road)
    Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 05, 01 and 02

    Seems ages since our last shout… Always comes as a shock when your alerter goes off after such a long gap.

    Anyway, got to the station after what seemed the slowest drive ever. People weren’t just sticking to the speed limit, they were halving it instead!

    Blue Watch have taken the PRT (Normanshurst 05) and we take Ladder 1 (Normanshurst 01) with a crew of four. Mel Buck in charge, Pete Brown driving and myself and Al Soards riding BA.

    There wasn’t anything to do when we arrived. A double decker bus had been rear ended by a private car. The back of the bus was crumpled and it was leaking something on to the road, so Al just added more of the absorbent mixture we carry to the sack full put down by Blue Watch.

    The bus wasn’t in service at the time as it was on a test run with two mechanics who had only just finished some repairs on it… They’ll be putting in some overtime on it now!

    And that’s about it. So there we were, primed and ready for action but, thankfully, we weren’t needed to cut the car driver free.

  • Fire engine is rescued from beach

    This article is courtesy of the BBC and can be found on their news website…

    A fire engine had to be towed off a beach in Somerset after it became stuck in the sand.

    Stuckinsand Firefighters were called to Berrow beach – near Burnham-on-Sea – on Thursday evening after reports of a gorse fire on the sand dunes.

    Three tractors were needed to pull the trapped Devon and Somerset vehicle out.

    Five days ago an ambulance became stuck on Burnham-on-Sea beach and on 5 April a man and two young girls were rescued from a 4×4 stuck in the mud at Brean.

    Mark Newman from the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (Barb) charity said the firefighters were "simply unlucky".

    "We would advise other motorists to take special care when driving along the local beaches avoiding sand and mud.

    "It’s been a very active few weeks of beach incidents for Barb’s 24-hour rescue crews."

  • BA drill – search and rescue

    There always seems to be such a long gap between our BA drills. And we haven’t had any decent BA jobs recently so last nights BA drill was a welcome ‘refresher’.

    The scenario was that we had turned up to a ‘persons reported’ incident at a second-hand furniture store with a flat above.

    The first team committed were Andy ‘Cheesey’ Armes, Howard Clarke and Rachael ‘Princess’ O’Connell. They went into the smoke house at first floor level (the flat) and had to find their way to the staircase, down to the ‘shop’ and carry out search and rescue.

    Once they had reached the ground floor, our team (myself and Ian ‘Billy’ McMillan) were sent into the flat searching off the lefthand wall. I went as number one, feeling my way through the smoke, doing the BA Shuffle and keeping up a running commentary (this helps to plant the route in your mind and also keeps your oppo informed of what’s happening).
    We made our way through the kitchen, lounge and into a small bedroom – searching each room thoroughly as we went. In the bedroom I could just make out the cot and inside a tiny ‘baby’. By rummaging in the bed clothes I found another ‘infant’ while Billy checked the rest of the room. A quick radio message back to BA Entry Control to confirm we had casualties and were making our way out.

    Billy took over the lead while I followed carrying the two dummies. Once we had got these outside we checked the contents of our cylinders and then recommitted to complete the search of the ‘flat’.

    All in all, it was a good wear – we completed the task, found the casualties and only picked up a few minor learning points…

    Time then to service the BA sets and then make up the two hosereels from the Training pump.

    The station clock had just summoned up enough energy to nudge over to nine o’clock and the bells went – two pump shout…  Read more in the next post…

  • Is it bedtime yet?

    Date: 9th April  2008
    Time: 0120
    Type: Shed
    Address: Normanston Drive, Lowestoft
    Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01
    Final Attendance: Normanshurst 01, 02

    Knowing that I’d got a heavy day of Learn and Live presentations today, I just knew that we’d get a shout in the middle of the night. Sod’s Law, call it what you like.

    I must have only been dozing because I heard the wholetime crew turnout – living barely 100 yards from the station and knowing (sadly) the sound of our engines means you don’t have to have the hearing capacity of a bat to know that! I remember thinking to myself, "What’s the betting the alerters go off?" And immediately fell asleep again. It could only have been a few minutes later and, yep, the blessed alerter kicks off, shattering the peace. I swear those things could raise the dead!

    Again, Sod’s Law states that whenever I can’t be arsed to get clothes ready for such an eventuality, we get a shout. It’s then a case of fumbling around looking for clothes, making sure you go to the right wardrobe – would be a tad unseemly to turnout dressed in womens clothing!

    Anyway, my slow departure from home meant I arrive at the station at the same time as Cheesey, who went as driver and I took one of the BA positions.

    It was a Make Pumps 2 to a shed between two houses on Normanston Drive, barely a quarter of a mile away.

    On arrival we gave our water to Ladder 1 (Green Watch). Howard Clarke and I donned our BA sets as Green Watch already had one team working on this made-to-last, brick built shed. We weren’t required so dumped our sets and ‘Horney’ Ben and I took Ladder 2 off in search of a hydrant. We were able to locate one nearby and were back to dump more water into Ladder 1 fairly quickly.

    It took the combined efforts of our two crews to remove tiles from the shed and to extinguish the smouldering joists and rafters.

    Everything wrapped up after 3am with our second crew also getting a turnout on the PRT to a washing machine that had been set alight in a car park off the High Street.

    I think I got back to sleep after 4am only to be woken by my alarm at 5.30am.

    Just hoping that I wouldn’t nod off in the Learn and Live presentations…