Christmas and New Year Jobs

[Keith]

As traditional as finding something different to do with the turkey leftovers, for anybody working over the Christmas and New Year period, post the details of any jobs here.

Hope you have a quiet and safe one.

[JonnyHolbs]

I got a cheeky wear at a car fire outside Kensington police station early Christmas Day morning. Fireworks on the front seat for extra drama.

North Ken greens had a pretty spicy couple of nights as well.

[Matt]

MP10 on Christmas Day at a biogas plant in Humberside plus specials, good chunk was retained attendance!  Vegetable oil on fire.  Some got a white Christmas, others didn't!!

[Noddy]

Jobs..... building kids toys and eating like a man possessed (off this year for a change 👍👍👍🎅🏼🎅🏼🎅🏼). 

[Charlie_]

Ironically on Boxing Day, a fire in a church, most likely culprit being the Christmas tree left on! 

 

[Highlander]

Dad this a few days before Christmas. It kept flaring up for a few days after, but was too dangerous to get into properly.

[Healdav]

A week or so before Christmas my wife and I were at our local pizzeria. They have a normal restaurant (very good) and also a separate events room. WE could hear a party going on in the events room. Suddenly, there was a rush of people out of the room, all clutching pagers. We realised that it was the village fire unit responding to a call.

They didn't come back while we were there, so it must have been a real call, not a false alarm.

There were still people left, presumably wives and friends. I only wonder how much they had all had to drink before the call.

[Steve]

Ghost of Christmas past here.... I can remember the Christmas tour always throwing a job or two our way... in the early 90's it become a bit of a 'when' not if as we'd always seem to pick up a good domestic fire. I can recall one estate just at the top of Poplar's ground (The Lincoln Estate), serving us up on two separate Christmas's. One was a proper 'flames out of all windows' of a 2nd and 3rd floor maisonette.

Christmas remained quite busy for me, even in the later years. Because I lived in London, I'd often swap shift's with other Officers who lived outside and would be away from their families. So it'd be a few shifts at home for me with just the call-out element which was ideal and they'd owe me shifts for other times during the year. I always seemed to pick something up, a lot escape me now, but I remember a fatal RTC on the A13 near Wennington at 5am on Christmas morning where a 15 year old out joyriding was killed and a few others badly injured. And my last ever Christmas Day 24 shift in 2017 didn't disappoint with a 6pf PR in a house in Plaistow. (see image)

[Messyshaw]

I have been retired for many years now but I remember my craziest Christmas was in the early 1980s

Contrary to Steve’s memories of busy Xmas periods, mine are of dull and boring times. Call numbers tended to drop considerably, we had a two week ‘stand down’ where there were no station routines, just essential work then TV, snooker, cards and…… yawn… boredom.

The first Xmas after my fiancé had moved into my flat found me working second nights on Xmas eve.  I reassured her that Xmas was always dead so I would almost certainly get a night in bed and by all means, she should go ahead and plan our first xmas lunch together.

You are probably ahead of me here, in that yes, that 15 hours shift felt much longer than usual. We had an 8 pump fire in an HMO with multiple ladder rescues, a 4 pump fire in a house and another 4 pumper in a shop ….. not to mention a person threatening to jump at our local Mental Health Unit and a burst water main in the street affecting some basement flats.

I arrived home around 11.30 “smelling like a kipper” (as she called it) and despite an Oscar winning performance, she could see I was knackered.  She was a bit annoyed after my promise of a quiet shift but agreed my plan of a shower and an hour’s power nap. However, the 'nap' turning into a full on sleep and I appeared sheepishly at 15.30 to be faced by a huge turkey (& all the trimmings) ‘breakfast’.

Jesus, it was hard going. I would have preferred tea and toast, but simply had to endure a (bloody lovely) 3 course xmas dinner and wine. I forced it down though like the hero I am…….. and fell asleep in the chair soon after as she did the washing up. Not exactly the xmas she had envisaged 🤔

As you can imagine, I had a lot of work to do to get into her good books afterwards........ and of course, I am never allowed to forget our first Christmas together 🙄

[Dyson]

You need to do a book Messy 😊

[Messyshaw]

@Dyson. I wouldnt dare as I would have Steve on the war path 😳

I would like to do an alternative book about jobs I have missed. I would fill several volumes 

A 15 pump fire in a school on the next ground (control cock up),

A 20 pump factory fire on my  ground as I was on a relief on a pile of manure

And too many others to mention

To be honest, I always preferred smaller jobs - 4 and under - and my favourite memories are at this type of job.

This includes a chimney fire in the Environment Mininsters daughters flat......when she burned logs..... in a smokeless zone. The irony of this job made it to the Private Eye magazine -  but not via me (on this occasion)  

[Dyson]

I think your writing would compliment Steve's, his being a gritty story of the realities of firefighting in London, and yours being a funny version of the same topic. You have a self deprecating, modest way of describing your time on the trucks, which I find interesting and actually quite charming.  I always enjoy it when you break one of your stories out 😊
 

[Percy]

Had this the other day. We’ve locally had a rescue from a flat early hours of Christmas Day and sadly a fatal flat fire the night after. 

This one was an eye opener though because when he came out he was unconscious not breathing and as the crews jumped on his chest, thick black smoke came out of him every compression due to the amount of plastics and polystyrene ceiling tiles inside his house that had been on fire. I was convinced he was dead but a miracle occurred and after approx another five minutes of Fire only CPR he somehow came to life, slowly. He then tried to get up! unimpressed he was on the grass and more confused as to why!

Once the medics and Air Ambulance Drs arrived though they soon stabilised him and due to upper airway swelling shot him off to hospital - latest is he’s ok, he will need some social care intervention when he comes out due to some high risk personal and pain domestic behaviours but he’s still here bless him!

Firefighters Save Unconscious Man
 

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Keith
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[BurtMacklin]

First job of the year, flat fire with a “led to safety by BA” and TL rescue. 3 removed to hospital including a police officer, all as a precaution. 

[Rory-495]

Saw that on BOSS yesterday, looked to be a good job. Conversely on my last shift before the end of the year i broke my FIFTEEN month dry spell with a person's reported house job at 9am

[Luminoki]

Started today with a make pumps 4 house fire in a row of terraces, luckily the first BA crew managed to confine it to the bedroom. Ended last year with a fatal house fire whilst detatched at another station