Alerter blog

Author: charley-farley-737

  • Calling all Driving Schools!

    The old grey matter isn’t what it used to be… That’s probably why it’s taken me awhile to come up with this idea.

    As the number of firefighters involved with Learn and Live grows, we need to increase our potential audience. Lowestoft College has come on board wholeheartedly and we’re seeing more sessions booked almost on a daily basis. The local high schools are now being contacted and visited with a view to getting Learn and Live and To Young To Die into their already busy schedules.

    Now here’s the cunning plan… We would like to hear from any driving instructors in the Lowestoft and Waveney area (or anywhere in Suffolk) who may be interested in getting their pupils into a Learn and Live presentation. The sessions are, of course, free of charge and we would look to host them at the Fire Station on Normanston Drive in Lowestoft – however we can travel if required…

    This presentation is so relevant to your pupils as they embark on their driving experience. We are more than happy for you to sit in on one of our presentations at Lowestoft College. Just get in touch using the e-mail address below.

    If you are a driving instructor or you are currently learning to drive and think attending the Learn and Live presentation would be beneficial – just drop me an e-mail to blog [at] alerter [dot] co [dot] uk (it may not be obvious but substitute the [at] for a ‘@’ and the [dot] for, well, you get the idea… Just trying to stop all those e-mails offering certain tablets and extension potions!).

    We welcome all enquiries and look forward to hearing from you…

  • Haven’t the foggiest…

    Date: 18th February 2008
    Time: 1425
    Type: Make Pumps 3 – acetylene cylinder
    Address: SLP, Hamilton Road, Lowestoft
    Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 01
    Final Attendance: Normanshurt 01, 02, 05 plus Hydraulic Platform (HP) and support pump from Yarmouth

    When an acetylene cylinder is involved in a fire or it has become heated we get out the kid gloves, retire the required 200 metres and keep everything crossed.

    We left the station in glorious sunshine only to meet a blanket of fog as we neared the sea. As we arrived, hundreds of workers from SLP were trouping out towards the security gate, putting plenty of distance between themselves and the potential timebomb sitting beneath one of their accommodation modules.

    The crew of Ladder 1 had already set into open water (the dock) to supply the copious amounts of water that are needed for the 24 hour cooling of acetylene cylinders. We then pitched in with running out 70mm hose towards the cylinder and setup two ground monitors which would then pour thousands of gallons of cold sea water onto the offending article.

    And that’s as exciting as it gets I’m afraid! After that it’s regular inspections of the cylinder and its cooling – not much else.

    Luckily we were able to get away by about 1730, leaving Green Watch there until relieved by Red Watch after 1800. And, as we all expected, the alerters went off just before 2200 to get a relief crew from the retained to take over from Red Watch. Thankfully there were quite a few ‘volunteers’ willing to sit it out within yards of the freezing North Sea and in a pea-souper! With any luck they should have been able to get back to station sometime after 0200 this morning!

  • And that makes a hat-trick!

    Date: 15th February 2008
    Time: 1615
    Type: RTC
    Address: Leisure Way, Lowestoft (Tesco Petrol Station)
    Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 05, 02 and 01

    That’s the third RTC I’ve been to this week! I haven’t posted details of the one we attended on Wednesday – barely half a mile from the station. Roof off, spine board – the works…

    Anyway, back to today.

    We’d been called in on standby for a house fire in the south of the town (Ladder 1, Red Watch) and Clifton 01. Andy ‘Cheesey’ Armes had just got on the phone to Control to see if we could be dismissed only to be told of the RTC and that all three pumps from Normanshurst would be going.
    To tell you the truth I thought Cheesey was winding us up, even when he started to get his fire kit on. But, sure enough, about 30 seconds later the bells went and all three lights came up and we’re off!

    I was driving Ladder 2 with Mel Buck in charge and Al Soards and Greg Osborn in the back. Dennis had taken the PRT (Normanshurst 05) with Cheesey driving and Rudi Mann and Rachel ‘Princess’ O’Connell (I have checked…) – both from Red Watch – and Ben ‘Horney Ben’ Horne in the back.

    It only takes a couple of minutes to get to Tesco’s and we were confronted by a car that had gone straight at some substantial bollards that presently block off a piece of unused roadway. The car had bent the bollards to the floor and it had come to rest a few feet beyond. The driver was out of the vehicle and was subsequently taken into custody by the boys in blue. He wasn’t too keen on the idea but they persuaded him that was what he wanted to do…

    The car was stabilised and glass management done before moving on to removing the roof. The female front seat passenger was then removed on the spine board and off to hospital. Just for good measure we also removed the bollards by using our airbags to lift them from their holes. These bags can be inflated steadily from a BA cylinder and can be used to lift heavy objects – lorries etc. So they made light work of loosening the bollards.

    Job done.

    A good team effort, as usual, from all the guys (and gal) at Normanshurst…

  • You can’t beat local knowledge…

    Date: 12th February 2008
    Time: 0920
    Type: RTC
    Address: Boundary Lane, Lound
    Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 05, 01 and 02

    Second shout of the day and I haven’t long been at my desk. I’m halfway through a mug of coffee and a Snickers bar when my alerter goes off. So down the stairs from my office and a sprint (*?!) to the car.

    The guys from Green Watch had literally just left the station after their night shift so were back in double quick time – Mel Buck, Pete Brown, Al Soards and Ben Horne – ready-made crew!

    I got my tally up to drive Ladder 2 – the second of the retained crewed appliances for this incident.

    We headed off in the general direction of Lound and caught up with Mel and his crew on Ladder 1 just past the Village Maid in Lound. Mel knows this area well so we followed him into what is Boundary Lane, quickly coming up to police and ambulance vehicles. The PRT had come a different route and arrived shortly after us.

    Thankfully the two occupants were out of the car which had ended up on its side in a field. So, no action by us except putting the car back on to all four wheels.

    It just goes to show that good local knowledge and knowing which roads to avoid in a fire engine go a long way to getting us quickly and safely to an incident without getting lost or stuck!
    If anyone’s interested in knowing where Border Lane is just follow this link to Streetmaps: Border Lane, Lound

  • More and more readers…

    I’ve just looked at the stats of how many people are viewing this blog. And the good news is that more and more people are taking time out of their busy schedules to read my musings, stories and whinges.

    So, a big thank you to everyone who has paid a visit here, whether you’re a firefighter at Normanshurst, serving elsewhere in Suffolk or just an interested member of the public.

    If you haven’t already found it, the easiest way to get back here is to visit www.alerter.co.uk.

    Don’t forget you can comment on any of the postings and as long as you haven’t said anything rude or defamatory, I’ll probably publish it!

  • The word is getting around…

    Well, Al and I have just completed two more Learn and Live presentations at Lowestoft College – one to catering students and the other to the Uniformed Services course.

    And it seems that each time we get back from the College an e-mail has arrived to book in more sessions. So, it's great to see some of the other guys coming along to see the presentations with a view to them coming onboard – Ray Long, Conrad Peck and Steve Mullen have been to this weeks sessions.

    Bookings are now coming in from various high schools in Waveney, so the extra bodies will help to spread the load. And to be honest, you don't want to do too many of these Learn and Live presentations in a short space of time. The reason is you are relating your own experiences so, in some respects, it's just like attending an RTC (Road Traffic Collision).

    I notice that Norfolk had some great coverage in the Eastern Daily Press for the launch of their equivalent to Learn and Live. [Sentence deleted…]. Time for us to sing our own praises – no one else will do it. Let's get the local press and radio involved, show the people of Waveney how proactive the Fire Service is in trying to reduce the level of fatalities and serious injuries on Suffolk's roads…

    Off the soap box and time for tea before heading back to the station for drill night.

  • Good firefighter, bad firefighter

    Learn and Live Some time ago I expressed interest in becoming involved with the Learn and Live campaign. Learn and Live is a hard-hitting road safety campaign aimed at 17-24 year olds and tends to be delivered in colleges and high schools across Suffolk.

    Before Christmas I’d seen the display boards set up at the station and had also had the chance to watch the presentation. I made enquiries as to whether retained firefighters could deliver the sessions and was told we most certainly could.

    Having put this rash offer to the back of my mind it did come as a shock when Simon Reeves put me on standby for three presentations at Lowestoft College.

    So for the last week I’ve been running through the presentation, knowing that it is a no holds barred 40 minutes of graphic images and startling statistics. And it doesn’t matter how many times I see those road safety adverts, I still get a cold chill when they are run back to back.

    My plans were thrown into disarray when Rachel asked me whether I was going to be the good firefighter or the bad firefighter. Once the scenario had been explained I opted for the good firefighter for the first of the two presentations.

    Al Soards and I arrived at Lowestoft College in plenty of time and set up all our gear in the Students Common Room. The first group filed in quietly and sat down rather sheepishly, not knowing what to expect.

    And then it hits them, right between the eyes. This presentation is full-on and you can see the group gradually sinking further in to their chairs and covering their faces to hide from the imagery they are witnessing on-screen.

    At the end I ask if there are any questions. Not a sausage! They fill in their questionnaires and then shuffle slowly and quietly back out of the room.

    We then had a bit of a gap before the next group were due. This time Al and I reversed our roles and I became ‘bad firefighter’. So I did the warning to the group about the graphic nature of the presentation, making no apologies for its content. I think the message was received and understood.

    About half-way through Al’s presentation I noticed a guy on the front row, head bowed and eyes shut. His mates must know the score because a gentle prod was required from one of the staff to get him to full consciousness again. He looked over at me and I fixed him with my best Paddington Bear stare (now that’s scary!). A few minutes later and he’s losing it again. A cunning plan Baldrick! When Al is doing the seatbelt piece I cut in, step in front of the audience and give them a wakeup story. I recount an incident in which one of the passengers wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, describing his injuries and what I had to do to remove him from the car. It worked. That guy didn’t nod off again!

    Having seen the reaction when a true story is being recounted certainly makes these presentations hit the mark. Stories are better than lectures… None so than when Al recounted the story of how he lost four friends in an RTC and his best friend was seriously injured. He should have been in that car but because he was late he didn’t make the journey. It’s little wonder that Al is 100% behind this Learn and Live campaign.

    We must have done something right. Since the first two presentations of Learn and Live the College have signed us up for 7 more sessions! We’re also hoping to get into the local high schools to spread the word further.
    So if anyone reading this knows of a group of 17-24 year olds that would benefit from the Learn and Live presentation, just drop a line to Al at alan.soards@fire.suffolkcc.gov.uk.

  • How not to drive a fire engine!

    A lesson in driving from our friends across the Pond!

    Enough said!

  • Three shouts in one day – it’s just like the old days!

    Date: 2nd January 2008
    Time: 1114
    Type: Flat fire
    Address: Normanston Drive Lowestoft
    Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 01 and 02
    Final Attendance: Make Pumps 3, persons reported – Normanshurst 05

    It was my first full day back at work today. Felt like it was time to get my head around all that's got to be done in the year ahead. Also nice to get out of the house and away from the tins of chocs and other unhealthy fare.

    Whenever my alerter goes off while I'm at work it seems to take an age to get out of the building, run to my car and then negotiate the journey to the station. But in reality, it probably takes me under four minutes to get in.
    Today my patience was severely tested by a learner driver on St.Peters Street, outside Lowestoft College. The half mile or so from office to there went like a dream – no traffic allowing me to drive at a full thirty miles per hour. However, there was an ambulance that had pulled up next to a line of parked cars, dealing with their own incident. There was nothing coming from the other direction but this learner just sat there behind the ambulance. [Sentence deleted…]

    We had just cleared this little 'jam' and got onto Normanston Drive to see Ladder 1 pulled up looking for the incident.

    I wasn't in time to get on Ladder 2 but just as they were going mobile we heard the assistance message come in from Blue Watch. I drove the PRT (Normanshurst 05) the short distance to the incident.
    Thankfully no one was in the flat which had quite a bit of damage to it.

    As the last pump in we were the first to be made available. We immediately got a Fire Priority message from Control to proceed to an AFA (Automatic Fire Alarm) at Manor Court, Lowestoft. We got there to find that a tea towel placed on a hob had caught fire – not the best place to dry a tea towel, me thinks!

    Just to explain a Fire Priority. This is the term used by Control when they need to mobilise a pump to an incident while the pump is away from its home station. As a retained crew we don't often get these so when Control call you with Fire Priority it's a bit of a shock to the system…

    We hadn't been back on station more than a few minutes when the bells went sending Ladder 2 to an AFA at Lowestoft Police Station.

    This time Horney Ben made the turnout but Rachael 'Princess' O'Connell didn't because she had, wait for it… gone to a Spice Girls concert!

  • Silent Night – not likely!

    Incident No.
    Date:     29th December 2007
    Time: 0330
    Type: Flat fire
    Address: Denmark Road, Lowestoft
    Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 01 and 02
    Final Attendance: Make Pumps 3, persons reported – Normanshurst 05

    Two nights ago my sleep was disturbed by the chemical job that never was and now last night, at almost exactly the same time, we have a flat fire.

    Andy ‘Cheesey’ Armes made it in before me taking the drivers position, so I went in one of the two BA slots with Mel Buck.

    Just as we pulled up at the flat an assistance message went in to Control to Make Pumps 3, Persons Reported. If there is any chance that there may be someone still in the building the incident gets escalated in this manner to ensure that there are enough BA crews available.

    Thankfully nothing for us to do – just one BA team from Blue Watch were committed into the flat. It seems that this was unoccupied and had been boarded up – so had been broken into and the fire set.

    Luckily the young couple and their tiny baby from the flat above had heard the smoke alarm going off in the flat below. They were outside as we pulled up. To keep all three warm they were ushered into the crew cab of Ladder 2 and were treated to our furnace like heating!

    Pete Brown and I went up to the couples flat to check their smoke alarm and to fit a second one.

    And that was it…

    Back home at about 0445 hours for a cup of tea and crash out on the sofa.

    With these disturbed nights it looks like I’ll be having another hot date with the sofa this evening!