Christmas rescues and aid for householders

Fire crews from Dunstable came to the rescue of people in a variety of ways over the Christmas and New Year holiday.

Shortly before 8 pm on December 26th they attended a house in Prince’s Street where burst pipes in the loft had flooded the whole house - and there was a foot of water in the basement - causing a danger of electrocution.

Crew Commander Richard Portlock and colleagues isolated the electric and water supplies and pumped 2,000 litres from the basement.

“When we arrived it was like it was raining indoors,” said CC Portlock.

Later that night they received a call from the police at 01.14 (27th) to rescue a man who had slipped 20 metres down Houghton Pit near French’s Avenue between Dunstable and Houghton Regis.

A firefighter using a rope and harness went down to check the man’s injuries, which appeared to be cuts and bruises, and then helped him clamber back up the slippery slope to waiting paramedics.

“He had been there for an hour so was very cold and because of the snow and ice had been unable to climb back up the bank unaided,” added CC Portlock.

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Issued on behalf of Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service by Manners PR Jacquie Manners 01234 326198

Cutting fire risks in flats and bedsits across county

Pic caption:
l-r (back row) Tim Birchall (BLFRS Service Training Manager) and Paul Fuller (BLFRS Fire Chief)
l-r (front row) David Adams (Luton Borough Council), Nick Costin (Central Bedfordshire Council), John Molyneux (Bedford Borough Council) and Tony Rogers (BLFRS)

Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service (BLFRS) has been working closely with local authorities in Bedford, Luton and Central Bedfordshire, to improve fire safety standards in the rented residential accommodation sector and in particular 'Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) for 2011.

A formal agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed by all partners, following a presentation by Group Commander Tim Birchall who gave a breakdown of the common causes of HMOs fires and explained that by ensuring landlords comply with the relevant fire safety legislation, risks can be reduced significantly in the New Year.

BLFRS works closely with local authorities, housing associations and private landlords to ensure compliance with national fire safety standards. In addition BLFRS provides free home safety checks and will install a smoke alarm where needed. Detailed work to educate and encourage people to make sure their premises meet fire regulations led to the signing of the agreement.

Tim Birchall said: "I believe the work we have done here and continue to do is partnership working at its best and will help to save lives.”

BLFRS Fire Chief, Paul Fuller, added: "The risks of injury and loss of lives in HMOs - flats and bed sits and so on, are much greater for a variety of reasons. I congratulate my team on the work they have done here to reduce those risks to the people of Bedfordshire and Luton."

National Award brings 2010 to a happy conclusion for BLFRS

Pic captions: (1) Top team work together to reduce arson in schools

(2) Left to right signing document
standing left Det Supt David Quarmby Beds Police
seated Head of Resources, Performance and Commissioning William Clapp Luton Borough Council
centre Cllr David Sawyer, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services Bedford Borough Council
right Head of Capital Development Tim Chaple, Central Bedfordshire Council
standing right Deputy Chief Fire Officer Glen Ranger, Beds and Luton Fire and Rescue Service

Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service (BLFRS) has won a national award for its ground breaking work in reducing school fires by 75%.

The Association of Building Engineers Fire Safety Awards 2010 acknowledges the work carried out by BLFRS in promoting the fitting of sprinklers in schools. In particular the judges praised the partnership work with the three unitary authorities who helped provide valuable data that led to BLFRS in conunction with Beds Police to assess the real risk of arson in schools. That activitiy resulted in the creation of the School Crime and Arson Risk Evaluation (SCARE) project and a Memorandum of Understanding supporting the installation of sprinklers in new schools.

Representatives of all the organisations involved were invited to an awards ceremony in London at the Docklands Hilton Hotel.

Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller said: “This is an excellent demonstration of how an effective partnership can deliver significant results.”

The lessons learnt during the project are being shared with Fire and Rescue Services across the UK.

Nationally there are more than 1,300 school fires every year - with 7-% of them being attributed to arson. These attacks and damage result in a huge cost in terms of the damage and distruption to schools and the wider community.

Beds Police Detective Sgt David Quamby said: "Since targeting those schools most at risk we have seen a significant fall in arson attacks and other reported crimes on school sites. We have worked closely with our colleagues in the Fire Service and local councils to improve security at schools and this has helped reduce theft, criminal damage and burglary there. The Police rely on the assistance of our partners and the community to help reduce crime and such partnership preventative work is always an excellent use of our resources."

Our well rehearsed crews deal expertly with high rise flat fire

Fire crews from Bedford and Kempston attended a flat fire at Beecham Court in Greyfriars Bedford in the early hours of 29th December 2010

Time of call was 00.57 and four fire engines, the Incident Command Unit and an aerial platform were despatched to what was reported as a fire in the bedroom of a flat on the 5th floor.

An woman occupant had left the flat and fire crews began firefighting immediately - but despite this the property was badly damaged by fire. Due to practised precautions conducted by the fire crews, no smoke or fire spread to other flats and there was no need to evacuate the other residents - instead they were told to stay safely indoors.

The flat below was water damaged, it is believed by the domestic supply during the incident.

Incident Commander Andy Draper said: "The management of the situation by fire crews meant that what could been a very serious incident was dealt with efficiently and effectively with the minimum of distruption to neighbours in the flat. Naturally many were awoken by the activity but were advised to stay in their own flats while we dealt with the situation. Only the gentleman in the flat below was inconvenienced by water coming through his ceiling, from what we think was the domestic water supply from the flat above."

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Santa's arriving on a fire engine !

Santa visits Fire Station

Dunstable Community Fire Station opened its doors and held a Christmas event for the local community which raised £464.34 for the Fire Fighters Charity.

Santa arrived on board a fire engine to help spread seasonal good cheer and fire safety messages to the audience.

Station staff member Sue Heckford, who co-ordinated the event, said: “I would to thank everyone involved. The event could not have happened without the team work in order to make it a successful event for the children and parents.”

Dunstable Community Fire Station is just that - a centre which can be used by the community for events, meetings and activities. Contact Sue in the New Year if you would like to know more on sue.heckford@bedsfire.com.

The event was staged on Sunday 12th December.

Proud to support inspirational young people

caption: Area Commander Tony Rogers of Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service (BLFRS speaking at the awards ceremony.

Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service was proud to be among the sponsors of the fantastic Young People of the Year (Yopey) Awards.

The fifth Bedfordshire and Luton Yopey awards were called the “Bluelight Yopeys” are so called because of the support of BLFRS, Bedfordshire Police and the local ambulance service. As always the awards attracted some outstanding entries. A final ten were selected for the awards ceremony held at The Mansion House, Old Warden Park, near Biggleswade.

The overall winner was Joanna Mayes, aged 19, who was nominated by Aragon Housing Association for her marvellous personal journey - overcoming personal problems prompted by bullying to become a football coach and inspiration to younger people. She was presented with a cheque for £1,000.

Second was Natalie Wilson, aged 23, who despite suffering from Downs Syndrome volunteers to help others almost every day. Natalie, who is from Dunstable, was once a student of Bedford College on a special NVQ course in “employability” skills - so it was fitting that her prize of £500 was presented by the Principal of Bedford College Ian Pryce.

Third prize went jointly to Stephanie Knight, aged 17, who was presented with her prize by the Mayor of Luton Cllr Tom Shaw and Scott Hayhurst, aged 22, who was given his prize by Cllr Peter Hollick of Central Bedfordshire Council.

The Junior Prize of £250 went Mo Ahktar, aged 15 of Luton. He is using rugby to help put others youngsters back on the right track and is a Gold Ambassador for the 2012 Olympics. He was presented with his prize by Area Commander Tony Rogers of Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service (BLFRS).

Said Tony: “This is the first Bluelight Yopey awards in Bedfordshire and last year BLFRS was the first Fire & Rescue Service to sponsor this now UK-wide project. We do much work with young people to keep them safe and hope our association with Yopey will help spread those important messages.”

The remaining five finalists were all also given £50 each thanks to the support of the sponsors: the Bluelight services, Bedford College, Central Beds Council, Luton Borough Council, Blue Arrow and Beds and Luton Community Foundation.

All cash prizes were donated on condition the recipients give half to a worthy cause - and keep half for themselves as a reward.

Nominations for future awards or young volunteers should go to www.yopey.org

New Year Appeal launched for team to support fire service in Kenya

Pic 1 and 2: leaving soon - three fire engines from Beds en route to Kenya
pic 3: Joseph when in UK

Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service crews and support staff are travelling at their own expense to help set up a fire service in Kenya - and have launched a New Year appeal to help fund the trip.

The plan follows the donation of a total of four fire engines to Kenya by the local Combined Fire Authority (CFA). So well received was the first engine and the support given that even the President of Kenya has sent his thanks back to the people of Bedfordshire and to the Chief Fire Officer of Bedfordshire Paul Fuller.

The idea started with a Church related-charity: the Onset Trust and Pastor Douglas Richards of Dunstable Community Church. The church approached BLFRS to ask if it could help them purchase an old fire engine to send out to Meru in Kenya where no fire service existed and deaths from fires are common. The Combined Fire Authority (CFA) members decided they would donate one of their own fire engines which was going out of commission.

Then BLFRS Transport and Engineering Manager and retained firefighter Ray Willett got involved. Only too aware that the fire engine is no use without a mechanic to keep it on the road, he and two colleagues travelled with the vehicle to Meru, Kenya (at their own expense aided by Kenyan Airways). A gruelling but enlightening trip saw Ray and colleagues set up the first ever firefighter training course in 2009. Within days the fire crews had stopped a school fire spreading. Within weeks they had saved the lives of two children. Since then more than 70 fires have been tackled - fires which would otherwise have swept through communities who live closely together in wooden properties.

In 2010 Fred Akandi a Kenyan who is a member of the Dunstable Community Church, and Ray Willett approached the CFA and said they has raised a further £3,000 and could they buy another two fire engines. The CFA went one better and decided to donate three vehicles which were going out of commission to the charity on condition that the £3,000 was used to fund additional community safety initiatives in Kenya.

Chair of the Combined Fire Authority Cllr Sian Timoney said: “Given the small amount of money we could have raised by selling these old vehicles, which are of little use to any UK services, we decided that the fantastic work by Fred, Ray, the charity and colleagues deserved our support.”

These three vehicles will go to Mombasa, Meru and Maua and will be followed later in 2011 by Ray and a party of 24 volunteers including two Paramedics and five Community Fire Safety Officers who will run training programmes and spread the community safety word.

CFO Paul Fuller said: “The sort of community fire safety work which we perhaps take for granted in this country does not exist in other parts of the world. There are no construction regulations to make buildings fire proof, there are no smoke detectors. I am thankful to the CFA for allowing us to make use of these defunct fire engines and proud that my staff are raising their own travel costs to travel to Kenya.”

Anyone who would like to make a donation to help the fund can do so at: Lloyds TSB, 34 High St, Bedford, MK40 1SB, Account No 40793768, Sort Code 30-90-66

(Photos from official hand over by BLFRS to charity December 2011)

Sitting on the dock of the bay...Joseph Githuka Njoroge was waiting for a day’s work at the docks in 2008 - when he was offered a job which would change his life.

He was asked to drive a fire truck from the ship taking with him three men from England who had come to show local folk how to crew and maintain a fire engine. By they time they reached their destination Joseph had volunteered to be a trainee.

“It was a lucky day for us - without Joseph we wouldn’t have made such a success of the project,” said Ray Willett.

After the success of setting up a fire service in Meru with the use of the old fire engine, Joseph was clearly at the top of the ladder. He was invited over to the UK as a guest of BLFRS to undertake nearly seven weeks training to learn skills which he is now sharing back in Kenya.

(Photo shows Joseph in the UK Spring 2010)

www.fireengines4kenya.co.uk

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Issued by BLFRS PRO Jacquie Manners 07971 216014

Offset Charity contact is Julian Richards 0777 425 7153

Film footage of three vehicles available from:

*Olly Palmer Dunstable Community Church
Ofc 01442 232432
Mob 07717847323
olly.palmer@mcwe.co.uk

Santa 999 style aboard fire engine

Dunstable Community Fire Station is being turned into a Santa’s Grotto on Sunday 12th December from 12pm to 4pm in aid of The Fire Fighters’ Charity.

There will also be a Christmas Raffle with prizes like lunch for two at The Mansion House, Old Warden Park, near Biggleswade.

Firefighter Simon Stanton is swapping his uniform for a Santa Claus outfit for the day and will arriving from the North Pole on a Fire Engine.

Santa’s Grotto will be upstairs at the station and the adjoining Lecture Theatre will used for people waiting to see Santa. Whilst waiting there will be table activities badge making and colouring.

Refreshments will be available.

Southern Area Community Safety Manager Terry Daniels from will be giving advice on the safe use of Christmas candles and tree lights.

Notes to Editors - if you want to talk to Santa Simon he is on 07890 515973

Fire & Rescue Service celebrating the contribution the young make to Luton

'I am more than ...', a new campaign to challenge negative stereotypes of young people and celebrate their contribution to the town, has been launched by SoLUTiONs

The campaign, funded by Luton's Community Safety Partnership, aims to improve public confidence and perceptions of safety. Some people feel afraid if they see groups of young people hanging around the streets and this is often compounded by negative media portrayal.

'I am more than ...' sets out to reassure the public that the vast majority of young people do not engage in antisocial behaviour or commit crime, and to create understanding and dialogue between different generations.

Young people from the town helped to launch the event with a performance demonstrating the positive contribution they make to the town and how important it is to develop understanding and help each other, regardless of age.

Cllr Joan Bailey, Portfolio Holder for Community Cohesion, said: "Luton is full to the brim with exceptional young people who go out of their way to help their local community. But so often, these young people are unfairly stereotyped by adults' unfair perceptions or images of them.

"Nobody gains when young people are treated differently as a result of misconceptions. As a community we should be recognising and celebrating the talents and achievements of our young people, and helping them to make the most of their skills."

The campaign will be high profile and high impact featuring regular positive stories in the media and online. People of all ages are encouraged to send in positive stories about young people involved in charity or voluntary work; or contributing in some way to their local community; or perhaps they are artistically or academically gifted or bringing pleasure or help to others; or they may have turned their lives
around for the better; or they may be carers - the list of possibilities goes on and on.

So if you know a young person who deserves to be recognised, please tell us about them so we can share it with others - see www.luton.gov.uk/iammore or call Michele Brawley on 01582 546231.

* 'I am more than' is a campaign by SoLUTiONs, Luton's Community
Safety Partnership including Luton Borough Council, Luton and
Bedfordshire Police, NHS Luton, Bedfordshire Probation Trust and Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service working in partnership with Luton's Herald and Post.

* Look out for 'I am more than ...' lamppost banners and
advertisements appearing around the town.

Fire & Rescue supports partnership in Luton

photo caption: Southern Area Commander Dave Fothergill and SOS Bus

SoLUTiONs, Luton's Community Safety Partnership, held its second public summit to update residents on the progress in reducing crime and antisocial behaviour over the past year. It also gave residents a chance to meet representatives from agencies such as the Council, Police, Probation, NHS and Fire & Rescue.

Undeterred by the grim weather forecast, over 250 local people attended the event to hear about SoLUTiONs' activities and priorities for the coming year, and to voice ideas and any concerns.

Levels of crime in Luton have reduced substantially over the past three years, dropping by 17 per cent from 2007/08 to 2008/09 and by a further 11 per cent from 2008/09 to 2009/10. During the past year, Luton has experienced the lowest levels of crime seen in the three year time period.

SoLUTiONs has delivered or commissioned a range of initiatives to reduce and prevent crime and antisocial behaviour across the town. Bitesize presentations outlined particular projects such as Project Turnaround helping prevent young people offending or becoming involved in antisocial behaviour; the Independent Domestic Violence Advisor Service offering a wide range of practical safety options for victims of domestic abuse to ensure their long-term safety; the SOS Bus Luton located in St George's Square every Friday and Saturday night helping people who are victims of crime, vulnerable, lost, injured or unwell; and Operation Vision, a campaign to boost public safety, satisfaction and confidence in Bedfordshire Police.

Priorities for the soLUTiONs partnership include targeting the town centre and other crime hotspots; focusing on young offenders and vulnerable victims of crime; drugs and alcohol; reducing reoffending and tackling the fear of crime. Group workshops discussed actions and ideas to drive priorities along.

SoLUTiONs, Luton's Community Safety Partnership, is a partnership of organisations including the Council, Police, NHS, Probation and Fire & Rescue services working together to address crime, antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol problems and (re)offending behaviour in the town. Its vision is to make Luton a safer place in which to live, work, learn and have fun.

For more information please contact Michèle Brawley, Community Safety Partnership Support Officer, on 01582 546231 or email michele.brawley@luton.gov.uk or go to www.luton.gov.uk/solutions

Young actors add drama to road traffic demonstration

Keeping people safe on the roads in winter is the work of councils, police and firefighters.

To dramatically bring home the dangers of driving under the influence of drink or drugs, or taking insufficient care on the wintry roads, a road traffic accident reconstruction was staged by firefighters, police and ambulance on St Paul’s Square in Bedford from 7.30 pm on Saturday 27th November.

Fire crews, trained in using powerful cutting equipment to dismantle vehicles, took a car apart allowing access to the trapped “victims”. Bedfordshire Police then “arrested” the driver and “breathalysed” the driver. The driver and victims were played by actors from Biddenham Upper School which, supported by Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service, has produced a number of theatre productions related to road and fire safety. Specialist make-up depicting injuries was the Bedford College theatrical department.

The event can be viewed on-line at www.local-news.tv

Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service Northern Area Commander Tony Rogers said : “We have carried out these demonstrations in previous years in Ampthill and Biggleswade - they are very effective in bringing home to onlookers the reality of being in a car accident caused by drink driving, speeding or simple carelessness. We expect a big crowd for this show.

“Fire crews rescue seven times as many people from wrecked car as they do from burning business - so making people drive safer is important to our organisation.”

Beds Police will be continuing Operation Jackdaw doing roadside tests for drink driving during coming months. They will also be giving out wrist bands to “designated drivers” entitling them to free soft drinks in participating pubs and clubs in Bedford and Luton.

Bedfordshire Police’s annual clampdown on drink/drug driving is led by from the Roads Policing Unit. It is Codenamed Operation Jackdaw and under this police will be doing roadside tests for drink driving during coming weeks. They will also be giving out wrist bands to “designated drivers” entitling them to free soft drinks in participating pubs and clubs in Bedford and Luton.

Chief Inspector Jane Aspin said:“We take driving under the influence of drink or drugs extremely seriously and are stepping up our patrols during the Christmas period. Our aim is to breathalyse more drivers than ever before during this campaign and if you drive whilst over the limit it is only be a matter of time before you are caught.

“We will increasing both high visibility patrols and covert patrols, including our ANPR teams, to catch drink drivers. We are also using Bluetooth technology to send text messages to enabled mobile phones giving anti-drink drive messages.

“We are urging those going to Christmas parties to ensure they have a designated driver. To help we are offering wristbands to designated drivers and they will receive free soft drinks in selected pubs in the Town Centre. Proof that they are the designated driver is needed. Officers on Friday and Saturday nights will be patrolling car parks around the town to offer the bands to the drivers that they see.”

“Collisions involving alcohol devastate the lives of victims and their families and ruin the lives of offenders, who could face a lengthy driving ban or imprisonment and have to live with the lifelong guilt of having killed or injured someone through their reckless behaviour. Offenders can also lose their job, home and their livelihood,”

“If you know someone who is about to drive under the influence of drink or drugs we actively pursue any information we receive. Call 01234 841212, or text to 07786 200011 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”

Bedford Borough Councillor Colleen Atkins, Executive member Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority, said: "Drink driving appears to increase over the Christmas festivity period. Working with our partners, we want to reduce road traffic accidents and the tragedy of death. We hope that by seeing someone being cut out of a crashed car will bring the message home to drivers not to drink and drive, not only during the festive period, but throughout the year and therefore reduce the number of people being needlessly injured in road traffic collisions.”

Cllr David McVicar, Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities and Healthier Lifestyles, Central Bedfordshire Council said: "By working with our partners we hope to raise awareness of the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol particularly at Christmas time when this offence appears to increase. By focussing on this issue we aim to reduce drink driving not only during the festive period, but throughout the year and therefore reduce the number of people being needlessly injured in road traffic collisions.”

Statistics from Amey for Bedfordshire and Luton:

75% (256) of drivers involved in injury collisions who failed a roadside breath test between 1/1/2004 – 31/12/2009 were under the age of 40.

These collisions resulted in 372 casualties. In 26% (66) of these collisions, the driver was recorded as uninjured but these collisions had caused injury to 88 other people – 2 of which were fatal.

National Statistic:
“If you drive at twice the legal alcohol limit you are at least 30 times more likely to cause a road crash, than a driver who hasn't been drinking.” http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/focusareas/driving/drinkdriving?whoareyou_id=&page=Overview

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Issued on behalf of all participating partners and agencies by Manners PR for Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service. www.bedsfire.com Jacquie Manners (01234) 326198

Notes to Editors:

Amey is a leading provider of public services. The company takes a unique approach to the design, management, and maintenance of the UK’s vital assets and services such as transport, roads, railways, bridges, schools, airports, public spaces, and offices. Amey has a proven track record in delivering outstanding stand-alone services, as well as pioneering a leading integrated service model. This means we have the unique ability to integrate our offering both horizontally, across different services, and vertically, from design to delivery.

Fire crews provide emergency aid to A & E department in power failures

Fire crews used equipment made available for major chemical decomtamination incidents to provide power, shelter, light and heat at Luton Hospital A & E after power problems were reported on Tuesday 30th November.

When the hospital experienced some power outages, staff there asked Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service for help.

BLFRS Southern Area Commander Dave Fothergill, Station Commander Kevin Moores from Stopsley and colleagues decided to make this equipment available to make sure patients and paramedics had a reserve location at the A & E. Working with consultants and A & E they had the facilities made available should the situation worsen.

The tents, which are actually units for showering off chemical contamination, are part of a catalogue of items which make up a regional and national jigsaw of equipment used by fire crews to deal with a range of major incidents.

AC Fothergill said: "This demonstrates good dynamic response thinking - we have this equipment to use ostensibly for chemical jobs - but in fact was useful for helping the hospital on this bitterly cold afternoon, evening and all through the night."

The crews left the scene Wednesday morning (1st December)