Emergency, well kind of

We had our first proper fire evacuation today since moving into our Derriford Business Park office building. It seems that the automatic system detected a fire so we all had to leave and stand outside for half an hour.

Fortunately it was a lovely day and nice and warm outside. It took a while but eventually we had one of Crownhill's appliances turn up and conduct a quick check of the building to make sure it was safe to return. Sadly it was so back to work. At least it broke the day up a bit.

I cant say that it was this one for certain, but it was one of the same batch.

Devon Fire Brigade back in 2001

As the hosts of the even there were various members of the Devon Fire Brigade fleet on display and in attendance. Here are just a few of them...

N419RFJ MAN truck which is used with the 'Pods' - interchangeable specialist equipment units for maximum flexibility.

General runabout Ford Transit

Very impressive livery carried on this Iveco Cargo truck

Several of these Dennis appliances were giving rides around Plymouth Hoe - very popular indeed as you can imagine

Support car

Impressive displays of the turntable and ladder appliances during the day

One of the 'pods' mentioned above

One of the newer appliances seen on the day was this smart MAN X374BOD.

There were plenty of vehicles down from other brigades too so one or two of these will appear here tomorrow evening - Hopefully (Wife has a birthday so cant spend too long on the computer!)

Fire Rescue in 2001

I had hoped to publish this section yesterday but better late than never. Back in August 2001 Devon Fire Brigade hosted the National Crash Rescue competition where brigades from across the country competed against each other to rescue volunteers from crashed cars. We start the week with a flavour of the actual crash rescues in progress...

The amazing thing was that the volunteers had to get into the cars first before they could be rescued!

The aftermath!

Tomorrow I will feature some of the Devon Fire Brigade fleet which were present at the event.

Devon Fire Brigade

Another photo from the emergency services. Devon Fire Brigade's Mercedes Fire Command Unit. One of 4 bought for the fleet back in 1999. They are certainly distinctive and very smart.

Sadly the Fire Brigade features in the news tonight for all the wrong reasons as firemen were bombarded with stones from youths when called out to a small fire. It seems that the fire was deliberately set as an ambush. With the recent stone throwing incident I reported on a few days ago being one of about twelve such attacks on bus drivers by stone throwing youths it seems that anyone out there providing a public service is considered a target. Of course the bus company could just decide not to serve an area after dark, as happens across the country. The Fire Brigade dont really have that option, and I am sure they wouldnt want to take such action even if they could.

Devon Fire Brigade

Devon Fire Brigade WA04DHE, originally uploaded by didbygraham.

Following on for the two Police vans I thought I would stay with the Emergency Services and show this nice photo I managed to take of Devon Fire Brigades WA04DHE one of their MAN appliances.
Devon FB is just about the biggest MAN fan amongst the countrys brigades with only a few other brigades still buying them.

Devon Fire Brigade

©eggmoss (Flickr Blog)

Found this wonderful photo of an old Devon Fire Brigade appliance which I believe was caught on camera somewhere on Dartmoor. As well as being a nice photo of an old appliance its a good photo to illustrate a recent news story...

Devon and Somerset's fire services are to merge in an effort to save more than £3 million - but unions fear it will mean a loss of local knowledge and accountability.The merger was made law by the Government 20th November as part of the biggest shake up of fire services in the South West for nearly 30 years. The combined Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority will hold a 'shadow' meeting on December 1, in preparation of the full switch over on April 1, 2007.

A more detailed article on the merger can be found here (PDF document)

Pole-axed!

Fire chiefs in Devon have hit back at claims they built a new station without a pole for health and safety reasons. The 52 firefighters at the new £2.1m Greenbank fire service HQ, in Plymouth, have to run down two flights of stairs to get to their engines. It was reported the pole was left out for fear of officers slipping on it, hurting their knees and ankles. But a spokeswoman for Devon Fire and Rescue Service said there was no room for a pole in the station. Bernard Hughes, Fire Service Authority chairman, said on Friday that everything in the fire service was now governed by risk assessment. "Whilst every consideration regarding health and safety was taken into account, the reason that a pole was not included was purely due to space restrictions." The traditional pole has been used in fire stations since Victorian times and was described by the FBU spokesman as an "iconic symbol" which is also "useful and very important". full story bbc.co.uk

2nd July 2005: Devon Fire Brigade

Devon Fire Brigade have this brand new MAN Driver Training Vehicle WA05EZM. Generaly they have used old appliances for training purposes in the past.




didbygraham

Devon Fire Brigade

A rare chance to get a photograph of this one tonight at Derriford so I took it! Mercedes Unimog All-Terrain specialist Rescue Vehicle of Devon Fire Brigade. I was thinking it was time to feature the Fire Brigade as well...
didbygraham