Yorkshire Firefighters

[Keith]

Its been a while since there has been a documentary series which followed firefighters, the latest following West Yorkshire Firefighters starts on Thursday 29th July on BBC Two at 20.00

Details here Yorkshire Firefighters

(It must have been moved to BBC Two due to the Olympics coverage as it is showing as a BBC One programme.)

[Youngnis4]

Looking forward to watching this. I watched it the first time and it gave a great insight into the role and what station life was like. Some of the things I would feel silly asking were pretty much answered just from watching this. 

[CaptainFlack]

WMs in a car ???

😱😱😱😱😱😱

[Keith]

Seems the first two programmes in the series have been shown in BBC Yorkshire (not sure what other areas this includes) hence the spoiler alerts above.😉

[J.Tredgett]

I managed to watch 4 episodes on BBC iPlayer the other week somehow, was pretty good.

[Messyshaw]

I watched the 1st episode last night and quite enjoyed it.

There's always a few awkward bits where the crew aren't entirely relaxed, but in between really good glimpses of what I remember 

The first shout was a bread and butter job - a firework into a ,post office post box. It maybe poor editing but they seemed a bit stumped about what to do!!. We used a BCF extinguisher or when they were banned,  we dumped dry sand in to deal with the fire but save the mail.

In the end they popped the door - the TV crew had the sense not to show how - then managed to re secure it. Is that common practice?

Also on the firework thru the front door shout, they seemed to fit a device to block the letterbox to stop a reoccurrence. Great idea. Anyone else carry them?

[Aspire]

Whilst we don’t routinely carry Arson Proof Letterboxes in LFB, we have them available at all area hubs with arrangements to have them collected and fitted 24hrs a day.

[Stamps]

Saw the first episode couple of nights ago on BBC 2 set up my series link on that now. Was good watching, good insight into it all. Each series I watch following FRS just gives me that drive that this is for me more and more. 

What did raise a chuckle was them saying [spoiler] we want to get there quick before the fire does too much damage, cut to them smashing the ceilings down to relieve the pressure the weight of the water is putting on them. [/Spoiler]

*Edit Was hoping I could blank out the spoiler part just incase people were planning to watch but hadnt

[Keith]

On 27/07/2021 at 21:57, CaptainFlack said:

WMs in a car ???

Or more specifically in a pickup truck.

They seem to be using them in place / instead of flexi SM's. Do we have anyone from West Yorkshire who can explain the crewing?

[Aspire]

I would speculate that they may be in the car to ferry the film crew around, although i’d be very interested to hear if that is an actual crewing model.

[Keith]

Definitely think its as part of a crewing model @Aspire. Each station that has featured has the WM in the pickup and they seem to be working on there own, if it was a small fire or rescue unit you would expect them to be riding as Oic with at least a driver. The pumps all look to be riding with 4 with a CM as Oic.

[Kinmel]

Last night someone described a building as "Well alight" 😲

[Dyson]

😂😂 I watched it but missed that ! Good spot 🤩

[Becile]

Good watching, although one thing I’m really surprised at is the crews seemingly routinely not wearing seatbelts, (both JO and in the back, )rather ironic in the last episode when it showed an RTC and the comment was “the seatbelt probably saved him”

[Dandewalt]

Did anyone else spot at the very end of the last episode the pump driving off with a locker up ? Lol 

[Kinmel]

Editing is dreadful, shout to a skip sees a pump and the officer turn out whilst the APL never moved, next shot is the ALP leading the pump down the road and arrival is back to just pump.  plent of other examples too.  

[Messyshaw]

@Kinmel That sounds like London's Burning where the lazy editing coukd show images of a turn out, en route and on arrival shots- all with different models of fire appliances 

Now that's magic 🤔

[Keith]

On the subject of ALP's one of the stations appears to have either a CRAP or Stinger type appliance. Hasn't really been shown in much detail, but in one of the shots about getting stuck in the snow there was an appliance with an odd looking axle arrangement, a smaller wheel in front of the main one making its way back into the station. Couldn't really determine much about it, apart from booms at the front and the outriggers built into the main body.

Might have been footage borrowed from London's Burning though.😂

[Kinmel]

3 hours ago, Messyshaw said:

@Kinmel That sounds like London's Burning where the lazy editing coukd show images of a turn out, en route and on arrival shots- all with different models of fire appliances 

Now that's magic 🤔

"London's Burning" - known throught the UK fire services at the time as "London's Burning - I am not surprised"

When a London guy was asked at the College " What is the big yellow square thing stowed on the cab roof of every pump ?" he explained that is a "Street-end".  He added if it is a working job, we open it out and set it up to block each end of the street and then we can just flood it.   

After watching London's Burning, we believed him. 

[Keith]

Years since I heard the term "Street Ends" @Kinmel.🤣

[Dyson]

I really likes the series, was good to hear and see what they get up to up there. Now I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ but I have to comment…..

Fire in a high bay, racked furniture warehouse, crews committed on either a HRJ or without any media at all …..  the crew who got to the fire had no water. 
 

I would be on a fizzer for making decisions of that standard. 

Atherstine on stour, Charlotte SC……

Would that be acceptable where you are ?

 

 

[Firefox1608]

How can you safely protect your BA team without firefighting media? Any BA operations involving fire needs a HRJ for self-protection as a minimum, otherwise we wouldn't make it past the BAECO. 

For warehouse of that sort, HRJ would only really be suitable if you were undertaking search and rescue only away from the seat of fire. Otherwise you want the weight of attack that a 45 offers you. 

[Steve]

I have watched it through 'old eyes' now and quite enjoyed it. I did get a sense of working jobs being a lot less common now due to their general reaction to what I'd have considered a day to day shout (bedroom fire), but they seem like a switched of gang up there. I thought about the WM, maybe it is an arrangement to provide Station Officer/WM cover, if they distinguish between A and B. I know that with so few 2 pump station left I'm my part fo LFB when I retired three years ago, some PL's with Stn O's in charge were going miles just for Stn O cover, which could be addressed with them riding alone like a half way house between Stn O and Stn Comm?

On 08/08/2021 at 14:55, Kinmel said:

"London's Burning" - known throught the UK fire services at the time as "London's Burning - I am not surprised"

When a London guy was asked at the College " What is the big yellow square thing stowed on the cab roof of every pump ?" he explained that is a "Street-end".  He added if it is a working job, we open it out and set it up to block each end of the street and then we can just flood it.   

After watching London's Burning, we believed him. 

No one likes us... we don't care!!!! 😆🤷‍♂️

[Kinmel]

In the dim past, rural county brigades invariably had a Sub .O. in charge of the watch and officer cover being a Stn.O. or the ADO in radio cars. ( Three officers to a group on the 84hr week )When 1st Call  I responded to calls for 1 W/T and 5 R/T  station areas, whilst also being 2nd call for the next patch over.  That W/T station had 3WRLs, H.P., E.T. and F.o.T.

Same system in place when I changed counties.

Steve  I met a lot of LFB characters at Moreton and Dorking in the 70s and 80s - everyone of them had brilliant tales to tell.

[TandA]

On 17/08/2021 at 05:50, Dyson said:

Would that be acceptable where you are ?

No.  Not seen the show so going by the description on here only but I cannot  see me ever committing a crew to something like that without water. If I did then I would rightly expect that decision to be questioned robustly.