FIRE RELATED NEWS ARTICLES

[The Wise Old Owl]

Flags half-mast at fire stations

FIRE stations across Greater Manchester were flying their brigade flags at half-mast as a mark of respect to two fire fighters from Hertfordshire who lost their lives on Wednesday while trying to rescue people trapped in a fire in a 17-storey block of flats in Stevenage.

Fire crews also held a minute's silence during their watch changes on Thursday night.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Ukranian Centre fire

A UKRANIAN Cultural Centre has been destroyed in a fire in Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

People were evacuated from their homes after the fire broke out on Wednesday evening. About 30 firefighters tackled the blaze but were forced to leave when part of the function room's roof collapsed.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Residents return home after fire

People who were evacuated after a fire in Manchester have now returned to their homes.
Twenty people were moved from their properties because of the blaze at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Cheetham Hill on Wednesday afternoon.

They were taken to Temple Primary School while 30 firefighters brought the fire under control.

No-one was injured in the fire, although it caused extensive damage. It is not known how it started.


Officers arrived at the scene of the fire at 1545 GMT on Wednesday and evacuated 20 people from 16 houses on Smedley Lane.

Smedley Lane and Hazelbottom Road were closed because of the fire and reopened on Thursday morning.




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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fire crews tackle blaze at school

More than 70 firefighters have been tackling a blaze in a science block at a school near Barnsley.
The fire started at Willowgarth School in Brierley Road, Grimethorpe, just before lunchtime on Thursday and took several hours to control.

A female staff member was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. All 750 school pupils have been sent home.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said it was likely the building would have to be demolished.

A helicopter was used to broadcast messages to residents to stay indoors in case of hazardous chemicals.

Community tragedy

Assistant chief fire officer John Hoey said flames were coming through the building's roof when crews arrived.

Other reports said the smoke from the blaze could be seen from miles around.

The fire started in a classroom on the ground floor but it is not yet known how.

"The fire quickly grabbed hold and spread through the entire building. It will have to be demolished which is a tragedy for the children and for the community," Mr Hoey said.

"The science block is a significant part of the school.

"If the building had been fitted with sprinklers then maybe the children would have been back in school sooner."

He added staff had acted quickly and correctly in evacuating the building.

Immediate evacuation

A spokesman for Barnsley Council said the school had been evacuated immediately and parents were being kept informed of the situation.

The fire has caused a serious amount of damage and crews were likely to remain on site until Thursday night, he added.

"One member of staff suffered smoke inhalation and as a precautionary measure was taken to hospital for a check-up. There are no other reports of injuries," he said.

"We will reopen the school as soon as possible, but until the fire service have completed their work we are unsure when this will be."

An emergency council team is at the site and will stay until fire crews have declared the area to be safe.

They will then begin the work of assessing fire and water damage before deciding when and if the school can be reopened.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fire crews and HQ staff are on the mark

Leamington fire station celebrated an award for excellence this week.
Both back room staff and front line firefighters were awarded the coveted Charter Mark standard for their efforts.

Fire officer William Brown said: "It is a team effort and I am extremely proud of everyone who has helped us receive this.

"It is recognition of the great service we provide to the people of Warwickshire."

The service gained the same recognition four years ago.

Mr Brown added: "It is a great achievement to get it for a second time and shows we have not rested on our laurels but continued to develop and make improvements."

To win the Charter Mark, the service had to endure a four day inspection visit looking into all aspects of the organisation.

Business development officer Vikkii Chamberlain said: "You can only apply for the award once every four years, and different areas of the service are looked at.

"User friendliness of the internet site and how resources are used effectively are some of the areas that are judged."

Any public service which manages its own staff and budget can apply for a Charter Mark.

The service received a letter of congratulation from prime minister Tony Blair for its efforts.




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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fire service gets a lift

Budget increased to £15 million
MODERNISING has pushed up Central Scotland's fire and rescue service's budget.
The Fire Board will spend £15 million next year, up by £376,000 – a 2.16 per cent increase on the current year.
The extra is needed to meet firefighters' pay increases, pension costs and modernisation the board has to implement, members heard.
Like last year, the Board agreed to offset some of the increase by using £270,000 from its reserves.
Falkirk Council will pay £7,718,000 in the next year; Stirling and Clackmannanshire £4,412,000 and £2,627,000 respectively.
Board treasurer Alex Jannetta told members that although Audit Scotland said progress had been made implementing modernisation, it stressed the need for extra cash to ensure the changes were properly planned, co-ordinated and resourced.
Mr Jannetta said: "The Firemaster is of the view that to meet these challenges, there will undoubtedly be a need for additional resources to implement the various areas of the modernisation programme."
He added that Firemaster John Early had said around £500,000 was needed to take the programme forward.
Staff costs had also risen, board members heard and were expected to increase further with the next stage of the firefighters' pay award due this July. Although there is still no indication of what this will be, the budget allows for a three per cent increase.
After the package was approved, fire board convener Tom Coll said: "This
budget enables us to meet the requirements of our firefighters' pay award and the demands of the modernisation agenda.
"We have made steady progress on modernisation but we have some way to go, so we will be using some £500,000 of our reserves over the next few years to this end."

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fatal fire murder suspect bailed

A man, arrested over the murder of a woman who was doused in petrol which then caught fire, has been released on police bail.
Tracey Speirs, 32, from Woodville Terrace in Moston, Manchester, died on 15 January.

A 32-year-old man was arrested on 21 January but could not be questioned for several days as he was receiving hospital treatment.

He has now been bailed until 17 February pending further inquiries.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fire crew may go in shake-up

DURHAM will lose one of its three fire crews under proposals to boost cover in Spennymoor.

The county's brigade says the move could improve response times to some of the area's outlying villages.

The brigade wants to replace the fire stations at Spennymoor and Bishop Auckland with new ones built under the controversial Private Finance Initiative.

Spennymoor is currently manned by two part-time - or retained - crews, one of which would be replaced by a full-time crew of 28 firefighters on four watches if the proposals win approval.

One of the crews would be scrapped but the brigade says the reduction would be through 'natural wastage.'

Allan Wood, the brigade's special projects area manager, said Durham had three fire engines to meet the criteria of old national standards that were scrapped, giving brigades more flexibility about where to station crews.

"The emphasis used to be on protecting property but now it is on saving lives."

The proposal was based on risk assessments and analysis of incidents and a full time crew at Spennymoor would 'significantly improve' cover in the area and give quicker response times to incidents.

While people in the Durham area might think they would get a worse service, the move to Spennymoor could mean firefighters reaching fires in villages such as Bowburn, Coxhoe and Brandon faster.

He added that the plan would enable the brigade to do more fire prevention work, such as fitting smoke alarms, and bring Durham's crewing into line with other stations in the county.

"We don't class it as a worse service. We think it is a more appropriate service based on identified risk."

Mr Wood said he was disappointed nobody attended public consultation meetings on the proposals.

Durham County Council deputy leader Don Ross, who represents Framwellgate Moor, said: "I'm confident it will not increase any risk in any way.

"And I am confident that it will improve the service delivery to an area where we are getting an increase in demand and that has a retained service."

But Weardale Independent county councillor John Shuttleworth said: "It is jeopardising the lives of the people in Durham."

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[The Wise Old Owl]

House on fire? Call 999 and they\'ll send a van round

A VAN carrying two firefighters could arrive first at a house blaze after a 999 call, union officials warned today.

Under controversial million-pound cost-cutting plans drawn up by fire chiefs, a community safety vehicle could be sent first.

This would happen if it were nearer to the blaze than a fire engine at the time of the call - though the engine would be mobilised at the same time.

Firefighters believe this would put the two-man team, in a transit-style van without the full lifesaving equipment available on a normal tender, in a massive "moral dilemma".

York union official Pete Clark said firefighters would not wait for back-up tenders if lives were in danger. Current guidelines say a total of at least nine men are needed to tackle a house fire.

He said members were still in the dark about what equipment the First Response Vehicle (FRV) would have available, though they believed it would carry a small high pressure jet and a small amount of water.

But North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service bosses said that under the plans staffing resources would be used more efficiently, with more lives saved.

York area fire manager Steve Cluderay said: "If this was a road crash, the team could help stabilise injuries before back-up arrived. But if it is a house fire, crews would be fully trained to assess risks."

The controversial van plans are part of a sweeping overhaul of fire cover in York and North Yorkshire, which the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says will endanger residents and crews - and send the lifesaving service into "meltdown".

Union members are furious over proposals they say take two men from shifts at York Fire Station and put them on a roving "community safety" brief - mainly covering Selby.

They claim firefighters may be faced with the dilemma of tackling serious blazes without support from "safe" staffing numbers, outlined in current working guidelines.

York Fire Station has two appliances, which guidelines say need to be staffed by a minimum of nine men attending a house fire.

An average shift consists of about 11 firefighters. So if the first crew is sent to a major fire, with an FRV team out, that could leave two or three men on the second tender waiting up to 45 minutes for the roving FRV team to return to boost numbers. Mr Cluderay insisted that the number of fire engines that attend blazes would not change.

Graeme Willis, the union secretary at Acomb, said the service would go into "meltdown" if the proposals were implemented.




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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fire strikes caravans

A DOUBLE investigation is under way after caravans worths tens of thousands of pounds were destroyed.

Nine privately owned vans were gutted in a night-time blaze at Dumfries Caravan Centre on the Annan Road.

Firefighters were called in by neighbours who noticed the blaze in the early hours of Friday morning.

Staff left the site around 5.30pm on Thursday.

Police and fire officers found the vans well alight and nine were destroyed before the outbreak was brought under control.

The vans were parked well within the site which is packed with dozens of vehicles.

They were in an area used by private owners to leave their vehicles over the winter months.

A police spokesman said: “The caravans were destroyed so it is quite difficult to determine where the fire started.

“In the absence of any clear information we are treating it as suspicious.

“We are investigating the outbreak along with the Fire Brigade.â€￾

No-one at Dumfries Caravan Centre was prepared to comment on Friday.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact pocie on 01387 252112 or leave information, anonymously if preferred, with Crimestopers on 0800 555 111.

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