Category: Shouts

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…

Date: 23rd March 2008
Time: 0422
Type: Unknown outside
Address: The Crown, High Street, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 01
Final Attendance: Normanshurst 01, 02

Up, bright and early this morning to a Make Pumps 2 at The Crown, in the High Street. The tip sheet just said it was Unknown outside rear.

We went mobile with a crew of four – Dennis Newton in charge, Cheesey driving and myself and Jason riding BA.

Cheesey came into Crown Street from the wrong end (it’s a one-way street) as this is the only way you’ll get a fire engine down there. Ladder 1 was in the High Street with both high pressure reels off and a covering jet.

Two cars had been involved in a fire which was very close to taking hold of the old brewery buildings at the back of The Crown. Mel Buck and Al Soards were in BA and had extinguished the fire in the cars and stopped it spreading. All the buildings at The Crown are connected and a fire there could prove a big job if unchecked.

Jason and I had a BA wear, taking over from the Green Watch duo. It was simply a case of giving the cars a good drink and likewise with the doorway next to the cars  and the edge of the roof immediately above.

A quick check in and out with the Thermal Image camera confirmed that there weren’t any hotspots left.

Back on station an hour later, serviced our BA sets, had a welcome brew and then off home.

Always amazes me how cars catch light at such an early hour! Perhaps someone took it into their own hands to settle a score or maybe someone was just wandering home after a night on the town and fancied a bit of ‘fun’. Either way, 0422 was slightly earlier than I had planned to get up this morning!

Date: 12th March 2008
Time: 0540
Type: RTC – person trapped
Address: St. Olaves Road, Somerleyton
Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 05, 01, 02

It was only yesterday that some wag remarked that we hadn’t had a night-time shout for some time. OK, 0540 isn’t exactly middle of the night but it sure as hell isn’t anywhere near elevenses either!

By not having all my clothes and shoes ready for the quick change routine it was perhaps inevitable that my Fire Service alarm clock would herald an early call. So, bleary-eyed and muttering, I try not to get two legs in the same hole while hopping weakly on one leg. Lack of co-ordination strikes too as your feet miss your shoes and you fumble to unlock the front door…

Even with this slow start I still make it in first (mind you I haven’t any excuses living as close as I do to the station!). All three appliances are required for an RTC – person trapped.

Cheesey follows me in but is more concerned with the dire need to pee than get his fire kit on! Doesn’t matter though as with us manning two appliances he has time to answer the call of nature and act as driver on Ladder 2.

We arrived at the scene just a few minutes after White watch to find a bright yellow car on its roof in someones front garden. And to get into the garden the car had gone right through a magnolia hedge. Luckily the male driver wasn’t trapped and was being strapped on to the spine board as we arrived to lift him out. Because we needed a route out through the hedge our very own human dynamo – Richard ‘Shambles’ Lambert – was given the job of cutting away at the hedge to make a gap for us.

And that was it really. We made up what little equipment we had used and then it was a leisurely drive back along the country lanes into Lowestoft.

Not sure who put the 999 call in but if this had happened in the middle of the night there is every chance that no one would have seen the car until daylight.

All this and back home by 0630…

Date: 5th March 2008
Time: 0855
Type: RTC – person trapped
Address: Flixton Road, Lound
Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 05
Final Attendance: Normanshurt 05, 01, 02

I was at the station getting the gear ready to do another Learn and Live presentation at Lowestoft College.

Rachael was on nights and would be coming straight out to the presentation. But as usual Sod’s Law kicks in and the bells went at about 0845. This was for the PRT to go to reports of petrol on the road, as sent in by the Police.

It seemed that I would have to get all the gear set up at the College and wait for Rachael to catch me up. Then the bells went again for Ladder 1 and 2. The incident had now escalated to ‘persons trapped’, which gets 3 pumps attending.

We were the third pump in as the day crew (Green Watch) had already got there ahead of us. We were surplus to requirements and were soon on our way back to station.

The College had been warned about the delay but we caught up again with Rachael dashing in just in time for the main event.

And isn’t it strange the things people say to you. One of the students said to me:
"Are you a real fireman"
"Yes", I replied.
"That’s not a firemans uniform you’re wearing"
"It is."
"Fireman wear big coats, leggings and a yellow helmet."

Not much you can say to that!

Date: 4th March 2008
Time: 1555
Type: Make Pumps 4 – derelict house
Address: Fountain Lane, North Cove, Beccles
Initial Attendance: Normanhurst 01 and Beccles 01
Final Attendance: Normanshurt 01, 02, Beccles 01 and Clifton 01 plus Forward Control Vehicle

The normal dash from my office and there seems to be plenty of us all arriving at the station at the same time. I'm driving and we've five onboard with Gary Smart in charge.

North Cove is about six miles away through busy Oulton Broad and the thickening traffic. As usual there are people who are switched on and use their mirrors and their ears! They then take the necessary action to move out of our way as we try to make headway through the traffic. But again, as usual, there are plenty who, it seems, never look in their mirrors nor indeed seem to focus on anything other than the car stereo. And it always seems to be the car directly in front of us. They see a car pull over just ahead of them (these are the drivers that have seen and heard us bearing down on them) and then simply go to overtake without so much as the briefest of glances any of their mirrors. They then seem utterly surprised when they do cotton on and see the word FIRE writ large in the mirror with blue flashing lights each side of it. We've even gone to the trouble of putting the word FIRE back to front so as to appear the right way round when viewed in a mirror!
Deep breath in and then out slowly… That's better – even the blood pressure might come down soon!

Anyway, we turn off into North Cove and can see the plume of smoke just ahead. Left into a cul-de-sac and we find the other three pumps already in action. We give our tank of water to Clifton and then go on the lookout for a hydrant in the village. In the end we have two hydrants on the go and continue to ferry water with Clifton coming along too.

The derelict house was even more so now and will need more than a visit from Changing Rooms to put it right.

One couple, living close by, had their kettle working overtime. Every few minutes they would appear with another tray laden with cups of tea. A most welcome sight on a cold, snowy day. Thank you!

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!

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…

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

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!

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!