Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel Informed … newsletter dec 10... · Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel Informed December 2010 Boxing clever - p19

A busy June saw the launch of the Road Sense campaign at theannual Cheshire Show while Runcorn Community Fire Stationcelebrated its 50th birthday with the opening of a fabulous newcommunity biodiversity garden. There was also the annual STARstaff awards celebration, while the Service also welcomed theDuke of Westminster to Headquarters for the official opening of thenew facilities including the state-of-the-art Incident and CommandTraining Suite.

July brought with it the official ‘Passing Out’ ceremony for 12new firefighters while in August the Service stole the show at theManchester Pride event after being voted the ‘Best Public Sector’display for its rainbow coloured vintage fire appliance.

September saw two new specialist Animal Rescue Units goinglive at Knutsford and Bollington which will also boost the safety offirefighters when they are carrying out large animal rescues.

October saw crews moving from blue to gold as the rollout ofthe new PBI Gold fire kit.

In November an exciting new community boxing gym wasopened at Warrington Community Fire Station , while the Servicealso relaunched its award-winning website with a hostof new features to helpfamilies and businessesstay safe from fire.

December saw crewssuccessfully containing amajor blaze at ChesterEnterprise Centre inLightfoot Street – the sceneof one of the county’s mostinfamous fires back in1996. The month also sawthe ever popularEmergency Services CarolConcert brighten upChester Cathedral.

Welcome to this festive edition of the Alert.While 2010 has been a challenging year,thanks to the hard work and dedication of

people throughout the organisation we havedelivered some great achievements. As we lookback at some key events we would like to wish allour staff and volunteers a happy Christmas and apeaceful New Year.

Paul Hancock, Chief Fire OfficerDavid Topping, Chair of the Fire Authority

January saw the Service’s business continuity planput to the test during ‘Operation Withering Heights’an exercise that simulated a major explosion atHeadquarters with a full evacuation and the setting upof a second base at Warrington.

February saw firefighters and staff from across theorganisation joining forces during the first everCheshire Safety Day which saw the delivery of amagnificent 1,664 Home Safety Assessments in justone day.

The Community Champions Awards in Marchrewarded the people and organisations who work withus to help save lives and make our communities safer.

April brought warm weather and a number of largefires in the open - the most challenging at BosleyCloud in Congleton which spread to nearly 10 acres.Crews from Cheshire and Staffordshire battledthroughout the night using main jets, beaters andwater backpacks until finally it was under control.

May saw a walk on the ‘wild’ side when theCheshire West and Chester Performance DeliveryGroup sponsored a five foot tall rhino as part of an allsummer Chester Renaissance event. ‘Safety Sal’was designed by a local high school pupil inspired byall the safety logos and warning signs about safety.

Review of the Year

INSIDE

Bugs andbeds - p2

Growingsuccess - p6

Animal antics- p11

PLUSwelcometo TeamCheshire- p14-15

Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel Informed

December 2010

Boxingclever - p19

2alert december • 2010

An eastern delegationThe Service recently paid host to a

group of delegates from China’sShandong Bureau of Quality and

Technical Supervision.

The delegation of 20 people was led byMr Li Zian, Senior Engineer of theCertification department of the Bureau. Thevisit was organised after the grop identifiedour Service as a UK leader when it comes tomodern best practice.

Their visit began with a welcome fromChief Fire Officer, Paul Hancock. Thedelegation then learnt how our awardwinning community safety concepts work;how a modern control room operates and then to more practical experiences inthe Incident Command Suite, which demonstrated a road traffic collisionextrication scenario.

The day ended with a question and answer session. Gifts left by the delegationare now displayed in the award cabinet at Headquarters Reception area.

White Watch and pupils from Westfield CountyPrimary School in Runcorn have joined forcesto create some new accommodation in Halton -

however this new building project has only a selectclientele in mind!

Westfield C.P. is unique in Cheshire in that it has beengiven the status of ‘Forest School’ this is awarded to schoolsthat ‘Show an innovative educational approach to outdoorplay and learning. The philosophy of Forest Schools is toencourage and inspire individuals of any age through positiveoutdoor experiences’

White Watch became involved with the school throughtheir Phoenix Project, a scheme where firefighters visit localschools to foster closer ties with the community. The pupilshave visited Runcorn Fire Station Community Garden to plantand pick vegetables.

Head Teacher Claire Dawes met with Phoenix co-ordinator firefighter Richard Whitley to see what otherprojects both sides could become involved with. Richard,being a keen environmentalist, suggested the idea of a BugHotel to be built on school grounds to encourage wildlife tothe area and also give the children an opportunity to study allmanner of mini-beasts up close in a habitat they had helpedcreate.

The basic structure was built by Richard and firefightersRuss Jones, Rob Everson, assisted by Watch Manager RobTurner. This consisted of 6 wooden pallets, the gaps in thepallets were then filled with recycled and waste items tocreate habitats for insects and bugs to live in. Pupils fromthe infant department helped fill cardboard tubes with twigsand place them into the hotel during the build.

New hotel - now taking buggings!

White Watch are planning more visits after the summerholidays to add to the hotel accommodation and also look atnew bio-diversity ideas. One idea being considered is tohelp the school develop their own garden using the one atRuncorn Fire Station as a model.

3 alertdecember • 2010

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’sCommunity Safety Team attend the annualDisability Awareness Day event in Warrington

along with a fire appliance from Stockton Heath.

Disability Awareness Day provides a platform forsmall family run support groups, businesses and publicsector organisations coming together to promote theirservices directly to people with disabilities, carers, theirfamilies and other people who may be involved withdisabilities.

Fire Safety advice was given by the team whoactively encourage the booking of Home SafetyAssessments where specialist personnel from the Fireand Rescue Service come to your home, give fire safetyadvice and fit free smoke alarms if required.

The fire appliance displayed equipment from thelockers and crews informed the crowds of the use ofthe specialist equipment.

Staff in support forkey disability event

n Deaf Advocate Mel Pitts talking to visitors at the DAD event andMayor of Warrington Cllr John Joyce with the team.

Have your say on IRMP8Between now and the middle of

February 2011, we’re seekingcomments on our eighth Integrated

Risk Management Plan – our action planfor 2011/12.

You can share your views on its keyproposals by completing a simple onlinesurvey on our Intranet by February 11th,2011 at the latest. This is located underIRMP in the Strategy and Policy section.Hard copies of the questionnaire are available

on request from Mark Shone in CorporateCommunications at HQ on ext 86408.

We’ll also be running briefing sessionswith staff directly affected by the proposalsand consulting local residents in January andFebruary through our community roadshowvehicle, which will be visiting 14 venuesacross the county.

• See p11 for a summary of the consultationon our four year strategy.

Helping rural B’n Bs stay safeWatch Manager James Willmott, accompanied by Technical FireSafety Officer Jean Parr and Business Liaison Advocate SarahMarshall attended a meeting of the Cheshire Farm Stay Group atAstle Farm in Chelford.

The group meet regularly to discuss best practice and share businessideas. The Team asked the group if they could give a short presentationon the Fire Safety Order and how this impacts on Bed and Breakfasts.

James talked through the various implications including alarmsystems, fire fighting equipment and risk assessments. The group weregiven guides and information to take away together with our contactdetails for anyone who had questions or feedback.

Feedback from the group was very positive with most attendeessaying that they would definitely take time to review their risk assessment.


Runcorn Fire CadetspresentaionAfter a busy six months of open days,

planned activities and holidays, RuncornFire Cadets held their second

Presentation ceremony at the Fire Station inRuncorn.

The Cadets gave a demonstration on the drillyard to parents and guests including the ViceChair of the Fire Authority, Cllr Graham Smith. PeteFinnegan, of Runcorn’s Blue Watch addressed theaudience and narrated during one of the drills.

The guests were then greeted by CadetLeader, Martin Webster, who then went on tointroduce all the cadets and Lead Cadet Instructor,Andy Hughes and Cadet Leader, Danielle Webster.

Cadets were presented with their certificates byCllr Smith and Halton’s Unitary PerformanceManager, Richard Gorst. The event also saw FireCadets, Jamie Hainzl, promoted to Cadet CrewManager and current Cadet Crew Manager, JakubBoote, promoted to Cadet Watch Manager. Bothhave shown a great level of understanding overthe past year and their willingness to learn andtake on new challenges with huge success madethe promotions very fitting.

n L to R Station Manager Sean Henshaw, Cllr Graham Smith, Cadet WatchManager Brennan, Cadet Leader M Webster, Fire Cadets D McGauley, TMcGauley, Kinsey, Holt, Watch Manager Boote, Cadet Leader D Webster,Cadet CM Hainzl, Cadet Smith, Cadet Leader Hughes, Cadet Condron andGroup Manager Richard Gorst

Warrington’s charity car washWarrington Fire Station held a charity car wash on 11September to raise monies for The Fire Fighters Charityand the Help for Heroes charity.

Due to bad weather the day started slowly, but by lunchtime there were plenty of cars stopping to donate and havetheir car washed. Local representatives from the Barracks inWarrington helped out and also brought their recruitment trailerfor people to look at.

It was a great family affair with off duty personnel helpingout with their children joining in as well. Help for Heroesdropped off merchandise for the station as the following daywas the Open day and more money could be raised via a raffle.

As the car wash took place on September 11 theanniversary of the atrocities in Americaall involved paid their respects bystopping for a two minute silence, evenmore poignant with armed personnelalso in attendance.

It was a fantastic day whichmanaged to raise a brilliant total of£615.33 which will be split between thetwo charities. Thanks to all who helpedout on the day and all those whostopped and donated to these veryworthwhile causes.


Bonfire night successFirefighters endured a busy weekend as

they fought to keep people andcommunities safe over the bonfire period.

Firefighters were called to more than 85 bonfirerelated incidents between Friday and Mondaymorning.

Chief Fire Officer, Paul Hancock, said: “WhenBonfire Night falls on a weekend we can expect itto be a busy time, however the work we do inadvance alongside our partners is still helping usdrive down the numbers of incidents. When youconsider that just a few years ago the number ofincidents topped 300 you really start to see theimpact our community safety work is having.Firefighters and Control staff did a great job inhandling high volumes of incidents and helping toensure the safety of communities across Cheshire.”

A key element of this year’s campaign has beengreater use of ‘midi’ fire appliances that acted asTargeted Response Vehicles (TRVs) throughout theperiod. These were used to patrol known bonfire‘hot spots’ areas and as well as acting as adeterrent, they have responded rapidly to nuisancebonfires to prevent them from becoming a risk tothe public.

The Service started its bonfire nightpreparations well in advance of the actual night byworking alongside partners to remove unauthorisedand potentially dangerous bonfires.

The work also included an extensive youthengagement programme which incorporatesschool and youth group visits, Fire Cadet schemes,the RESPECT programme and Prince’s Trustcourses.

The Service also visited local businesses to givethem advice about storing rubbish to make them aharder target for would be arsonists

Special thanks to Warrington and StocktonHeath’s crews who helped publicise our work bywelcoming an extra couple of guests from themedia and corporate communications.

MedicalinsightGreen Watch Macclesfield recently welcomed student

nurse Emily Cowan to come and join them for workexperience as part of her medical qualifications.

Emily had requested a chance to visit the Station and to get togrip with firefighter first aid training and trauma care, specifically atroad traffic collisions to better understand the treatment casualtiesreceive in advance of their arrival at A&E.

Emily spent two days learning the basics of collision extrication,the trauma care provided at incidents and the medical equipmentcarried on pumps.

During her time with the Watch Emily also got the chance to takepart in several training scenarios and was allowed to ride the fireappliance! For those two days Emily became part of the Watch.Green Watch wish her well in her future in medicine.

Cyclist praisesCrewe firefighters

On Wednesday 8 September, Kim Hughes a teacher from

Springfield School, called at the Fire Station in Crewe to say “thank

you” to Blue Watch firefighters who offered assistance outside the

fire station following an accident while she was cycling to work.

With Kim were a group of pupils from the school. They were

all invited into the station by Firefighter Paul Edwards to have a

look round the fire appliance.

Also assisted by firefighter, Iain Dunne, the group was split into

two smaller groups and were taken around the appliance to look at

all the equipment carried and to sit on the fire engine.


The Prince’s Trust Team ‘Halton45’ recently helped HallwoodPark School go green. Over

twelve months Hallwood School hastried to achieve the enviable task ofbeing self sustainable, growing theirown vegetables from their owngardens to cut down on transportcosts and working towards theNational Curriculum targets and theGovernment’s ‘Every Child MattersPolicy’.

Although they had made greatefforts to start this process the schoolneeded that extra push to achieve thenext level so Team Halton 45 rose tothe challenge.

Their task was to build another sixraised beds to allow more vegetables tobe grown. The original role for the teamwas to carry out the garden project butthe feedback has had other positiveoutcomes. The school previously had arange of problems with anti-social

behaviour from local youths resulting inbouts of vandalism of school property.This project has enabled the students

at Hallwood School to see youngpeople carrying out positivecontributions in the local community.

n Mayor of Halton Cllr Marie Wright officially opens Hallwood School’s newvegetable gardens.

Positive role models

Runcorn Blue Watch in partnership with AllSaints Primary School took part in a practicaldemonstration as part of their Phoenix Project,to educate the school children about the GreatFire of London.

The pupils of the school had been taught allabout the fire in 1666 which started in ThomasFarynor’s Bakers in Pudding Lane.

To help them understand fully how this small firedeveloped into the Great Fire, the children spentthree months building a scale model of the Laneand surrounding streets, to reconstruct the fire.

90 children were given a fire safety talk “not toplay with fire” and the associated dangers byFirefighter Mark Mitchell.

With all the children at a safe distance, firefighterNeil Murphy lit a small fire in the bakers and thechildren watched how the fire quickly developedand spread to all the other houses in such a shortspace of time.

Burning desire to learn

Do you have any comments or suggestions forfuture editions of the Alert? If so call the Service’sCorporate Communications team on 01606 868786or email [email protected]

BeAlert!Although it was a shame to see three months of hard work literally

go up in smoke, all the children enjoyed the demonstration and as aresult had a much greater understanding of the Great Fire of Londonand the effects of fire spread.


THANKSRUNCORNRESIDENTS{Just a “thank you” of appreciationto the officers from Red Watch whofitted smoke alarms in a number ofhomes in Dunmail Grove,Beechwood West, Runcorn. Theyvisited Dunmail Grove, fitted thealarms and gave fire preventionguidance. We, the people ofRuncorn, appreciate the hard workthat the members of the Serviceundertake.

A big thanks to the team - OfficersBrown, Molneux and Barger, alongwith the appliance driver, his name Ihave forgotten. Again Sir - thankyou.|John Hutchinson and family - andother residents

OVER THERAINBOWS{Please can you thank Red Watchfor an interesting and informativeafternoon. The Rainbows and theGuiders thoroughly enjoyed theirtime at the station. Having a raceputting on the fire clothes andhelmets was a great success as wasusing the hoses which were amongthe highlights. Thank you again forallowing the Rainbows to visit theStation, it was a great success.|Guider for Prestbury Rainbows

MEMORYWALK 2010{On behalf of the Alzheimer'sSociety I would like to thank you somuch for your contribution to the2010 Memory Walk. About 120walkers (plus numerous four-leggedfriends!) took part. The weather waskind to us, no-one got lost andeveryone enjoyed the lovely tea atthe Village Hall. The sum raised hasnot yet been finalised, but it will bepublished soon, and will be sent toyou.|Alzheimer's Society Cheshire East

Cadets enjoynational campFire Cadets from across Cheshire

travelled to Hertfordshire for the2010 Fire Services Youth Training

Association bi-annual summer camp.

The 82 strong Cheshire party werecamping near Kings Langley along with anumber of other Fire and Rescue Servicegroups for a week of outdoor pursuits,team challenges, sport and socialising.

These included sailing, canoeing,rafting, archery, rock climbing, pot holingand team building challenges. In theevenings inter service competitions wereheld and also a Disco.

The Cheshire party was the largestcontingent on the camp and ourinvolvement in the competitions wasrewarded with a trophy for the bestcomedy sketch won by a group whoperformed in front of the whole camp ahilarious comedy sketch based on the‘Royle Family’.

Cadets returned home after theirweek’s activities having enjoyed an fulland fun week.

The following “Thank You” letter has been received from St George’s Baptist

Church in Macclesfield.

Dear Sirs

On behalf of the Friday Night Youth Group that meets at the church, I

would like to extent our heartfelt thanks for your hospitality and interest when

we visited the station.

From the organisation of Rachel, the professionalism of Ian and Stuart and

the banter of driver Jon, we were made to feel most welcome and of course,

thoroughly informed. We appreciated too the serious side of the visit and I am

sure it was beneficial to young and old alike. In fact I resisted the temptation to

switch on the dishwasher before leaving the house this morning!

We are indeed grateful for your time and efforts it was much appreciated by

all. Thank you again.

Yours Faithfully, The Pastor - St George's Baptist Church Macclesfield

Church group inpraise of hospitality atMacclesfield Station


ACommunity Day was recently held on the CherrySutton Estate in Widnes and Blue Watch wasinvited to be part of the celebrations to the

opening of their community garden.

The garden is located on the largest green spaceamong the local housing area and has been a majorproblem for the residents for many years due to anti-socialbehavour. The community mustered together and haveproduced an area where they can all enjoy and encouragea spirit in maintaining the gardens.

The Watch was active in the area working closely withthe Police Community Support Officers and HaltonBorough Council Housing promoting security and safetymessages in the home including the Smart Water security.The Watch had a great day with the residents and helpedto plant many of the different flowers, herbs andvegetables.

Blue Watch invited tocommunity garden opening

n l-r Housing Officer Tracy Gilbody, PCSO Chris Carr, PCSO PascalSheeran, and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s BrianCadwallader, Paul Rostance and Jem King with the local childrenfrom the Cherry Sutton Estate.

Cllr John Joyce, theMayor of Warringtonand his Consort and

members of Cheshire FireAuthority attended thegraduation of 11 young peoplefrom various schools aroundthe Warrington area.

The young people in theRESPECT team attended theone day course over nine weeksand completed various activitieswhich improved their knowledgeand educated them in varioustopics including fire safety, roadsafety, hoax calls, arson and the

effects oncommunities.

At the graduationceremony in July the

young people performed a firedrill and made speeches toparents and teachers.

One attendee said, “I thinkthe best bit about this coursehas been that I have been ableto build up my confidence andmake new friends. I have reallyenjoyed it and I have learned lotsof new things. I have alsolearned to respect people more.”

RESPECT Team graduate

Widnes Station Manager Phil Kilgour, a couple of his closefriends and his children Sally and Toby completed a 30 milewalk along the tow path of the Bridgewater Canal fromLeigh to Walton on behalf of The Firefighters Charity and theMultiple Sclerosis Society.

Despite the searing sunshine this was completed withrelatively minor blisters and over £100 was raised for theseworthy causes. Phil, Toby and Sally would like to thank theindividuals who sponsored them.

Charity tow path hike


This year’s fishing contest run by East Cheshire’sEmergency Services has been called anoutstanding success by the organisers. One young

contestant in the finals described it as “the best day ofmy life”.

This year’s contest attracted a thousand entries from allparts of East Cheshire. They fished 18 heats, followed by thefinals at Bay Malton Border Fisheries, near Nantwich onAugust 20.

Chief Superintendent Mick Garrihy, Commander ofCheshire Police Eastern Area said, “This event provides apoint of focus for a lot of young people during the holidaysand is a real investment in the future. They meet people fromthe Emergency Services on a one-to-one basis and seethem as friends. This can shape their views in the years tocome.”

Since the contest began in 2006, reported incidents ofanti-social behaviour during the school holidays in EastCheshire have dropped steadily.

Chair of Cheshire Fire Authority Cllr David Topping said;“Once again this year it’s been a very successful competitionwhich has shown some great results both in the recordattendance of young people from all parts of the area and

Fishing competitionbest yet

with the weight of fish they caught. I enjoyed speaking to thecontestants who seemed to have learned a lot about fishingover these last few weeks. I especially recall a young personcalled Jake who told me that the final was ‘the best day of hislife’. I think that says everything about this event.”

n Cllr Dave Topping presenting a trophy to young fisherman JacobSant.

Seventeen-year-old Widnes FireCadet James Giblin’s day at collegebrought more than he bargained forwhen he was first on the scene asscaffolding collapsed injuring twomen.

James, a Cadet Unit Leader atWidnes explained, “It was about1.30pm. My friend Sam and I werewaiting to cross at the lights on KerfootStreet in Warrington and could see twomen working on a building withscaffolding. As we crossed the roadthe scaffolding collapsed. Sam and Iran to go and see if the men were ok. Iassessed their injuries, and then Istabilised the head and neck of one ofthe injured whilst showing a bystanderhow to do the same for the other man.

Sam then rang paramedics. Then I gotsomeone to take over from me while Iran across to the Fire Station to getthem to come over.”

The incident required four fireappliances, the Hydraulic Platform, theLine Rescue Unit and the OperationalSupport Unit. Crews administered firstaid to two casualties who were thentransported to hospital by Ambulanceand cleared and made safe the area.

Youth Engagement Group ManagerNick Evans said, “We’re extremelyproud of all our Cadets and never moreso when they put their skills, knowledgeand experience to the test. James’actions were a testament to hisdiligence and training.”

James modestly added, “My Cadetknowledge came in very handy; beingUnit Leader I knew I had to dosomething to help the men and we hadrecently been taught about what to doif there was a risk of neck and headinjuries. I really hope the men arerecovering and I’m just glad that beinga Cadet taught me what to do.”

James, whose ambition is tobecome a firefighter is a student atWarrington College where he’s studyingfor Level 3 BTEC Diploma in PublicServices.

Widnes fire cadet’straining pays off

n Widnes Cadet Leader James Gilbin.


INTHE

This edition of the Alert talks toWatch Manager, Ian Dunbar fromNorthwich about his role as aUnited Kingdom RescueOrganisation (UKRO) assessor.

“The UKRO has many roles, one ofwhich is coordinating extricationchallenges,” says Ian. “The premisebehind this is to promote the latestdevelopments and equipment andensure gold standard extricationtechniques.”

To help achieve this UKRO trainand develop assessors who are ableto assess extrication teams during a20 minute scenario and provide qualityfeedback to ensure the gold standardis achieved.

Ian was working in the Road SafetyUnit in 2007 as a road traffic collisioninstructor when he applied to joinUKRO as an assessor.

“My application was accepted and Iembarked on the process to becomea regional assessor,” adds Ian. “Thisinvolved me shadowing three regionalchallenges in order to gain myqualification. Initially I assessedincident command, but due to myexperience I was asked to join the

medical assessing team. Since then Ihave also qualified as a technicalassessor.”

Each team is assessed in three keyareas:

1. Incident command

2. Technical tool operation

3. Pre hospital medical care

Since 2007 Ian has assessed inmany Regional Challenges all over theUK as far apart as Scotland andPlymouth and from London to Bristol.All assessing is carried out on avoluntary basis in Ian’s own time.

“In 2008 I also qualified to assessthe separate trauma challenge, whichinvolves two firefighters dealing with atraumatic injury in a ten minuteassessed scenario. This competitionhas been developed due to the evermore demanding role of modernfirefighters in terms of providing prehospital trauma care,” Says Ian, “In thesame year I also qualified as a nationalassessor and attended my firstNational Extrication Competition heldin Stirling. Since then I have assessedat National Competitions in 2009 and2010 in Glasgow and Hampshirerespectively.”

This year Ian was invited to attendThe World Extrication Challenge inCork, Ireland.

Ian explains, “I assessed pre-hospital care over the three daychallenge with 30 teams from all overthe world competing and I was luckyenough to assess teams from USA,Russia, Luxembourg, Spain, France,South Africa, Germany and Republicof Ireland. Obviously this waschallenging due to the language barrierbut interpreters were available - mainlyto translate my accent! Not only did Iassess teams from those countries,but I was also lucky enough to workwith my fellow assessors from abroadand witness differing and sometimeinteresting techniques devised by Fireand Rescue Services worldwide.”

Ian is currently the only UKfirefighter who is qualified to assess allthree areas of the extrication challengeand the separate trauma challenge.

Next year Ian will once again beassessing at the National Challenge isin London and depending uponselection hopefully also at the WorldChallenge, which is in New Zealand.

UKRO AssessorIan Dunbar

Red Watch were invited to Brookside Primary School toshow children around the fire appliance and warn themabout the dangers of playing with matches and lighters.

They really enjoyed singing to one of our firefighters via thepacset radio and saying ‘hello’ to their teacher. Anotherhighlight was being able to sit in the appliance and talk abouttheir favourite cartoons. An amazing day was had by all andthe crew is really looking forward to a return visit.

Ellesmere Port visitBrookside Primary

n Crew Manager Mark Bridgwater (left) FF Denis Grennell (right)and Ian Greenstreet (pump)).


Dream night at the Zoo provides a free eveningfor chronically ill and disabled children. Some145 zoos in 29 different countries worldwide

take part in Dream night events with Chester Zoobeing one of them.

Tracy Bryan, event organiser at Chester Zoo said,“Dream Night at the Zoo started in 1996 and has spreadthroughout the world. We have held eight Dream nightevents so far and 130 staff volunteer for this event eachyear and we have welcomed some 300 families over theyears.

“Our Dream Night evenings have proved to be bothhugely enjoyable but also very humbling and we hope thefamilies we have looked after have enjoyed theexperience as much as we have.”

White Watch got involved and made the evening for allattending the zoo a memorable one, with all children andadults having a look around the fire appliances andhydraulic platform.

Watch Manager Rodaway said, ‘This is a great eventwhich we were more than willing to support as a greatnight was had by all’.

In particular one special little girl called Katie Williamswanted her photo taken with the crew as she said sheliked the sound that fire engines sirens make.

Dream night at the zoo

n Katie Williams with Firefighters Dan Holmes (Panda), WayneClarke (Dalmatian), Matty Lewis (Tiger), Jonny Barr (Chimpanzee),Michelle Green (Lion), Paul Douglas (Butterfly) and Simon Woods(Snow leopard).

Once the evening was over, White Watch had to check thatall the animals got back onto the appliances as the panda hadbroken loose for a short while, but with him being over six feettall it didn’t take long to find him hiding in a bush.

Planning for a Safer Cheshire is the title of the Four YearStrategy that sets out the general direction we intend totake over the next four years. The draft strategy wastaken for consultation with over 250 local people,partner organisations and Cheshire Fire and RescueService staff in Autumn 2010.

This draft strategy will now be updated to reflect theviews expressed during the consultation.

In general, respondents:• indicated a good level of support for the strategy• said they ‘value’ or ‘strongly value’ our Service• strongly agree we are effective in responding to

emergencies, dealing with road traffic collisions anddelivering community safety campaigns

• said we would be ‘quite’ or ‘very effective’ in taking ona greater role to promote road safety

• ‘support’ or ‘strongly support’ proposals to undertakemore joined up community safety assessments

• said targeting community safety initiatives at vulnerablepeople is ‘quite’ or ‘very important’

• ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ with proposals to share thecost of common support services with partners

• strongly agree with plans to review all areas of ourbusiness over the next three years to ensure continuedvalue for money.

In addition:• there is general support to

align managementarrangements in Halton andWarrington, but a significantnumber were ‘not sure’.However, more than threequarters of Responsemembers living in the WApostcode area are ‘quite’ or‘very likely’ to be supportive

• the Retained Firefighters Uniondoes not support the overall strategy and wouldoppose the review of shift patterns. The Fire BrigadesUnion Cheshire branch said it would focus itscomments on the annual action plan for 2011/12

• while overall awareness of the wider role played by theService has increased, there is less understandingabout work with young people and the businesses

• some respondents do not want involvement in widerpartnership services to deflect the Service from its coreduties and responsibilities.

Cheshire Fire Authority received the consultation reporton December 15th, you can view it on the Strategy andPolicy section of the Intranet.

Support for our strategy


On a September summerevening crews fromNorthwich, Winsford and

Holmes Chapel gathered atEllesmere Port Fire Station to bebriefed on a Cluster Exercise –Exercise Three Towers.

It was planned by Temporary WatchManager Paul Sullivan and was held atJoseph Groom Towers, Ellesmere Port,and was facilitated by the EmergencyResponse dept.

Control informed the crews of a‘High Rise Building’ on fire with personsreported. After the initial informationwas gathered, Crew Manager RonnieMoore was appointed Fire SectorCommander and was tasked toprogress to the upper floors with a BAteam carrying equipment, in order toinvestigate the reports of a fire locatedon floor six or above.

Further appliances were arriving andwater supplies were established andthe dry riser charged. Ronnie Mooreand the Breathing Apparatus team

consisting of firefighters Paul Dunn andSteve Tucker started to meet walkingwounded casualties on the stairwelltrying to escape. At this stage thelocation of the fire was ascertained asthe eighth floor and confirmation wasreceived that two persons wereunaccounted for - a male on that floorand a child on the ninth.

Four breathing apparatus teamswere committed now, two teams to theeight and two on the ninth.

Within minutes a male adult casualtywas located; he had severe burns, andwas immediately removed to the fifthfloor for medical attention. A fewminutes later a nine-year-old femalechild was located on the ninth floorsuffering from smoke inhalation, andwas rushed to the fifth floor prior to herimmediate evacuation.

After about 45mins the IncidentCommander declared that all personshad been accounted for and that thefire was extinguished and the end tothe exercise was declared. At the end

Training event hits the heights

of the debrief all personnel werecongratulated by the EmergencyResponse Team on the hard work andeffort that was evident during theexercise.

Four intrepid cyclists havetravelled coast to coast acrossthe USA to raise money for the

Fire Fighters Charity.

Matt Hancock, Mark Lingard, RayMolyneux and Tony Sullivan paid for theirtravelling expenses and with the help ofcolleagues, used their annual leave forthe adventure in the USA.

Here, as promised in the last Alert, isa review of their trip:

On 14th July we finally pedalled intoNew York City after 49 days of cycling.We had covered 3,435 miles, climbedmountains over 9,600 ft high, crossed adesert and hundreds of miles of cornfields. Our journey took us through 2countries, 10 States and we stopped at42 different fire departments along theway.

We also endured every weathercondition imaginable including 60 mphwinds, three weeks of constant heavyrain, thunder and lightning storms, hail

the size of 50ps and snow and sleetover the high mountain passes.

Through all these hardships wesaw fantastic sights including MountRushmore and Niagara Falls andcycled through some beautiful nationalparks where we saw native wildlifesuch as bison, elks and eagles whichwere all truly spectacular.

The people we met across thecountry and the help and support wereceived was amazing. Each firedepartment looked after us so well andit’s no exaggeration to say we couldnot have done it without their help. Sofar we have raised nearly £12,000 buthope to increase this to £20,000 whenall money is collected and subsidiaryevents have been completed.

We’d would all like to thankeveryone for their support and remindanyone who still wishes to contributethat they can still do atwww.justgiving.com/usacoasttocoast

USA Coast to Coast 2010


Two former Widnes Fire OfficersRay Leather QFSM and JohnKane paid a welcome visit to

Widnes Community Fire Station.

Ray retired from GreaterManchester in 1987 with Johncompleting his Service in 1981. Sittingdown with White Watch the pairreminisced about life and incidents theyattended while part of LancashireCounty Fire Service which at that timeincorporated the Widnes area.

John, who lives in Cambridgeshiresaid: “We try and have a get togetheras often as possible although distancemeans it has been several years sinceour last opportunity.”

Watch Manager Ian Foxcroft said,“This visit has been a fascinating insightinto the working of the Fire Service inthe 50s through to the 80s which givescurrent personnel an idea of the role offirefighters from another generation.”

Widnes visit

n Ray and John with White Watch

{Many thanks to the organisers for a very happy two hours on Saturday atEllesmere Port’s open day which brought back quite a few memories.

It took me back quite a few years to see the “Wheeled Escape” on show. My

first training session in 1969 and seeing the road traffic collision demo

reminded me of the time when I bought an ancient Morris Oxford. As it

needed a bit of work doing I asked my ADO at the time (Chris Macintosh), to

permit me to park it on the station yard. When it became apparent that it was

beyond redemption I called in one night and told the Watch to use it for

training.

The night after, I saw that my car was now minus a roof. I waited for Chris'

next tour and remonstrated with him, "Hey Boss, what have you done with my

car". You can imagine his consternation, so I let him sweat for about 30 minutes

before I let him off the hook!

Gordon Kipps, Retained Section 1969 - 1991

Thanks for thememories –Ellesmere Port

IN BRIEFPOPPYAPPEALSandbach and Winsford CadetUnits have been involved in theRoyal British Legion Poppy Appealby handing out poppies in WinsfordTown Centre. A total of 12 Cadetsand three Cadet Leaders spend theday in the shopping centre in coldand wintery conditions. The Cadetsefforts will be entered into the LordLieutenant’s annual competition forthe most amount raised.

Sandbach Cadet Leader BenBradbury said “I personally was veryimpressed by how the cadetspresented themselves and theirenthusiasm in supporting thecause.”

BROWNIEVISIT TOWIDNESOver 25 Brownies from 1st CrontonBrownies group descended uponWidnes Fire Station for a visit. Thegroup were guided through the dailywork routine, had a tour of thestation including the appliances andhad some target practice with thehose reels on the yard.

The children left with a far betterunderstanding of the roles of themodern day Fire and RescueService and the role of firefightersserving the community.

|


elcome to ‘T Their applications were selected from

thousands of hopefuls - they went on topass exams and medical tests before

enduring weeks of intensive training - all this tocall themselves Cheshire firefighters.

When the Service launched a recruitment driveearlier this year to find 12 new wholetime firefightersthe response was incredible with thousands of peoplewanting to be considered.

The succesful candidates were officially welcomedat their ‘Passing Out’ ceremony at headquarters backin the summer.

The event, was hosted by Station Manager PaulMacGugan and featured a speech by the Chair of theFire Authority, Cllr David Topping. New recruit CarlThomas gave the official response.

W


Team Cheshire’

LATEST RECRUITS

Pictured at the training centre at headquarters at Winsford the following new recruits have joined the Service. Shown inbrackets are the stations they have been assigned to.

Back row l-r; FF Sarah Brereton (Chester); FF Michael Hubbard (Crewe); FF Stuart Donaldson (Macclesfield); FF Chris Cook(Widnes); FF Carl Thomas (Runcorn) ; FF Andrew Rourke (Warrington); FF Jack Fellows (Ellesmere Port); FF Jon Martin(Congleton); FF Usman Akhtar (Wilmslow).

Front row l-r: FF Mike Long (Ellesmere Port); FF David Kenny (Ellesmere Port); WM Malcolm Jones; SM Paul Macgugan; WMRuss Austin; WM Steve McCormick; FF Shane Williams (Ellesmere Port).


Northwich’s Gary Williamsongives below a personalaccount of what his new

fitness regime on his mountain bikemeans after completing the 35 mileDark Peak Challenge in aid of theBritish Heart Foundation.

“The event started from HopeVillage, Castleton in the heart of thePeak District on what was a perfect day- it was warm, overcast with a slightbreeze and no rain,” explains Gary.

“Within the first six miles I hadmanaged three difficult climbs andstarted on the slopes of Mom Tor. Ihad an idea this event was hard but Ididn’t account for the sheer number ofsteep climbs ahead of me. Thankfullymy training had brought me to a levelwere I could manage the climbs andrecover in time for the next one.

“The descents were something else,very technical, fast, rocky anddangerous. Unfortunately one riderfractured his ankle on one of thesummits requiring the Mountain Rescueteam and the Air Ambulance to get himto hospital!

“At the second feed station I hadthe chance to text the crew back atNorthwich hoping for some moralsupport only to get a reply ‘stopwhinging and start pedalling’. At thispoint I thought the next 20 miles mustget easier - not a chance; the BHF’sdefinition was spot on “EXTREME”.

The saving grace was the stunningscenery, skirting around LadybowerReservoir at this time of year wasbeautiful. With the odd mishap andfellow riders for encouragement I didfinish at 14.25hrs covering a total of 35miles. The event was an absolutelybrilliant experience and gave me a greatsense of achievement; I can highlyrecommend this event to anyone whowants to suffer great pain and mentaltorture, especially at my age - if I cando it so can you!

But seriously I would highlyrecommend this event to any onewanting a true mountain bike challenge.The event organisation was superb,Marshalls in most areas, well signedand most of all, great feeding stations.

Dark Peak challenge

So get that new mountain bike onthe cycle scheme and start training fornext year’s event. I will see you there.Yes - I’m doing it all again next year!

Finally I would like say a big ‘thankyou’ to everyone who sponsored meon the Dark Peak Challenge.

In early October a fire appliance from Congleton wasmobilised to a flooding on a busy public highwayoutside Tesco Superstore.

The highway leads onto a major road leading toManchester and Macclesfield. The flood water was aresult of major rainfall and a dyke not coping with thesharp rise in rainfall. The drainage was also unable tocope and became blocked with debris from the roadside.The flood blocked access and egress to a very busypetrol station and many shops and businesses in the area.

Once in attendance crews were also faced with twovehicles trapped in two feet of water. Both vehicles hadelderly persons inside who were in some distress. Crewscompleted a primary survey of the casualties and theybecame priority rescues. The vehicles were made safeand placed in an area of safety.

In addition there were a large number of people trapped in the Superstore car park and in shops and local businesses.Congleton’s crew then set in the High Volume Pump (HVP). This equipment has the capacity to pump around 7 - 8,000litres a minute. During this incident it was needed to pump around 20 - 30,000 litres of surface water. This allowed thedrainage system to cope with the flood water and with a clear up of debris normal road conditions were restored.

It is without doubt that the use of the HVP saved significant time in allowing the road to re-open, calm members of thecommunity and allow local businesses to re-open.

Crews in flood rescue


Crews from Chester andEllesmere Port successfullycontained the spill from a

road traffic collision that involved amilk tanker which had crashed on aroundabout in Chester.

MIC Officer Anthony Jonesattended the incident at the EcclestonRoundabout and was more thanfamiliar with the scenario as it was thesecond time he had visited a similarincident on the same roundabout.Indeed the initial Officer in Charge hadbeen to four such incidents of theexact nature in the same place.

The priority of the crews on thescene was to prevent any leak of dieselor milk entering the drains andaffecting the environment. Usingabsorb products and Dammit pastecrews were able to stem the flow.

Anthony said, “The crews used theDammit Paste to control the leakingmilk and diesel. This worked to verygood effect and all but completelystopped the leaks of both pollutants.Using the equipment stowed on theEPU we deployed a large quantity ofabsorbent mats to mop up the dieselspill that had not mixed with the milk.The two mixed products werecontained on the highway by theDammit Mats.”

An Environmental Officer from theEnvironmental Agency confirmed thatthe local drains did not end in any freshwater receptor and the quantity ofpollutants leaked posed no risk to theenvironment asthey werecontained in thedrains under theroundabout.Crews confirmedthis by lifting theinspectionhatches andnoted that theinterceptor underthe roundabouthad contained allproducts that hadentered thedrains.

A request wasmade to theHighways Agency to attend with agully sucking machine to clear theproduct from the roadway and thatcontained in the interceptor. On theirarrival they confirmed that they wouldbe able to safely clear all spillages offthe roadway and within theinterceptors.

Anthony concluded, “The mainareas to note are how the swift action

of initial crews recognised the risk tothe environment and managing the riskby use of the environment agency grabpack, followed by deployment and useof equipment which led to a successfulconclusion. This minimised thepotential damage to the environmentof this organic pollutant that hadentered the drains and eliminated anyfurther pollution after the arrival of theService.”

Crews avertenvironmentaldamage

n The overturned tanker visible in the distance and the absorbentDammit mats together with a photo of the diesel and milkprevented from entering the drainage system.

A group of Junior Police Community SupportOfficers visited Birchwood Fire Cadets andwere shown around the fire station and the fireappliances and then all joined together to playsome team building games. The young peopleappeared to really enjoy themselvesthroughout the evening.

The Junior PCSO scheme was run by PCSOAllison Davies and Frontis Housing Association’sBernadette Bell.

Birchwood fire cadets host PCSOs


IN BRIEFRED WATCHSWIFT WATERTECHNICIANSCongratulations to Crew ManagerMatty Davies and firefighter JoCollier for recently passing theirSwift Water Technicians course. Jowas feeling particularly poorly at thetime (possibly from swallowing alittle too much of the river!) andMatty gave the others theopportunity to practice their line-throwing techniques to get him outof the weir!

YOUNGFARMERSVISIT TOKNUTSFORDMembers of Cheshire YoungFarmers group visited Knutsford FireStation in October where the Watchand Frances Egerton of the RoadSafety Unit gave a presentation onroad safety. They were alsoshowed the range of equipmentheld at the Station including thenew Large Animal Rescue Unit.

LUCKY COWOn the morning of Sunday 10October 2010 (reported to be adate of good fortune), Knutsfordcrews were called out to a cowstuck in a slurry pit at a farm InTabley. After utilising recentlyacquired animal rescue techniquesand equipment, the German dairycow was out of the smellypredicament she had got herselfinto, without a scratch and within anhour of the crews turning up.

Northwich crews attended a late fire call at a property in Comberbach wherethe occupier had been distracted whilst using the cooker and had placed atextile cloth onto the hob causing it to ignite.

There was no fire damage other than to the textile material and a small amountof smoke damage caused to the kitchen area. The property already had a smokedetector fitted but it failed to sound due to faulty equipment. While in attendancecrews fitted three new detectors and delivered a Home Safety Assessment. Thefollowing letter has been received from the occupier:

“Just a few lines to thank the team of firefighters who came out to my home.When I rang the fire station to ask them to visit me to check my fire alarm whichdidn’t work, I stupidly didn’t realise that they would be duty bound to check mysafety. I was embarrassed when they came out after a tea towel caught fire but Iwas absolutely amazed a the amount of choking smoke that filled my kitchen fromone smouldering tea towel!!!

The team were so friendly and helpful, and even fitted three alarms free ofcharge and gave me some really helpful tips on fire safety. I shudder to think whatcould happen if I had a ‘real fire’. The service from the firefighters was first class(my first experience) and I would like to thank them for their kindness to me. I willbe ever grateful for the advice and will close my doors each night, switch off thecooker and take my mobile up to bed with me.”

Thanks toNorthwich crews

Fire Cadets from Cheshire joined Chief Fire Officer Paul Hancock andCheshire Fire Authority member Cllr Colin Oliver and many serving orex-members of the UK Fire and Rescue Service taking part in the

parade to St Paul’s Cathedral to pay their respects at the FirefightersMemorial statue.

Cadet Tim Sudlow from Crewe and Clara Coppenhall from Sandbachaccompanied by Cadet Leaders Ben Bradbury, Howard Coppenhall and RobynTaylor travelled to London to take part in the parade and service. Tim undertookthe role of standardbearer and Clara wasselected to lay a wreathfrom Cheshire at thememorial.

Following the eventClara described it as “Anhonour and a humblingexperience.”

Tim and Clara wereselected from a list ofCadets from across allunits who had asked tobe considered for theofficial party and theywere excellentrepresentatives of theService.

Firefightersremembered


Warrington Fire Station hasunveiled an exciting newcommunity facility on its

Winwick Road site – a fully equippedboxing gym. The Service obtainedfunding for the project from theNorth West Improvement andEfficiency Partnership (NWIEP) tofurther enhance its already hugeyouth engagement programme.

Chief Fire Officer, Paul Hancock,said: “This is a really exciting projectand one we are delighted to be a partof. We are proud of the part we play inour local communities, especially theimpact we have on the hundreds of

young people that benefit from ourvarious projects each year. I have nodoubt that this fantastic new facility willprovide a real boost to all that use it.”

The Warrington gym will be usedduring a variety of the Service’sinitiatives for young people includingFire Cadet, Prince’s Trust and Respectprogrammes.

In addition the gym will also providea new home to the Phoenix AmateurBoxing Club, a club that previouslyfaced an uncertain future as its oldpremises was due for closure in 2011.

Brian Birtwistle, from the PhoenixAmateur Boxing Club said: “I would justlike to extend my thanks to CheshireFire and Rescue Service becausewithout their commitment the PhoenixClub could not have survived and yetnow, thanks to this great new facility itcan move from strength to strength inits work in helping to promote positivebehaviour and ambition in our youngpeople.”

In addition to engaging with youngpeople in order to reduce anti-socialbehaviour in the area the gym will alsoprovide a base for people to increasetheir levels of fitness and learn moreabout how to lead a healthy lifestyle.

A host of dignitaries including DianaBarbour, the High Sheriff of Cheshire,Cllr David Topping the Chair of the FireAuthority and Cllr John Joyce, theMayor of Warrington and a number ofchampion boxers attended the officialopening of the new facility last week.

Phoenix amateur boxing clubunveiled at Warrington Station

Ellesmere Port and Chesterfirefighters attended Shell’sStanlow fire training groundfor some realistic firetraining focussingparticularly on flamebending. Firefighter, RobbieThornhill, organised withShell Fire Service shiftmanagers PeteHollingsworth and RayThomas the training sessionwhich began at Shell FireStation.

Crews watched a briefDVD introduction and safetybrief for the flame bendingtraining and once familiarisedwith what was to come, crewsset up on Shell fire trainingground.

Aviation fuel was used tosimulate a fire and workingalongside some key Shell FireService personnel they allpractised the skill ofapproaching and controllingthe fire.

During the session crewswere able to rotate positionsto gain maximum benefit andunderstanding of how to dealwith this type of incident.

A high degree ofteamwork was required toensure a successful outcomeand the crews did a great job.

It really was a greatopportunity to practice in atraining environment at theShell Stanlow site.

Shell training boost for crews


THERE were victories all roundas Warrington Fire Station’sBlue Watch swept the board at

the Cheshire Fire and RescueService Extrication and TraumaChallenge final.

Teams from across Cheshire alongwith visiting teams from GreaterManchester, County Durham,Derbyshire and West Midlands Fireand Rescue Services took part in thechallenge. Warrington’s Blue Watchcame out on top in every category.

More than 1,000 people saw thecrew made up of Manager DamianWight and firefighters Lee Howells,Micky Hitchen, Stuart Robinson andJonathan Hill pick up best team,incident commander, technicaloperation and medic. Trauma teamAdam McConkey and Lee Howellsalso won their challenge which dealswith serious injuries allowing just tenminutes to deal with the casualtybefore a handover to paramedics.

John Turner of Blue Watch said,“This is a new team that was onlyformed a couple of weeks ago soeveryone is over the moon we’re off toa winning start.”

The crew will now represent thecounty in a national competition aftergetting the highest scores in cuttingcasualties out of mock car smashes,reflecting the daily role of firefighters,

the challenges assess the team’sspeed and effectiveness dealing withincidents.

Teams were assessed and scoredin the following areas: IncidentCommand; Technical Tool Operationand Medical Care.

The teams consisted of thefollowing: An Officer-In-Charge; Medic;Tool Operative; Tool Operative andcombined Medic/Tool Operative.

The winners of the CheshireChallenge represented the county atthe National Extrication Challenge inHampshire in October. This two daychallenge set the team against thebest teams in the country.

And the winners in Hampshire willbe entered into the World Challenge in2011 which are being held in NewZealand.

Alongside the Trauma andExtrication Challenge the Fire Stationhosted a Family Fun Day of activitiesfor all the family from drivingsimulators, formula one car simulator,go karts, Mothercare car seat advice,Institute of Advanced DriversAssociation, the Rapid ResponseRoad Unit, a magician, competitionsand prizes, an HGV AwarenessVehicle, various fire appliances, icecreams and a hog roast.

Extrication challenge

Combined training goes off at thedeep endAt the end of August Chester’s Red Watchcarried out a comprehensive training dayusing the combined might of the Brontohydraulic platform to launch the boat and theSwift Water Technicians to use the boat as aworking platform taking advantage of thehigh tidal waters to carry out variouschallenging scenarios.

Worth a mention is Crew Manager NeilHarrison’s ‘dolphin-like’ swim although it has tobe said no dolphin ever ended up with such aglowing face!


The residents of Muir Group Housing RowlandsLodge in Chester visited White Watch at the stationfor a tour as well as receiving safety information

and a demonstration of firefighting equipment.

Rowlands Lodge is a collection of 16 homes within onebuilding for people who have chosen to live there, many ofwhom have learning disabilities, mental health problems orphysical disability.

Rowland Lodge guests were shown around by firefightersDan Holmes and Paul Douglas starting with a tour of the

appliance bay. The visitors were shown the equipment usedand questions were answered by Watch members.

A talk was then given about safety in livingaccommodation and what actions to take in the event of afire. At the end a drill was performed involving hose runningand fire extinguishing and the use of the hydraulic SkyliftBronto was shown.

Residents thanked the Watch and presenting them with acard and letters of thanks.

Housing project residentsget VIP tour of Chester

Widnes on the safety beatGreen Watch from WidnesCommunity Fire Station was invitedto a Summer Carnival at St. BasilsCatholic Primary School.

The carnival consisted of singingand dancing with a South Americantheme. Along with parents the crewobserved an hour of music and dance

performed by the students. Eventuallythe lure of the samba beat proved toomuch for the firefighters and, led byStation Manager Phil Kilgour,proceeded to display just how muchthe Latin rhythm meant to them,especially firefighter Steve Walsh whoshowed what he was capable of when

holding a large set of maracas in hishands.

Green Watch continues to workclosely with this, their nominatedSchool to support activities and workclosely with them to promote FireSafety advice within the community.

Red Watch real “petrol headz” Red Watch Ellesmere Port attended the “Petrol Headz” carshow at Vauxhalls’ site in Ellesmere Port.

Crews carried out a mock extrication road traffic collision in frontof over three hundred people hoping that they would learn a little bitabout the need for safety on our roads and the work of theEmergency Services.

Crews carried out a roof removal and took off the doors to giveplenty of space so onlookers could view clearly the team strappingthe causalty to a spine board to safely remove her from the car. TheOfficer in Charge on the day was Watch Manager Ant Fletcher.


The Service’s Community Fire Protection team andpartner agencies took to the streets of Chesterduring a mammoth special event to deliver vital

safety messages to businesses and promote theimportance of preserving the city’s heritage.

The aim of the ‘Heritage Impact Day’ was to makecontact with as many local businesses as possible and passon some vital advice about how they can keep themselves,their premises and the local environment safe from fire.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Mark Cashin, said: “We arecommitted to protecting the communities and heritage ofCheshire, a county that is fortunate to feature some of theworld’s finest examples of historical buildings.

“Many of these buildings are located in Chester, which iswhy we are working alongside partner agencies to highlightthe role local businesses and landlords have to play inpreserving this city for this and generations to come.”

Fire Authority Member, Cllr Brian Crowe, opened the eventby welcoming partner organisations. More than 50 officers,staff and volunteers from the Service together with a host ofpartner organisations then set about delivering a record 525business visits. Advice focused on protecting Chester’sheritage, fire safety, arson prevention, waste management,business improvement and development services, crimereduction and environmental issues.

Protecting the heritageof Chester

Each business also received a guide to help ensure thatthey have all the information they need to comply with theFire Safety Order.

Cheshire was joined on the day by representatives fromWest Midlands Fire and Rescue Service and EnglishHeritage who were there to share best practice in terms offire service response to the protection of heritage buildings.

Crewe Community FireProtection department held anImpact event in MacclesfieldTown Centre in September.

The Central Ward was chosenas data showed that activity in thisarea made it a high risk area anda variety of shops were chosen foraudit either due to a high risksuch as a firework shop, bakeryor high occupancy such asrestaurants and cafes or high fireload of stock.

Mention should be made ofthe Business Liaison Teamconsisting of Sarah Marshall andSandra Buckle who carried outpreparation work before the eventchecking database details of shopnames and contact detailsidentifying over 20 premises thatwere not on the database.

In all 21 fire safety audits were

completed along Mill Street andChestergate which has resultedin one Action Plan and a numberof notification of deficiencyletters. The Business LiaisonTeam visited 18 shops in theGrosvenor Shopping Centregiving arson prevention andunwanted fire signal reductionadvice,

The Outreach Vehicle was in aprominent position outside theTown Hall for members of thepublic to drop in and in theafternoon the Operational Crewfrom Macclesfield joined the teamto give home safety advice to thepublic and children were shownaround the fire appliance.

The day was really hot andsunny and plenty of shopperswere out and about in the towncentre.

Event targets Macclesfield firms


IN BRIEFBIRCHWOODVISIT CROFTPRIMARYBirchwood’s Blue Watch visitedCroft Primary School's year 5 pupilsto talk about important fire safetyadvice.

Topics covered included escapeplanning, an understanding of whatfire is and how to prevent it, makingemergency phone calls and aninteractive part to confirm theirunderstanding. The pupils enjoyedthe day and learnt some key safetymessages which they can teach totheir families, as they should now beexperts in fire safety.

The session was followed by a tourof Birchwood's fire appliance.

GRESTYCOMMUNITYSAFETY DAYAppliances and crews from BlueWatch attended the GrestyCommunity Safety Day which washeld on Brookhouse Drive in Crewe.

The event was the first of what ishoped to be an annual event whichbrings together local agencies andoffer advice to the local residents ofthe community. Also present wereCheshire Police and WulvernHousing Association.

Firefighters were on hand to showchildren and parents around theappliances and to assist membersof our Community Fire Safety Teamin the handing out of Fire Safety andRoad Safety leaflets. During theday crews made residents aware ofthe free Home Safety Assessmentand offered advice on how to staysafe within their home.

The attending crew was CrewManager Swan, firefighters Bostock,Garrett and Jeffery.

Seven Cheshire members ofthe United KingdomInternational Search and

Rescue (UKISAR) team have justreturned from attending a four daysimulated ‘Earthquake’ exercise atFort Widley, Portsmouth,Hampshire.

Exercise ‘Orion’ simulated a majorearthquake located in the Portsmouthregion of Hampshire and formed themajor part of a national exercise.Realistic scenarios were encounteredby all crews with a 24/7 hour workingpattern. A multi-national team wasassembled including Search andRescue (SAR) teams from Sweden,Spain, Germany, Norway, Italy and theUnited Arab Emirates.

Station Manager Mark Colemantook the lead role of UK team withresponsibility for six International SARteams, medical support, logistic andthe command team. The teams werefaced with approximately 1400 missingpersons in a number of differentlocations. Both live and mannequinrescues were performed in realisticand challenging situations. Cheshire’ssearch dog Bryn (with handler SteveBuckley) was successfully used tolocate a number of live casualties.

Exercise ‘Orion’

The team who attended theexercise were Station Managers MarkColeman, Stu Devereaux and KeithRoughley, Crew Manager GarethScott, Watch Manager Paul Bickertonand firefighter’s Andy Hallworth andSteve Buckley – not forgetting Bryn.

This letter has been received at Runcorn fire station regarding firefighter

Dave Frazer who was on restricted duties at the time of this lady’s cry for help:

Dear Sir

I am writing to extend my thanks to the lovely fire officer who helped me in

my hour of need. I am a primary school Headteacher from the Wirral who had

been invited to a working lunch with the Permanent Secretary - a government

minister - in Runcorn.

Despite my forward planning and being armed with directions I managed

to get myself lost. Not wishing to be late for the lunch and in desperation I

pulled into Runcorn Fire Station to seek directions. The fire officer I spoke to

was so kind and welcoming and on hearing of my dilemma and pressing

deadline escorted me by driving his van for me to follow to the venue.

At my school we have a good working relationship with the local fire

officers who regularly visit to speak with the children and to conduct fire

assessments but I must say that the assistance I received from the Runcorn Fire

Service in my hour of need really was above and beyond the call of duty and

for this I wish to extend my deepest thanks.

Kind regards Jan Lambeth, Headteacher

Dave leads the way


Volunteers on the runChester’s White Watch was

joined by two Fire ServiceVolunteers who spent a day

with the crew.

The two are based at EllesmerePort are Rob, who is currently on a FireService Engineering FoundationDegree at Blackburn College andGavin who works at MBNA in Chester.Both make themselves available toassist as Volunteers on a weekly basisto carryout Home Safety Assessmentsalong with other duties and attendingcommunity activities.

Both Rob and Gavin joined thecrews on the pumps attending to anycalls and were involved in drills on theyard. They were also shown the viewsof Chester from the hydraulic SkyliftBronto and also assisted theoperational crews.

Gavin sent in a letter of thanks:

“I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ formy day with the Watch. Please canyou pass my thanks on to all as theymade me feel really welcome and partof the team. I have no negative

comments from the day as I found itwell structured and organised and theWatch were great to work with.

The audit of the engines at the startof the shift was very interesting to seewhat sits on the appliances. When wedid the drills they made me feel part ofthe team and explained in detail whatwas going on – there were no pointswhere I was standing around as theykept me engaged at all times whichwas great.

It was great driving around inChester that afternoon and to sit in thefront of the appliance. You really dohave a very well organised and greatteam of firefighters and It hasconfirmed to me why I lovedvolunteering for Cheshire Fire andRescue Service for the past 5 years.”

n Gav in fire kit.

Green Watch Chesterdeliver students 6th senseIn partnership with Chester UniversityChester’s Green Watch co-ordinated theuse of social networking sites includingthe University Intranet, Blue ToothTechnology and more conventionalmethods to engage with potentially nearlyten thousand university students.

Fresher’s Day witnessed White Watchand Advocates providing Fire Safety adviceand promoting the Intranet hyperlinks. Over1000 1st year students living in universityself-catering accommodation are to beformally offered pre-booked Home SafetyAssessments (HSA) with prompts sent outas text messages to the hall wardens withattendance at these to be a condition of theirtenancy.

In addition all other students can bookHSAs via the hyperlink promoted on theuniversity Intranet and university/studentFacebook pages. Personal attack alarmscarrying the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Logo havebeen delivered to the University Welfare Officer to bedistributed to vulnerable Students.

All shower doors will be fitted with stickers, “close me andavoid an unwanted fire signal” messages and in November aRoad Safety 6th Sense was delivered in conjunction with the

Road Policing Unit as the university campus is adjacent to aRed Route. To date 2,600 students have already received 6thSense literature and the Uni.Bar is pro-active in promotingthe messages.

The Watch would to thank all departments who haveassisted in this delivery who are too numerous to mention.

n University Dean, Students Union President, Station Manager Ian West andFirefighter Andy Spencer.


A welcomebreakRuncorn Firefighters were proud to welcomethree intrepid cyclists from the town ofTenbury Wells, Worcestershire to their FireStation on the final leg of a 500 mile cycle ridefrom Inverness in Scotland.

David Bailey, Richard Smith and road crewman Tony Phillips hoped to raise £2000 forDiabetes UK after David’s daughter Alice wasdiagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes four years ago.It is hoped that the money they raise can gosome way to finding a cure.

It was Tony, who is an ‘On Call’ firefighter andand works out of Tenbury Wells Fire Station, whocontacted fire stations along the route to give theteam somewhere to rest.

During their overnight stay, Green Watchcontacted their local Weatherspoons, ‘The FerryBoat’ and were more than grateful to ManagerCarol Ann who was happy to feed the team forfree!

Muscles for CharityOver the summer months the ‘Muscles for Charity’ team has beenin action again raising a staggering £800 for St.Luke’s Hospice justby giving 12 hours of their time.

The team lead by John Boswell completed two projects for differentpeople who had each bid £400 at a Charity Auction at the end of May.

The team had been ‘a Lot’ at the auction and had agreed to give upto 30 person hours of labour to the winning bidder, but, as there weretwo bidders both wanting the Lot, the auctioneer suggested that eachshould have the services of the team and both give £400 to St.Luke’s,

The first job was to re-point a patio in Nantwich, the team consistingof our very own John Boswell, Jon Caulfield, Lee McGarity, Garry Stolland Paul Donaghy After a good five hours the task had been completedand the owner extremely happy with the job, and a few of the firefightershappy with the sunburn!

The second job took place a month later in Wybunbury near Crewewhen five volunteers gave up their Saturday morning to paint someinternal doors, skirting boards and radiators. Cheshire Fire and RescueServices’ John Boswell, Lee McGarity and Mark Huxley with studentsJon Gatley and Vicki Boswell all prepared the woodwork then painteduntil the job was completed.

If anyone is interested in giving a few hours of labour or knows of anycharity or deserving cause who could use the services of Muscles forCharity, please either contact John Boswell or visit the website atwww.musclesforcharity.org

n Station Manager Sean Henshaw with David,Richard and Tony.

October car wash for FireFighters CharityFirefighters and Fire Cadets got out their buckets and

sponges to help raise as much money as they could forThe Fire Fighters Charity during a car wash event

throughout the county on 2 October.

Car washes were held at Birchwood, Chester, Crewe,Ellesmere Port, Holmes Chapel, Nantwich, Northwich,Macclesfield, Runcorn, Sandbach, Warrington and Widnes.Thanks to all who helped and also members of the public whogave so generously.

n Northwich firefighters Paul Dunn and Steve Tucker showing how toproperly wash a car.


ArrivalsNew startersANDREW LEADBETTERAndrew Leadbetter has joined us as theHead of Legal and Democratic Servicesbased at HQ. He has worked in the publicand private sector as a solicitor sincequalifying in 1988.

PAUL BINYON Paul has joined us as a Station ManagerMIC Officer for the Cheshire East area,from Greater Manchester, since 1992roles include Operations, Training andDevelopment and Community Fire SafetyLiaison.

LEIGH MULLINLeigh has joined us as a Watch Managerand new instructor in the OperationalTraining Group. He previously served withDerbyshire Fire and Rescue Service for 11years.

PETER TAYLORPoynton Fire station welcomes new oncall firefighter Peter Taylor who also worksas a firefighter at Woodford Aerodrome.He also teaches and plays the trumpet forthe local marching band The PoyntonCommodores.

BRADLEY RUSSELLPoynton Fire station welcomes new oncall firefighter Bradley Russell who hasworked for local company Regal Garagedoors for over three years and installsgarage doors, gates and awningselectronic and manual.

GEORGINA GOODWINPoynton Fire station welcomes new oncall firefighter Georgina Goodwin whoworks at a Tytherington golf and fitnessclub. She also enjoys keeping fit,walking, horse riding and finding newways to entertain her six-year-old son.

NIGEL JAMESNigel has joined us as an Older Person’sSupport Advocate in partnership with AgeConcern Cheshire and is based at SHQ.Nigel was previously a Men’s Health andWellbeing Co-ordinator for Age Concern.

MARK SHONEMark has joined the CorporateCommunications Department as theCommunication and Engagement Officer.He previously worked at acommunications agency specialising inthe NHS and social care for nine years.

MIGRANT ADVOCATESThe following Migrant Advocates havebeen employed by Cheshire Fire andRescue Service to identify and engagewith members of the migrant communitiesof Cheshire East, Cheshire West andChester, Halton and Warrington.

Joanna Grygowska and Marina Smith(Warrington), Marcin Marcinkiewicz (EastCheshire); Malgorzata Sasinska andFrances Street (Halton); Carol Keen andKaren Hollinghurst (West Cheshire).

Their target is to develop, generate anddeliver community safety initiatives as wellas working with partner agencies toachieve the agreed objective of the trans-migration project, developing linksbetween migrant communities and partneragencies, improving access to and uptakeof social service provisions and theservices offered by other supportorganisations.

This involves Home Safety Assessments(HSA’s), identifying potential campaignareas and involves flexible working toinclude evenings and weekends

Targets include completing 3600 HSA‘sper year to persons from the migrantcommunity ,increasing numbers ofpersons accessing GP’s, increasing thenumber of children accessing school,reporting hate crime to the Police, andincreasing the numbers of migrant’schildren attending RESPECT courses.

Photos from top: Joanna Grygowska,Marcin Marcinkiewicz, MalgorzataSasinska, Frances Street, Carol Keen,Karen Hollinghurst, Marina Smith.


FarewellsSamantha Curphey SHQ 10 Jun 7 yrs

FF Gary Moore Winsford 15 Jun 18 yrs

FF Andrew Macdonald Frodsham 12 Sept 14 yrs 7 mths

FF Craig Hadfield Poynton 30 Sept 22 yrs 2 mths

Celeste Holmes SHQ 1 Oct 2 yrs

Louise Stuart SHQ 17 Oct 10 yrs 1 mth

Leavers

WM Steve Newton Chester 26 June 30 yrs

FF Alan Corbin Crewe 29 June 30 yrs

Linda Walker SHQ 30 June 9 yrs 2 mths

WM Stephen Hadden Warrington 1 July 30 yrs

CM Gareth Jones Crewe 7 July 30 yrs 0 mths

FF Brian Holmes Widnes 8 July 30 yrs

FF Peter Scott Chester 2 Aug 22 yrs

WM Jonathan Boothby Macclesfield 3 Aug 35 yrs

FF Stephen Coulson Warrington 15 Aug 31 yrs

FF Raymond Molyneux Birchwood 1Sept 30 yrs

FF Philip Walsh Chester 3 Oct 36 yrs

FF Martin Morrow Northwich 4 Oct 5 yrs 5 mths

WM Tony Sheridan SHQ Control 14 Oct 30 yrs

CM Adrian Brown Runcorn 19 Oct 30 yrs

Retirements

Cheshire back onthe golfing mapThe National Golf Singles Tournament returned to Cheshire inAugust. The last time Cheshire hosted a national golftournament was over 30 years ago. This year it was hosted byWilmslow Golf Club where 64 golfers from the four corners ofthe UK came to win the coveted King’s Trophy.

The eventual winner was Darren Watson from Grampian Fire andRescue Service with two rounds of 75. The winner in the net scorecategory was Dirk Ord from Tyne and Wear with rounds of 65 and71. Ian Swanson and Paul Daniels were the representatives fromCheshire; Paul received an award for his performance on the 14thhole. Both produced good scores but just failed to get into the topfive. Area Manager Lyndon Loweth was on hand to present prizeson behalf of the Service. The day was a great success and ViceChair of the FSSAA John Doyle said “We have been hoping thatCheshire would run an event for years and hopefully it won’t bedecades till we return here again.”

Special thanks go to all the volunteers on the day, especially KeithPick and Sue Care for all their hard work.

Cheshiregolfer in theEngland teamCrew Manager Kevin Grace from Wilmslow hasqualified to represent England Fire Service atgolf.

He is a player in the England Team to playScotland in a ‘Ryder Cup Style’ tournament to beplayed in Scotland later this year. The 7 handicappershot a net 67 in the regional qualifier and made the12 strong team to take on the Scots in their ‘ownback-yard’ and bring the cup back to England.

Last time out the English won so are hoping toretain the cup. Kevin was part of the England set-upin 2007 and he won both his matches so is hopingto maintain his 100% record.

n Kevin hitting a tee shot on his way to his 67.n Area Manager Lyndon Loweth with Carl Leech of Cleveland Fire and

Rescue Service.

w


Sport & Welfare

SPORT & WELFARE • SPORT & WELFARE • SPORT &

n Cadets and leaders from Stockton Heath and Widnes: Zac Preston, Jacob Boot,Jaime Heinzl, Jade Brennan, Martin Webster and Andy Hughes.

Cadets brave halfmarathon forGhana appeal

Despite torrential rain around 1,800 runners braved the elements to takepart in the second New Balance English Half Marathon in Warringtonincluding our intrepid Fire Cadets who were raising funds for the Ghanaappeal 2011.

As part of the fund raising drive for Ghana 2011, two Cadet Leaders, AndyHughes and Martin Webster, and three Fire Cadets, Watch Manager JadeBrennan, Watch Manager Jakob Boote and Crew Manager Jamie Heinzl fromRuncorn Fire Station decided to take part in the New Balance English HalfMarathon in Warrington.

This in itself may have been a foolish idea but the team then decided to dothe run wearing tunic, wet legs and Breathing Aparatus set.

The event organiser was delighted with the turn out as 1,800 runners took tothe roads of south Warrington through Latchford, Grappenhall, Appleton Thornand Stockton Heath.

Karl ridesto winKarl Robinson from Middlewich was thelucky winner of a competition to win anInstitute of Advanced Riding course onhis own motorcycle.

Karl completed the questionnaire at theThundersprint event in Northwich at thebeginning of May, where he was asked toidentify what is the cause of most seriousand fatal motorcycle accidents and whatdid he consider to be the biggestcontribution to motorcyclist’s safety. Hisname was picked out at random to win theBike course. He has been ridingmotorbikes for 16 years and is lookingforward to completing the course.

Karl said of his win, “This course is theperfect opportunity to improve my ridingskills and be a safer motorcyclist.”

n Karl Robinson on the Fire Bike with PeteShields from the Road Safety Unit andVolunteer David Hicks, one of fourvolunteers who speaks to motorcyclistsabout safer riding courses.

Firefighters from Runcorn who completed two marathons in two days carrying a ladder have boosted the fundsraised by holding a Charity Night to auction off over £2500 worth of prizes!

Over 280 tickets were sold for the event which was a complete success. Raffle prizes made over £1000 and the auctionmade over £4500 for the chosen charities on the night. A video made by firefighter Rob Everson set the tone for the evening,showing pictures from the marathon run, where the firefighters ran through Cheshire and Merseyside raising awareness ofboth The Fire Fighters Charity and Help for Heroes. It was both thought provoking and emotional for many watching.

Along with personal sponsorship White Watch Runcorn have now raised over £10,000. They have not only heightened theprofile of the charity across Cheshire and Merseyside but broadcast to servicemen and women worldwide about the hardwork carried out by The Fire Fighters Charity and Help for Heroes.

Update from marathon effort

Documents

Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel Informed … newsletter dec 10... · Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel Informed December 2010 Boxing clever - p19