Red alert and team bonding!

I am sure we can all remember ‘The Beast from the East?’

 

I was certain that Devon wasn’t going to get snow, as a rule we don’t get much interruption from snow, it’s there on the Dartmoor for us all to go and play in, but then we go home and carry on with an un-disrupted life. March 2018, however, was a whole different ball game.

We all got the text through, asking if we could possibly spare some hours to be standby on our own stations whilst the snow came down harder through the day. There wasn’t really much choice and not much of anything else that we could do anyway. We packed up bags, grabbed sleeping bags and food and made our way to the Fire Station.

If there was ever a way to get to know your new friends, this was it. I had been going to drill nights before my induction in October 2017, but spending many hours at a time with the crew, you got to properly bond. You also got to know who snores….it became a bit of an issue for a few of us, and if we have to be on standby again, we know who is sleeping in the appliance bay away from everyone else!

For three days, we ate crisps and biscuits and drank copious amounts of tea, as well as watching, among other things, ‘London’s Burning!’ an absolute classic, and the reason I wanted to become a Firefighter back in 1986…..showing my age now.

We did get a shout during this time, we had snow chains on the appliance, tried several different variants on route, but mostly came up against six foot plus snow drifts, we couldn’t believe how much had fallen while we were in the warm safety of the Fire Station. Another station were trying to access the property from a different side and also not having any success, we had to call for some extra help, in the form of a little gator! I had gone home to walk my dogs at this point as the team went back out and froze in the back of the little gator, going down snow-tunnels in the back lanes to eventually get to the property. They still talk now about how cold it was, and I’m not ashamed to say, I’m glad I didn’t have to do that, I don’t do cold very well!

After three days the snow subsided and started to melt, we returned back to our homes and our beds and Devon returned back to normal.

The diversity of The Fire Service.

The diversity of the Fire Service.

I think, that February 2018 was the month that it first hit me, just how diverse our skills as a Firefighter have to be.

We, of course have to learn a variety of skills, and if you’ve read my blog so far, I’ve noted the main courses that we have to do before going ‘on the run.’ That training continues on throughout your career, I am currently in what is known as ‘development’ and I attend regular training sessions (blog to follow) as well as drill nights, and will eventually have to pass more practical and written tests before becoming a competent firefighter.

I wanted to give you a brief insight at the diversity of shouts in my early days as a Firefighter, and it’s not just the job itself, it’s the time and day. You never know when it will happen.

The first was a Monday night at 21.41 hours.

We were called to a domestic fire, at a static caravan, right out in the middle of nowhere. I had not long passed my BA (Breathing Apparatus) course, and there was a chance that I was going to have a wear. Both myself and Mark prepared for this, only to be told BA wasn’t needed when we got there, but it was my first taste of putting on a set and getting mentally ready for my first fire outside of the controlled environment at BA school.

The second was on a Friday morning at 0400 hours.

Something that I would get very used to over the coming months – an AFA – a Fire Alarm at a very large local business.

After lots of walking, inspecting the site, using the thermal image camera, it was clear that there was no fire and that it was just a false alarm. I got home around 6am, around the time I usually get up. It was going to be a long day!

The third of four, was on a Tuesday morning, 00.20 hours!

We attended a fire out in the open, a small fire, warranting a bucket of water, and I was back home at 01.15 hours. After years of undisrupted sleep, a whole new life was evolving around me, where I knew naps were going to be the way forward wherever necessary during the day!

The last of the diversity was a Wednesday at around mid-day.

We were called to a standby at Dartmouth Fire Station. It was just at the start of the snow and Dartmouth had gone out to an RTC (Road Traffic Collision) so we went to their Station and watched the snow get worse. This was my first standby, I didn’t realise that all we did was just stay at the station and wait, until they came back. A small snowman was left with them as we returned back to our home station!

When that alerter goes off, you just never know, but, as they say, ‘variety is the spice of life!’

Water Rescue

Here we all are again, it’s the 17^th February 2018, it’s cold out, but luckily today we have a day in the classroom.

We were all back at Exeter HQ, the last time we were there was for our written test at the very beginning of our application to become an On Call Firefighter.

It was lovely seeing the guys again and the day went well. We, yet again had brilliant instructors, lots of input to take in and a knowledge check at the end of the day.

Before we left that day we got kitted out with a wooly bear suit (yes, they are as cosy as they sound!) drysuit, boots, personal flotation device (PFD) and helmet. We certainly looked the part, tomorrow would be the big test, outside in the River Dart.

Before I tell you about our training, I need to give you a little background into my life…..don’t worry, I won’t get too emotional on you, but the fact is, for years I have had a fear of water. It all stemmed way back to when I was seven years old and being pushed into the pool at a Brownie swimming lesson. Since then I have tried many swimming teachers and techniques, but my fear was ever-present even when I finally learnt to swim.

In 2017 I found the most amazing wild swimming teacher, Kari Furre, she won’t mind me mentioning her, as I have a separate blog documenting my swimming journey with her. I had already had some lessons with her, and also been using a hypnotherapy app to deal with fears and phobias. Being honest, if those two things hadn’t happened, I would not have been able to take part in day two of this course.

I let both instructors know about my ‘water issues’ and the guys all knew about it and were all supportive and amazing about it. Out of all the courses, this would be my nemesis.

I travelled again with Bill to the River Dart Country Park, it was a beautiful, if not a little cold day.

We met up, had a cuppa, gathered our PPE together, I must have gone to the toilet around six times because of nerves, the guys knew how I was feeling and kept my humour up.

It was time to get kitted up and head down to the river, my nerves at this point were actually making me shake, the rest of the team loved it, and the time came for me to get into the river and self-rescue. I did it, all that I had been taught; I performed, and made it to the eddy on the other side of the river. Obstacle one conquered!

More and more of this, and I gained confidence, I may have even enjoyed it a little when I knew how much control I actually had, and before I knew it, it was lunch time.

The rest of the day we did more self-rescue, used throw-bags, learnt about wading by the weir, which was tough. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought, and I passed!

The time now was to say goodbye to the team, the guys who had become close and trusted friends in such a short time, and this blog is for you guys, Rob (Captain Flash-heart), William (Will, Welfare Willy!), Bill (Billiam), Dan (Danielle), Ryan (Rylan), Joey, James, Jamie, Doug (Evacuate!!) not forgetting Johnny and Mark. I couldn’t have done this journey so well without you all as support, not to mention how much you all make me laugh, so thank you.

Breathing Apparatus (BA) training - part two

January 27^th 2018 – diary entry.

‘Bill picked me up. A day of highs and lows. I messed up a lot today and I’m so annoyed with myself.’

You’ve seen this journey expand if you’ve read the other blogs. BA School is tough; it has to be tough to prepare you for what is to come. The time to mess up is in training, but you have to learn from it, and fast, any continued mistakes mean you fail, and failure is not an option to me, all through my life I have strived to be the best that I can be.

So we are back at Exeter BA School for day 6 of 10. We had a lot more BA wears, more servicing of sets, more experience of fire behaviour and environment and I didn’t have the best of days.

Following a search, I missed the stairs, a ridiculous rookie mistake, but one that haunted me all week. I then had issues with radios, another issue that would haunt me all week, mainly because of the general mickey-taking that some of the guys gave me. Don’t worry, it was all done in jest, and I got my own back eventually!

Back home that evening I tried to relax, I went over my notes, went over the mistakes I had made in my head, mentally beat myself up a bit and decided that tomorrow was a new day and tried to move on. 

Day 7 and it was a better day for me.

I can’t tell you a lot about what we did that day, as it would spoil it for those of you going through the process of being an On Call Firefighter, but we did an amazing exercise, I was the BAECO (Breathing Apparatus Entry Control Officer) and I really like doing that, recording and keeping a check on information. My radio skills picked up again that day and as a team, we all did really well.

A very different finish and feeling to the day than the previous.

Day 8, we did an exercise in the Cold Villa, and also learnt all about Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) which as really interesting. It has many uses, but can ease working conditions for Firefighters, give better visibility, safety and comfort.

We learnt Firefighting branch techniques, had lots of practise with them before going into the Attack 2 container. This was the last thing we did that day, and we over-ran slightly, which meant when I got back to Totnes I had to go straight to the sports centre to take my Insanity class. All we could smell for the 50 minute session was smoke, as I sweated it out into the room! Luckily they all found it funny! That’s the thing about being an On Call Firefighter, sometimes our ‘Day jobs’ are affected by what we do, always allow enough time for a shower!

Day 9, and they are ramping up the work more and more, giving us more kit, more work, harder targets to achieve and we did a great exercise in steam. I was feeling confident, we all did some great work and we finished the day with the Attack 3 container. All preparations for tomorrow and the big assessment.

The big day!

We had our written exam in the morning, seemed to go okay, lunch and then our practical assessment.

I got to do my assessment with Joey (Tavistock) and it was tough. We ended up putting the same fire out three times, we would shut the door after painting it down, the assessors would open the door again and send us back to it.

Joey was awesome, I was less awesome, I made a few minor errors that were explained to me afterwards, but we passed, all of us passed, both written and practical. We were on the run properly, time to remove the red diamonds from our helmets and be an active part of the crew. Another part of the journey had begun.

Breathing Apparatus (BA) training - part one.

Here’s some wisdom from a senior member of the team at Totnes, we were discussing the whole process just this morning, of becoming a Firefighter. He said that, you don’t apply to work at Tesco’s, and a year later almost be qualified for the job.

The difference between what they do in a supermarket and what we do, however, is very different. In some circumstances in our job, it could be a matter of life and death, which is why the training is so intense, and this course, is so important to get right for that very reason.

On 6^th January 2018 I met up with 'Billiam' from our initial courses, we did a lift share and made our way up to Exeter Airport together, where the ten days training would be.

On arrival we saw the rest of the team, with the exception of one, we had lost Johnny. He had a serious knee injury from playing football and so wouldn’t be doing the rest of the training with us. We were now down to ten.

Day one was tough; there was a lot of classroom input, after being introduced to our Instructors, Simon and Scott. We went through the Breathing Apparatus sets, learning what each part is for, how to check it, clean it and prepare it for use again.

 The other part of the day was to get us used to wearing the sets, and putting our trust in them. We did an exercise wearing the BA sets, of trying to ‘out-breathe’ it. Walking, carrying, and lifting, continuously with different objects of shapes and sizes, knowing that however hard you puffed and panted that cylinder would supply with you as much air as you needed to do the task.

It was interesting, having never worn anything like it before, to know that you could put your full trust in a cylinder full of air, and it wouldn’t let you down.

 Day one was an amazing insight, and the rest of the week would be even more eye-opening for us all.

Day two and who would have thought that dance lessons were included in training? We learnt what is called ‘The BA Shuffle!’ In all seriousness though, the moves involved in this are to keep us safe, and help us to find casualties in smoke-filled environments, where visibility is seriously reduced. Foot sweeps and sweeping hand movements, all timed together to make the very best Firefighters.

 We found it amusing when we were all in a lit corridor, waving our arms and legs about at each other, but the next time we were doing it, we were in a smoke-logged villa, trying to locate a ‘dummy’ casualty. You realised just how useful those moves are to find your way.

The cold villa exercise was great, we hadn’t got anywhere near fire and heat at this point, that would come when we were all safe at the basics. 

Days three and four we had more thrown at us and added in, little extras each time, the addition of radios, fire-fighting equipment, more casualties to locate, just a little at a time.

Day four we learnt about ‘Flashover’ and ‘Backdraught’ nothing like the film, and fascinating to learn about. Fire is definitely something to respect, and by the end of the day we had been sat in a ‘hot box’ watching an actual Flashover happen before our eyes. We were all sat there gobsmacked at what we were seeing, almost text book from what we had learnt that morning in the classroom.

The final day of the first week, we did a guideline exercise in the hot villa, and we got to use branch techniques in an attack container. We left that day on a massive high, we couldn’t wait to come back and do more in a couple of weeks’ time.