Category: Training

The prospect of rummaging round the pitch black interior of the derelict Crown Hotel for a BA drill held no qualms for our crew from North Lowestoft Fire Station.

After all, we're rufty-tufty firefighters – right?

Rufty-tufty disappeared sharpish when you're gathered together in the smoke blackened kitchen and you see 'Help me' scrawled in the grime and you hear a low moaning sound from the gloom. 

I digress – anybody would think this was an episode of Most Haunted which, incidentally, did feature the Crown Hotel.

There were two search and rescue scenario's for us to do.

I was No. 1 on the first scenario with Seb as my No. 2 managing the charged 45.

The brief was to follow the left-hand wall through the front bar carrying out search and rescue to also include a raised seating area.

We made good progress following the bench seating round to the inner front doors and this is where we found our first casualty. Seb grabbed the casualty and I led us back out to BAECO.

Straight back in and quickly retrace our steps to where we had found the casualty. A few more steps and we were up on the raised seating area trying not to get ourselves too tangled in the furniture and wrapping the hose round the pillars.

When we had reached the far side of the seating area we found another casualty and again made our way back out to BAECO.

With a quick check of how much air we had left we committed on to the second scenario.

This time we would be taking the hosereel into the rear bar / dance floor, again with a search and rescue brief.

We changed places – Seb taking the lead and me looking after hose management.

This time there seemed to be even more chairs and tables to contend with plus loads of pillars to get the hosereel wrapped around.

We made good progress and found two casualties – always a bonus considering that's what we went in there for!

Once all three teams had completed their wears we were able to take a look round where we had been searching. Never ceases to amaze me that the place looks much smaller when you can actually see it. In the dark when you're just feeling your way around it somehow seems much bigger…

Thankfully we didn't come face-to-face with any ghostly apparitions although I thought I did see something spooky at one point. It was only after my brain had taken a couple of seconds to process it that I realised the ghostly face was that of a BA Instructor Rudi Mann lit up by the glow from the thermal image camera!

Joking aside it was really beneficial to do a BA drill off-site. I think we can't help but be in 'drill mode' when we wear in the Smoke House at Lowestoft South Fire Station. Using a derelict and haunted (maybe) hotel added a degree of realism to the drill.

I know, I know – it's been absolutely ages since I last wrote anything on the blog. My real job has been as busy as hell and we've been really quiet with shouts too – which is handy as if both were just as busy I'd be disappearing up my own a**e!

So apologies are in order as this particular training session happened well over a week ago am I'm only now sitting down, bleary-eyed to tell you all about it.

The scenario was that the wholetime watch from Lowestoft South (Green Watch) had been tipped out to a car on its roof and our crew from Normanshurst were second pump in. Normally with an RTC you'd get the nearest pump and PRT followed up by the closest ERT. But, for the drill, it would just be the ERT and the Normanshurst crew (minus our fire engine as this was in the process of being changed back over with the Div reserve pump).

We were confronted by a single car on its roof. That's actually not that unusual. But normally the strength of the roof means that the roof supports the weight of the car and allows us to access the vehicle and its occupants fairly easily. However, this car looked like it had been driven off the top floor of a multi-storey car park and then landed on its roof. The roof had been well and truly flattened so that it was level with the ground at the tops of the doors – and I mean just the doors not including the height of the glass!

In setting up the drill someone had used their initiative to make the drill a tad more interesting. The 'just driven off the top storey of the multi-storey' look had been achieved by enlisting the help of the builders working on our new fire station. Their digger pressing down on the floor panel of the car had effectiveely squashed the roof right in.

So that's what we were confronted with. And their was a person trapped in there. OK, its was one of our dummies but there's every possibility that we could be faced with this scenario for real. And until such time as we can access the casualty, we're not going to know whether they are dead or alive…

Mark 'Frank' Saunders had volunteered from our crew to act as Incident Commander, so both he and I surveyoed the scene and came up with a Plan A and a Plan B. You always need a Plan B just in case Plan A fails or as a no holds barred method of getting the casualty out if the ambulance boys say the patient's condition is time critical and they want them out right now!

Our Plan A was to lift the rear of the car using the high pressure airbags, chocking and blocking as we went. The idea was to allow us to pop the hatch, drop this down and gain access into the car. So that's what we did and the car was raised a good height and the hatch was duly opened. Our smallest firefighter – Horney Ben wriggled his way into the car to find the casualty. He could see the orange builer suited casualty but he wouldn't be coming outt this way as he was too heavily trapped.

Time for Plan B…

With the car still raised at the rear we now started to gain access along the whole of the drivers side. The doors were popped along their underside (uppermost to us). More and more space was created, even a whole was cut in the floorpan so that someone could access the casualty and check their vital signs.

If this incident was real we would be trying to create access for the paramedic's to check for signs of life. Until they tell us otherwise we are still trying to free a casualty. If there is no saveable life then we can take our time, recovering the casualty in a dignified manner.

But for the purposes of this drill we were going to get the casualty out because he was still 'alive'. And 35 minutes after turning up at the incident we had him out on a long board – not bad considering the state of the car.

A great drill which we all learnt plenty from. Just hope no one ever does drive off the top of our multi-storey car park…

Last night we paid a visit to St.Peter's Court in Lowestoft. For those who don't know the area, St.Peter's Court is the only high-rise building for miles. It's a sixteen storey block of apartments (they're not flats any more!), containing 90 apartments and probably 200 or so residents.

Why the visit? Well, for a firefighter, a fire in a high-rise like this has got to be top of the list of arse-nipping, nightmarish jobs to attend.

The opportunity for things to go wrong big style are numerous.

Earlier this year two firefighters weretragically killed fighting a fire in a similar sized block of flats in Southampton. And just a few years back the same happened at Harrow Court in Stevenage.

We have a good set of procedures laid down for tackling fires in high-rise buildings. Designed to minimise danger to firefighters and the public, they can only work if everyone sticks to the plan.

As a regular pump operator it could be down to me to get water up to the top floor, that's 150 foot straight up. We would be pumping water into the dry riser and pushing it vertically to the required floor and still with enough pressure to provide a good jet at the branch.

Then there's the logistics of getting all the necessary kit up to the bridgehead. The bridgehead would be set up two floors below the fire floor and be the point where BA teams can start up in clean air, where BA Entry Control would be and other firefighters and equipment would be located.

And the list of equipment needed is extensive – 2 lengths of 45 hose, branch, BA sets, BA Entry Control board, first aid kit, breaking in tool, bolt croppers, etc. If we're lucky we may be able to use one of the lifts, throwing the Firemans Switch so that we have sole control of it. Failing that, it's a case of lugging all that gear up numerous flights of stairs!

Anyway, you get the picture…

So our visit yesterday was to familiarise ourselves with the layout of the building, where the dry riser is, where the staircase comes out on each floor and the protection afforded to us by fire doors, a look in an empty apartment to see room layouts, the lift room and finally out onto the roof.

Stunning views out to sea and all across the area.

I really hope that this type of visit is the only sort I ever have to do at St. Peter's Court.

Last Thursday we had our Compartment Fire Behaviour Training session at Halesworth Fire Station, courtesy of the Training Department.

The whole point of this training is to let us see, first hand, how a fire develops and then practice how to cool some very hot gases from within the compartment and then advance to extinguish the fire.

And the compartment we use is basically a 40 foot shipping container that has been modified to withstand hundreds of very hot fires.

So what's the point of all this? Well, any room in a house that has its doors and windows closed and also contains a fire is a compartment fire and should be treated with a great deal of respect.

If a room is all shut up the fire starts to starve itself of Oxygen and seemingly goes out. The Triangle of Fire has lost one of its three elements – Heat, Fuel or Oxygen. But the room is quite possibly full with superheated gases just waiting to be fed with Oxygen. Open the door and you have a good chance of creating a backdraught and we're not too keen on them!

On to our first practical exercise with full fire kit and BA sets… We entered the 'hotbox' and knelt down near the front as the doors were shut behind us. A small fire was then lit in one corner, just like a bin fire and we watched it rapidly develop, firstly pyrolysing the nearby wooden walls before they flashed over.

You then start to see the gas layer forming near the ceiling and then move down towards you.

We then repositioned ourselves a bit further away from the fire to see the effects of increasing and decreasing the supply of Oxygen to the compartment.

It was interesting to witness close up how quickly a plastic bottle melted and pyrolysis of a cardboard box then rapidly changed to flashover. A plastic bottle full of water faired slightly better because the water was able to absorb some of the heat.

After our Fire Service picnic it was our turn to practice entering the compartment, advancing on the fire and 'extinguishing' it. For practical purposes we couldn't extinguish the fire completely as other teams had to follow on and repeat the exercise.

After cooling the outside of the door and giving a cooling spray to any hot gases escaping at the top of the door, we made our entry. Richard Belsey opens the door and I crouched down in the doorway giving an 'umbrella' pulse on the the hosereel branch to cool gases right above our heads. We both have a quick look in the immediate vicinity in case there are any casualities within easy reach. Take a look at the fire and assess whether to fight the fire from the doorway or whether to enter and approach the seat of the fire.

We decide to enter the compartment and so I give another 'umbrella' pulse to cool the unburnt gases. Straightaway we move forward on our knees and I give another protective pulse above our heads. Just this small pulse of water is enough to dramatically reduce the temperature in our immediate vicinity. The water goes up but it doesn't come down… If too much water is sprayed above our heads it will turn to steam and start to poach us like 'boil in the bag' firefighters!

We're now near enough to the fire to attack it – about 4 metres away from the raging fire which is reaching temperatures of 600^oC. I point the hosereel branch at the burning gases above the fire as if I'm about to fire a pistol. A well aimed 2 second 'squirt' and the interior of the container goes dark. The gases have been cooled enough to knock the fire right down. In a real fire we would now give ourselves another cooling 'umbrella' then rapidly advance to the seat of the fire and put it out. But for the exercise we wait a few seconds and see the flames start to lick across the ceiling again, rolling towards us.

Job done and we withdraw to allow another team in.

As the BA teams rotate the fire is allowed to grow and you can really start to feel the increased temperatures. The instructors then show us the old way of hitting the fire – lots and lots of water. That really is 'boil in the bag' time and not a very pleasant place to be.

After four turns at attacking the fire it feel like it's time to call it a day… Time to take on more water and food, make up all the equipment and head off back to Lowestoft.

An excellent days training especially borne out of the fact there were no moans and groans from any of us. So a big thank you to Training Department and our three instructors – Darren, Roy and Phil.

Last night was a chance for those not normally stood at the back of the pump to hone their skills.

A dam was constructed near the smoke house, filled from the nearby hydrant and then had the LPP set into it. From there a line of 70 was run out to Ladder 2 and from this a line of 70 to the ERT. Finally, another 70 from the ERT into the dam.

The idea was that the LPP, acting as base pump, had to keep the two main pumps supplied with water without overrunning its supply (the dam). Simples, tch!

Throw in a pump 'failure', start squirting water from a hosereel, a 45 and a 70 and some juggling is required to keep all pump operators happy…

And, what a surprise, the two hour drill session goes really quickly because we're actually doing something – not just listening to one of the Scottish Modules up in the classroom.

So, we're all up to speed again with operating the LPP and the main pumps… All we need is some orange stuff to squirt water at.

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I must be keen…

Saturday morning and I'm over at the fire station with two of my retained firefighter colleagues, taking part in an RTC drill.

Green Watch with Mel in charge had got a fairly elaborate scenario set up and it really needed a few extra bods to make it work.

The scenario was that the smoke house was actually a multi-storey car park and our car had come over the edge, landing on its roof in 6 foot high bushes. Where are all the neatly trimmed bushes when you need them?

The car had two casualties, both still held in by their seatbelts.

We made our equipment dump and, when looking at it afterwards, it looked like we had completely emptied the ERT of all its kit!

By splitting into pairs we started to dismantle the car. The hatchback came off first simply by stripping the trim and undoing a couple of nuts. It was now that the child casualty took a turn for the worse and had to be removed immediately on a longboard.

On the other side of the car, in the space created in the thick bush, both doors were removed, including the B post to give maximum space to get at the remaining casualty.

And, after a bit more space creation we were ready to get our big casualty on to the longboard, strapped on and then out through the side of the car.

That was it, job done.

It was a good drill, giving us the opportunity to use a wide range of kit that's carried on the ERT. Rightly or wrongly, depending possibly on the rank you hold, the one piece of kit that is so obviously missing is a set of StabFast.
The thinking is that the ERT will always have other appliances with it and they will have at least one set of StabFast. However, when the ERT arrives on scene first the quick deployment of StabFast could make all the difference in the minutes before the next appliance turns up.

Anyway, I digress…

Sad thing is that, just as we are getting acquainted with the ERT and its capabilities, we'll be waving goodbye to it in two months time when it disappears to the new Lowestoft South fire station. We then revert to a tin opener and a large hammer!

Bitter and twisted? Me? Never!

"There's nowt to it. First Aid is simple", were the words uttered by George, the lead instructor on our four day First Aid course.

It seemed there were so many things that we just wouldn't be able to assist with. And in George's words "there's f**k all you can do abart it". So much so that, by Day 3, when he asked us what we could do we'd all chorus, "F**k all!"

I even thought about weaving it in to one of my practical sessions that signalled the end of the course today. In fact, thinking about it, I did… When I'd finished dealing with an unconscious casualty who then needed CPR, I was asked a set of probing questions by our Fire Service examiner. I answered these as fully as I could but the last one was asking me how I'd deal with a certain injury. I answered by saying, "as George would say, F**k all!".

A pass on that bit. Thank you…

Then the long wait to do the practical session with a live casualty and being assessed by an external nurse (this means she wasn't part of the Fire Service and not that she sat outside while assessing us…).

The whole shebang probably didn't last more than 10 minutes but it felt like a lifetime. Thankfully I remembered to ask my casualty about SAMPLE. This isn't to be confused with asking the casualty for a sample. Unless, of course, I was going to add pregnancy testing to my basic First Aid repertoire!
SAMPLE means asking about Signs and Symptoms, Allergies, Medication, Past medical history, Last intake of food or drink and Events leading up to the me finding the casualty.

After I had applied a state of the art, almost Tourniquet style dressing, I had a one sided conversation with the Ambulance control, telling them the life history of my casualty and hoping this pergatory would end. It didn't so I started asking questions again about the banged head, took the pulse and generally made things more comfortable for the casualty.

And finally it was over. Pass. And only George there to congratulate me… Everyone else with much further than me to travel had gone in with furthest first, leaving old Billy No Mates to go last.

Back to the real world tomorrow and four days worth of work and e-mails to catch up on… Oh joy!

After the shambles of a couple of weeks back when this Risk Critical drill had to be cancelled, Tuesday night saw us have another go.

Our previous attempt had been interrupted by three shouts, as the retained firefighters at Normanshurst covered the town for our wholetime colleagues.

So it was back to Combination Drills with the Training Department keeping an eagle eye on everything we did.

We were split into two crews and Mel was Incident Commander.

First it was a confined pitch of the 9m ladder to the side face of the drill tower with a hosereel jet got to work from the head of the ladder. I was part of the crew that then made a dam, using two sections of the short extension ladder, the dam braces, four step chocks and a salvage sheet. The finished article beats any paddling pool you'll find in Argos!

Then it was get the LPP into position next to the slowly filling dam, connect two lengths of hard suction and then a length of 70 off in the direction of the ERT. I had the dubious honour of operating the LPP, which I've always hated because of the problems it caused me on my recruits course. But, for once, everything went swimmingly and I got water first time – which shouldn't be a problem as you're not exactly having to lift the water any great distance…

While all this was happening a ladder crew were doing a confined pitch of the 135 ladder to the front face of the drill tower. The plan was then for some poor soul to climb the ladder in the stiffening breeze and get a 45 to work from the head of the ladder into the third floor window. At least it won't be me, I thought smuggly, as I made myself look busy, fussing around the putting and spluttering LPP.
Just then Mel shouted that he was changing the crews around so that we can all try something that's out of our comfort zone. I didn't need Mel to tell me that it would be me shinning up the ladder.

Off I go with the branch draped over my shoulder, plodding methodically up to just below the window sill on the third floor. Ben then made his way up to just below me and fixed the hose becket level with my bottom foot and then fed plenty of hose through. Just to explain – the hose becket effectively takes the weight of the the hose and all the water that's in it, as this would be impossible for the 'branch man' to hold.

A minute or so of soaking the inside of the tower and then we got the order to advance into the tower, get water on again and then advance up to the fourth floor using the vertical metal ladder.

So water off, water pressure released at the dividing breach, becket off, into the tower followed by Ben, becket on again just below the sill and water on… Now up to the fourth floor and a bit more squirting.

And then, faintly, on the breeze and over the radio I heard the words that are music to my ears – 'Knock off and make up". That's it, the drill is over. It's just a case of making all the gear up and getting it all stored away again.

General consensus was that everything went well, it was good to get our hands on bits of kit that we don't get the opportunity too often to do. No one was taken off the run, which is good. And to round off the evening it was time for a bit of storytelling as we filled in our brand spanking new Individual Training Records…