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Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel Informed

April 2010

PLUScentrepageCheshireSafetyDay

Community HeroesTheshortlist has been confirmed

for the Service’s firstCommunity Safety Champion

Awards.

The awards seek to recognise thoseindividuals and organisations that havehelped make a difference to the safetyof others in their community.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer MarkCashin said; “These awards are lookingto reward the people and organisationswho work alongside Cheshire Fire andRescue Service to help save lives andmake our communities safer. This

includes members of the public, localbusinesses or individuals, teams andprojects run by partner organisations.

“I was delighted with thequality of thenominations. It was areal challenge todraw up the finalshortlist and thereare some reallyinspirational storiesabout those peoplewho have beennominated and are

helping us keep our communities safer.”

The Community Champions Awardsevening will take place on April 29 at the

Park Royal Hotel in Warrington.There will be presentations innine categories on the nightincluding the Chief FireOfficers Commendation andthe Most EffectivePartnership Award.

Visit the Service’s websitefor a full list of those who have

been shortlisted.

Cheshire Safety Day was an outstandingsuccess as teams from across theorganisation worked together to deliver anincredible 1,664 Home Safety Assessments injust one day.

Pictured right are the teams from Halton, butfor a full round-up and more pictures, see centrepage feature.

Staffsmash1,000 HSAtarget

2alert april • 2010

Community Fire Protection hosted a hugelysuccessful “Heritage Under Fire NationalConference” in January at The Chester

Grosvenor and Spa Hotel with delegates travellingfrom across the country to listen to a range ofhigh profile speakers.

The aim of the conference was to consider thethreat to the UK’s built heritage from fire and othersuch incidents and was a “must attend” for anyoneinvolved with Fire Protection or the restoration andpreservation of heritage buildings.

The profile of the conference was greatly enhanced bythe presence of key players from the cultural and heritagesectors, as well as representatives from the world of fireengineering, architecture, tourism and planning. Thespeakers included Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive ofEnglish Heritage, Dany Cotton, Deputy AssistantCommissioner of London Fire Brigade and Mike Coull,Heritage Co-ordinator for the Scottish Fire Services.

Our Chief Fire Officer Paul Hancock, Deputy Chief MarkCashin and several Fire Authority members also attended.

Our partnership with the Institution of Fire Engineers(IFE) and English Heritage helped to make the day a realsuccess. Louise Craig, Chief Executive Officer of the IFE

� Speakers and delegates at the Conference

delivered the opening address and Gillian Clarke, Secretary ofthe Local Authority World Heritage Forum (UK) ensured theday ran smoothly as the event Chair.

Speaking in relation to this high profile event Deputy ChiefFire Officer Mark Cashin said, “We are delighted to have hadthe opportunity to host such a high profile conference and bein the presence of some expert speakers who shared withdelegates their knowledge of protecting and preserving ournation’s heritage.”

The conference was accredited by the Institution of FireEngineers.

Heritage under fire

DJ firefighter hits the airwavesIn December Crewe FirefighterJanssen Bostock of Blue Watchattended CAT FM, a local radio

station covering the Crewe andNantwich area.

The purpose of the visit was to putacross the organisation’s ‘6 Sense’ safetycampaign to the residents of CheshireEast about staying safe and protectingtheir families and home from fire.

During his ‘Time On Air’ Janssen wasable to explain the 6 key messages; Plan,Test, Check, Care, Close, Call 999. Healso took time to inform listeners that theycan get a free Home Safety Assessmentby contacting the Freephone number orvisiting www.cheshirefire.gov.uk andfollowing the link from the homepage.

Janssen was able to select threesongs of his own choice and mix someradio jingles. His choices were theeighties hits Wishing by Flock of Seagulls,Feels Like Heaven by the Fiction Factory and Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen.

Due to his ‘On Air’ success he has been invited back.

3 alertapril • 2010

As we launch our latest Integrated RiskManagement Plan at the start of anotherfinancial year, it is clear that we continueto face a period of significant change.

The last 12 months have seen ussuccessfully launch a virtually new FireAuthority and undergo a major restructure atthe top of the organisation.

To have done all that, complete 60,000HSAs and attain high ratings from externalassessors is a tribute to the teamwork andcommitment which exists at every level and inall areas of our organisation.

It would be nice to think that we couldnow enjoy a period of relative calm, but with a

General Election looming and major publicspending cuts about to really bite, it is clearthat’s just not going to happen.

Our proposals for the new crewingarrangements at Birchwood resulted inconsiderable public concern and debate.Ultimately the Fire Authority backed the moveto a day shift / retained cover model whichreflects the low levels of risk in that area.

There will be more difficult issues aheadbut I am confident that with honestdiscussion on all sides we will make decisionswhich are in the overall best interests of ourcommunities and our organisation.

in my view. . .

PaulHancock

Runcorn Red Watch clearthe snowRedWatch from Runcorn went to

Queens Close Sheltered Housing toclear pathways and grit walkways. As

temperatures plummeted the firefighters hadto walk the final 100 metres to the housesdue to treacherous roads. They clearedindividual paths and walkways to thecommunal area and then gritted the areas.One lady resident hadn’t been able toventure out until they cleared the paths.

Watch Manager Paul Walmsley said, “Theadverse weather conditions had restricted ourcommunity work but we felt we had to help theelderly the best way we could. While clearingthe pathways we were able to enquire about theresidents’ well being and offer winter safetyadvice for the home.” � The Runcorn snow team

Poynton High School visitStaff and Pupils from Poynton High school recently paida visit to Wilmslow Fire Station through a joint initiativewith the Gateway Project.

Pupils were given a talk by Watch Manager Phillip Markeon the various services that we provide and our role in thecommunity. They were then given the opportunity to gainhands-on experience by using the high pressure hose reeland running out lengths of hose.

The students were then given a demonstration of the road

traffic collision cutting equipment by firefighters, Paul Mittenand Jason Roxburgh.

Firefighter Bullock said, “At the age of 16 most youngpeople are beginning to think about learning to drive andtherefore it is important we deliver the message of drink anddrug driving, speeding and not wearing seatbelts.”

The event ended with a big “thank you” from PoyntonHigh School and the Gateway Project.


� The teams who delivered safety messages to Acton Bridge with concernedresident Mr Thorley and Cllr Bob Holt.

Phoenix project spreadsit’s wingsRuncorn firefighters are forging links with a

local primary school in a bid to sharepotentially life saving advice with young

people and their families.

In 2009 Green Watch visited Astmoor PrimarySchool in Runcorn to launch the Partnership knownas the “Phoenix Project”. This involves personnel onGreen Watch visiting the school on a regular basis towork with the young people on a variety of projects toincrease their awareness of fire related issues and thework of the emergency services.

Head Teacher Louisa Aldridge said, “We are surethat this partnership will be a rewarding andproductive experience for all involved, the Staffchildren are looking forward to working with theFirefighters in the future.”

The Watch has already been involved in a range ofactivities at the school such as open days, play timeduty, male role models for reading and writing, designand technology projects. They have also providedstatistical information for use in numeracy classes andattendance at assemblies

� School Head Teacher Louisa Aldridge, Watch Manager Tim Robinson,Firefighters Steve Sweeting Paul Doodson and students proudlydisplaying our mission statement for the future.

Plans for future terms include a visit to Halton British Legion WarMuseum and a World Cup Football Tournament.

This project follows on from a similar one between Red Watchand Halton Lodge School which has been running since 2003.

Advocates tackle safetyissues in Acton BridgeCheshire West Community SafetyAdvocates received a request from aresident of Acton Bridge near Northwich.He was concerned about elderly residentswho live by themselves in the area and hadbeen in contact with local Police with hisconcerns and was waiting for an outcome.

Advocate Suzanne West contacted thelocal PCSO James McClaughlin to see if therewas a partnership initiative that could beworked together in the area.

The result was an impact week withAdvocates James Scott, Karen Nixon andHome Safety Advisors Therese James andMatthew Hubbard where over a hundredHome Safety Assessments were completedand also security advice was offered by theaccompanying PCSO.


Red watch supportTransition ChesterChester’s Red Watch recently

had the opportunity todemonstrate the Fire and

Rescue Services commitment to agreener future by attending an eventheld by Transition Chester, a groupof like-minded people who wish tomake a positive impact on ourenvironment.

The event was held over aweekend in January and incorporateddebate, workshops, films, fun andactivities on a wide variety of subjects.These included beekeeping forbeginners, composting your kitchenwaste, recipes for leftovers fromcelebrity Chef Antony WorrallThompson through the “Love FoodHate Waste” campaign and even a

� Firefighter Jo Collier and Temp CrewManager Billy Lenthall supportingTransition Chester…and their sign!

� Billy extolling the virtues of beekeepingto Jo

cycle bike maintenance class toencourage more people to use thatform of transport.

Transition Chester’s aim is to bringcommunities together to focus on theissues of reducing oil reserves and

climate change and by workingtogether hopes to create a sustainablefuture for all. If you would like to knowmore about them and what they dovisit their website atwww.transitiontowns.org

Congletoncadets comeout on topDuring the run up to Remembrance Day in 2009 CongletonCadets spent three Saturdays fund raising for the BritishLegion selling poppies in the West Heath Shopping Centrein the town centre.

The fund raising event was part of the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire’s Cadet Poppy Appeal Competition. The Cadets spentaround seven hours each day collecting in cold and wet weather conditions, but still smiling and their enthusiasm encouragedmany local shoppers to donate money to this worthy cause.

After the monies raised had been given to the British Legion to be counted, the winners of the most amount raised wasannounced as the Congelton Cadet Unit. A Congleton Cadet also came first for the individual who raised the most moneyand they also won the runner up prize. In February representatives from the Congleton Unit attended a prize giving ceremonyto congratulate them for all their hard work at the Devere Daresbury Park Hotel, including Hannah Booth who won the firstprize individual and Laura Wheelton and Kieran Simpkins who collected the award for the First Cadet Unit.


World rescue challengeWarrington firefighters Lee Howells and Adam

McConkey from Blue Watch at Warringtonproved they were world class at a recent event

in Germany.

The pair represented both Cheshire Fire and RescueService and the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation atthe World Rescue Challenge held in the Frankfurt’s mainfire department.

The three day event was focused around two elements– a road traffic extraction challenge and a traumachallenge. These involved a number of casualtiessuffering the effects of incidents involving everythingfrom cylinder explosions to trench collapses, The aim wasto fully test the team’s knowledge and skills in dealingwith a variety of injuries.

The competition was of a very high standard and in ahigh scoring top ten Lee and Adam performedoutstandingly to finish sixth scoring 279 points out of apossible 300.

Lee and Adam have now returned equipped with newknowledge and additional techniques in trauma carepicked up from other teams from around the world. Thetwo aim to return to future World Rescue Challenges.

� Adam and Lee at the challenge and an RTC scenario.

Runcorn Firefighters andyouth support groups fromthe local community have

started work on a ‘CommunityGarden’ at the Station.

The initiative is part of theService’s commitment to projectsthat benefit both the environmentand local people.

The garden, which was workedon by members of the community,firefighters and Fire Cadets featuresa series of raised beds. These areinterconnected by a network ofwheel chair access pathways thatwill contain a mixture of vegetablesto be planted and maintained bypupils from various local primaryschools. The initial constructionstarted last year but 2010 will see

the first growing season.

The coming garden season willalso see the beginnings of the wildflower garden and the installation ofa traversing wall, an all abilityfacility, within the team buildingarea.

Plans are also being made forconverting the grassy verge to therear of the Fire Station into a small,protected, local wildlife habitat,hopefully including a small wetlandand rockery, shrub and marginalplanting and including fruit treesand berry bushes.

Runcorn Station Manager SeanHenshaw said, “This has been alovely project that is really helpingto encourage people into the Stationto discover more about the work we

do. The project is also helping toimprove the local environment andthere is something really rewardingfor those involved as they get theopportunity to eat what they havegrown.”

The garden will be used tocomplement wider communityactivities to promote sustainabilityand biodiversity education.

It is envisaged that this type ofcommunity garden will bedeveloped on other stationsthroughout the county. As such,following the recent biodiversityaudit at Knutsford Fire Station, oneof the proposals is to develop asmall orchard and a communitygarden project.

GOING GREEN

RUNCORN


THANKSHENBURYGUIDES�I am writing on behalf of 1stHenbury Guides, to thank themembers of White Watch forshowing us around the Fire Stationin January.

In particular, I would like to thankLee Delaney for his presentationabout the Fire Station and the role ofthe Fire Service, which wasappropriate to the age group andcovered many of the aspects of theGuide Fire Safety badge.�Yours sincerely, Sue HulleyGuide Leader 1st Henbury Guides

CONGLETONCREWS�I write to thank those involvedresponding so quickly and efficientlyto the call requesting yourattendance to the burning refuse binstore at Westholme Close on theevening of Friday 15 January.

We do thank you for your helpreassurance and care taken toprotect our property.�Most sincerely, On behalf of ObeliskHouse RTM Company Ltd.

LEARNINGLESSONS�Thank you very much for allowingso many Entry Level groups (LifeSkills Group 1, Life Skills Group 2,Art & Media, Hair & Beauty 1, Hair &Beauty 2, Practical Skills, Hospitality& Catering, Business & IT) fromSouth Cheshire College to visit yourFire Station.

The students (and staff) will havelearnt a great deal from theexperience.�Thank you, Jonathan White,Lecturer, South Cheshire College

Firefighters made a dramaticrescue after a man phoned 999to say he was trapped inside a

blazing building.

The incident happened just after8pm on Thursday 11 February in adisused warehouse in Macclesfield.

Crews from Macclesfield andBollington were quickly on the scene.They used cutting equipment to gainaccess to the four storey ramblingbuilding and then searched for theman, who was still talking to ControlWatch Manager Steve Murphy.

Firefighters searched the 80 x 20metre ground floor space which hadsmoke seeping from all windows anddoors along its length. Crew ManagerDave Ward and Firefighter Peter Nieldfrom Macclesfield Station located thecasualty close to the fire. He wascurled up in a store room, still with hisphone in his hand.

They carried him to safety and the

awaiting ambulance. The casualty wasconveyed to hospital suffering fromsmoke inhalation.

Macclesfield Station WatchManager, Paul Janion, said: “During hisrescue the man remained on his phoneand was talking to our control operatorthroughout his ordeal. This contactwith our operators was a majorcontributing factor to his successfulrescue. It also gave him comfort toknow we were on our way.

“The incident was a good exampleof using information gained by controlto assist in a successful rescue and itwas a team effort which saved thisman’s life.”

Fire Resilience and ProgrammeManager Lyndon Loweth said: "Thisincident has not only highlighted theprofessionalism of control operatorsand fire crews but is also an excellentexample of how different parts of theService work together to save life.”

Team work saveslife in building fire

Another life for Bellethe catFive-year-old pedigree cat Belle was lefthanging by her tail from the trellis afterattempting to jump over. The problem wascaused by the branch of a tree enmeshed inthe tail of the hairy three-legged cat, causing itto be suspended from a high fence

A neighbour alerted her owner Bridget Jonesafter spotting Belle’s predicament but despitefrantic efforts and several scratches later, Bellewas still stuck.

“My neighbour said you’ll have to phone the Fire and Rescue Service. I was soembarrassed,” said Bridget. When Chester’s Blue Watch arrived at the sceneFirefighters Jim Payne, Jim Morris and Stu Morrison, all wearing protective gloves,managed to extricate the distraught feline.

Belle soon got over the ordeal and immediately ran inside. Bridget, who alsohas three other cats, explained that previously Belle had her leg amputated aftergetting injured while accidentally locked in a neighbor’s shed for six weeks.

“She must have about 20 lives,” added Bridget.

� Belle and owner Bridgetthank the firefighters fromBlue Watch.


INTHE

Warrington resident, BillRavenscroft, is the current Chair ofthe Fire Authority’s StandardsCommittee. He has taken time outto speak to Alert about the role ofthe group and how he got involvedwith it.

“I first got involved with thecommittee back in 2001,” explainedBill, “I applied to be a member afterseeing advert in my local paper Ithought at the time it looked aninteresting role.”

By law, every local authority,including Fire and Police Authorities,must have a Standards Committee.Standards Committees have a numberof statutory functions. They include:

• Promoting and maintaining highstandards of conduct of Authoritymembers

• Adopting and maintaining a Code ofConduct for members

• Considering any complaints that amember's conduct has breached

the standards set out in the Code -and, if so, determining whatsanctions should be applied to sucha member.

Bill added, “In short, StandardsCommittees have a critical role to playin maintaining public confidence in theintegrity of local politicians and localdemocracy. We do this by promotinghigh standards of conduct andensuring that the standards set out inthe Code are properly understood andapplied in practice.”

Complaints may come from otherAuthority members, from staff or fromthe public. They should be directed tothe Authority's Monitoring Officer whowill refer them on, as necessary, to theStandards Committee.

“In addition to its statutoryfunctions we also have a responsibilityto monitor and review the Authority'scompliance with its CorporateGovernance obligations – whichbasically means checking that it isdoing the right things in the right way

in a timely and accountable manner.”said Bill.

The Standards Committee has atotal of nine members. Six aremembers of the Authority and threeare 'independents'. By law, at least25% of the membership, including theCommittee's Chair, must beindependent.

They meet five times a year at theService’s headquarters. The meetingsare all generally open to the public.

Bill’s career spans a range ofspecialist and general managementroles in the electricity supply industry,local government and the NHS. Inaddition to his current role as Chair ofthe Fire Authority’s StandardsCommittee, Bill is an independentmember of Warrington BoroughCouncil’s Standards Committee, Chairof Warrington’s Learning DisabilityPartnership Board, a trustee of StJoseph’s Family Centre and a localmagistrate.

Standards CommitteeChair Bill Ravenscroft

Wilmslow visit Lacey Green SchoolRed Watch at Wilmslow recently visited Lacey Green Primary School to help promote Home Safety Assessments.The idea was to let all the pupils take a letter home to give to their parents and guardians to help highlight andpromote free home safety assessments to assist the Watch in achieving 70% saturation in the target ward.

After consulting with the Head Teacher Mrs Dooley and theDeputy Head Mr Shaw, Red Watch were given permission to visit theschool to give out the letters and then give the pupils a tour of theappliance. Each child was also given a Home Safety leaflet to takehome and read to help deliver the message of just how importantsmoke alarms are.

Mrs Dooley expressed how happy she was with this initiative.Firefighter Simon Bullock expressed his thanks to the teachers of theschool for taking time out to help get the information out to pupils.Simon said: “It’s great to see such a positive response from a localschool which will forge stronger community links between theService, the school and the parents or guardians of the children”.


The past 12 months have reallyflown by and while it has been asteep learning curve, I now feela real part of the ‘Cheshire Fireand Rescue Service family’.

That sense of family and teamspirit was really brought home tome when I joined in our fantasticCheshire Safety Day. To see stafffrom all departments working sideby side to protect our localcommunities was a real testamentto the obvious sense of pridewhich exists across ourorganisation.

To complete over 1,600 HomeSafety Assessments in day is aphenomenal achievement andsomething which I doubt any otherfire and rescue service in thecountry could have achieved.

But from the 10 HSAs which Ihelped to complete during the day,I know it is the advice and smokealarms we provide rather than anytarget which really matters.

Having again completed over60,000 HSAs in a year, we havenow visited over half of all thehomes in Cheshire.

There’s no doubt this has savedmany lives and properties and as Icomplete my first year as Chair ofthe Authority, I can tell you I amreally proud to be helping to lead aService which has such a positiveimpact on the lives of so manypeople.

from

The ChairCheshire cheeserolling champs!When Red Watch Chester were invited for a ‘cheese roll’ they

perhaps in hindsight too hastily said “yes”, as it was then revealedthe crew had just agreed to partake in the annual Chester Cheese-

Rolling Race… and with just an hour’s notice!

The competition was stiff, with winners for the last five years ‘The CheeseShop’, down as firm favourites. But with surprisingly little experience in the sportof relay cheese rolling, four members of the Watch, firefighters Billy Lenthall, ColinTunstall, Jo Collier and Steve Campbell bravely stepped forth.

After successfully beating ‘Cheshire West and Chester Council’ in the first roundand the ‘Cheese Makers’ in the semi finals, it was with great anticipation that theWatch entered the final against their new found nemesis ‘The Cheese Shop’. Therace started well with Billy Lenthall leading the way followed by Steve Campbell,who on the return trip incurred a 10 second penalty for confusing his tomato witha pepperoni (long story!), Jo Collier was next and it was then down to ColinTunstall to bring home the bacon, sorry - bring home the cheese!

After a lot of physical tussling around the course, and even a valiant dive forthe finish by Colin, it went to a judges decision and even though there was astrong crowd support for the fire crews to win - it was decided that ‘The CheeseShop’ had won it yet again! But it wasn’t all a complete loss, as while the racingwas going on the non-cheesy members of the Watch took the opportunity toinform the public of the up coming Cheshire Safety Day - and there’s always timeto practise for next year!

� FF Billy Lenthall leaving the competition for dust and the prize winners.

Congleton car bootCongleton crews attended a local car boot sale as part of road safety week.They booked a stall in a prominent position and with the help of PCSO JuliaShort and an array of leaflets and freebies accosted as many car booters aspossible.

Particular emphasis was placed on offering advice on impaired driving. Youngdrivers were offered theopportunity to navigate amarked course on a section ofcar park whilst wearing the‘beer goggles’.

Firefighter Paul Johnsonpartnered the volunteersoffering advice as they tackledthe dreaded traffic cones. Allthe young people made it backin one piece with no seriousinjuries to any traffic cones!


Cheshire Sa blazing

Staff smashed their target of achieving 1,000 HomeSafety Assessments in a day by more than 600.

The aim of Cheshire Safety Day was to visit 1,000homes across Cheshire in a bid to promote fire safety andhighlight the work of the Service.

Firefighters and staff from across the organisation joinedforces with partner organisations, sporting celebrities andpoliticians in their mission to deliver potentially life savingequipment and advice to local people. Their enthusiasmand commitment resulted in the delivery of a magnificent1,664 assessments.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Mark Cashin said, “We are oneof the country’s leading Fire and Rescue Services in termsof our fire safety and prevention work and events such asCheshire Safety Day highlight why that is. When we first putforward the idea of Cheshire Safety Day the proposedtarget of carrying out 1,000 Home Safety Assessments in asingle day seemed like an almost impossible challenge.

Safety Daysuccess!


“To have hit that target with something to spare is atribute to the hard work and commitment of everyone whohas been involved in the event. It was a truly exceptionalteam effort and shows the dedicated community spirit ofeveryone connected with the Service – from frontlinefirefighters and advocates to volunteers, support staff,Members and our regular partners.”

Cllr David Topping, Chair of Cheshire Fire Authority whohimself took part in delivering HSAs on the day added, “Itwas a real pleasure to take part in such an exciting initiative.The Service’s community safety work and the impact it ishaving on saving lives is truly inspirational.

“Having people from all across our organisation workingtogether clearly demonstrates how we all have the sameobjective – protecting the local communities we serve. Andit just shows what our ‘Team Cheshire’ can achieve whenwe set our minds to it. “Once again, a massive ‘thank you’to everyone for your hard work on the day and for yourplanning and organisation of events and activitiesbeforehand.”


IN BRIEFFIREFIGHTERSCHARITYThe Fire Fighters Charity benefitedto the tune of £146 raised by aChristmas raffle held atHeadquarters by HQ Sports andWelfare during their annual Xmaslunch.

WIDNESVISITOAKFIELDAt the beginning of February, BlueWatch from Widnes attendedOakfield Primary School to meet thereception class. The crew gave firesafety information to 30 childrenaged between five and six. Thechildren then braved the coldweather to have a tour of the fireappliance and all had the chance tosquirt some water.

CHRISTMASCELEBRATIONThe Volunteer ChristmasCelebration was held in Decemberat the Macdonald Portal Hotel,Tarporley to recognise thecontribution of our volunteers.

The evening involved presentationson the different roles available tovolunteers and an announcementon the forthcoming launch of thePost Fire Support Team. During theevening guests were invited to theBlackjack tables where the topthree scores won fantastic prizesdonated by Oulton Park, ChesterRaces and Manchester City FC.

Praise for firefightersFirefighters successfully

contained a major firein Crewe and stop it

spreading to nearby homes.

North Ward Working Men’sClub in Crewe was destroyedwhen a fire ripped through thebuilding on February 5. At theheight of the blaze there wereseven fire appliances and aHydraulic Platform on thescene. Firefighters battledthrough the night to save the disusedbuilding at the junction of Hall O’Shawand Richmond Road and protect thesurrounding properties.

Alex Waller, Unitary PerformanceManager for Cheshire East said, “Thefirefighters involved did a fantastic jobcontaining this fire and preventing itfrom spreading to the surroundingbuildings which were just metres away.If it had not been for the crews’ high

levels of professionalism and expertisethis incident could have been so muchworse.”

His praise is echoed by localresident Kimberly Jones, whosebungalow was close to the fire. Shesaid, “I have nothing but good thingsto say about them. I cannot praisethem enough. These are very brave,special people who have saved myhome.”

Knutsford play host tosenior citizensFirefighters at the newly refurbished Knutsford Fire Station played hostrecently to 20 Senior Citizens.

This event was organised by Watch Manager John Barber from KnutsfordCommunity Fire Station and Mrs Margaret Timpson from the Senior Citizens Club.

It was attended by residents lived in the Over Ward area of Knutsford inCommunity Housing owned by either Peaks and Plains or Great Places.

John said: "The event proved very successful and everyone seemed to have agood time.

"We put on the lunch to celebrate both the opening of the community roomfollowing it's refurbishment and also to highlight community links with regard tohousing and home fire safety and to emphasise the excellent community workbeing undertaken by Station personnel."


After months of preparation and hard workFire Cadets from Runcorn and Frodshamvisited Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s

headquarters for an opportunity to use the real firetraining rig at their development academy.

It was an exciting opportunity for the Cadets to putinto practice the knowledge they have gained fromstandard drills. It was also a chance to experience thework done by another fire and rescue service.

Andy Hughes the Lead Cadet Instructor at Runcornadded, “By working closely with other Fire and RescueServices we hope to give our Cadets the chance toexchange knowledge and skills and also to developworking relationships with others. Giving them thechance to experience real fire situations helps to buildtheir confidence and character.”

Cadets get a taste of realfirefighting!

� Cadets fighting the fire and making most of the facilities atMerseyside.

During their visit the Cadets had to deal with a fireresulting in a 40ft plume of smoke.

Runcorn Cadet Instructor Martin Webster said aboutthe day’s event: “Even standing about 50 metres away theheat was intense, so to be as close as the Cadets werewould be quite scary. However, all the Cadet leaderspresent were very impressed with the performances of theirCadets - a 40ft raging inferno did not phase them at all.”

Respect graduation reportIt has been a successful term for the RESPECT team witheight of their groups successfully graduating from thecourse.

Young people from across Cheshire took part in the challengingnine–week course that aims to equip them with the skills andknowledge necessary to help them make positive choices in theirlives.

The course is run in partnership with other agencies such as thePolice, Connexions and HM Prison service. It involves the youngpeople spending a day each week at a station. They then take partin a variety of disciplined and structured sessions as well as moreinformal activities.

Some of the activities have included firefighter training, roadsafety initiatives, first aid training, water safety as well as drugscrime and alcohol awareness sessions.

Peer mentors, who are previous successful students, were alsoon hand to offer support to those young people taking part.

In total, 76 young people from have successfully graduated fromWarrington, Birchwood, Winsford, Ellesmere Port, Crewe,Macclesfield, Runcorn and Congleton.

The RESPECT co-ordinators would like to thank all thefirefighters and staff who have supported the RESPECT teams.

� Ellesmere Port’s RESPECT team at their graduation theirgraduation ceremony.

Do you have any comments or suggestions forfuture editions of the Alert? If so call the Service’sCorporate Communications team on 01606 868786or email [email protected]

BeAlert!


Hannah steps outwith Blue WatchHannah Bargery recently

took over the reins as thereporting fire

correspondent for theWarrington Guardian newspaper.

To help get Hannah acquaintedwith her new role, Blue Watch inBirchwood invited Hannah tospend the day with them. Shewas duly kitted out and joined thewatch on parade and afterassisting with the daily equipmentchecks, Hannah was give a full tourof the fire appliance, learning whatall the equipment was used for.

Then it was on to the Breathing

Apparatus (BA) with Hannahexperiencing what it was like towear a set and take part in asimple exercise, where she wasshown the famous ‘BA shuffle’describing it as a ‘crazy dance’!

Hannah was then shown someroad traffic collision extrication skillsafter which she she enthusiasticallytook part in a roof removalexercise, using the cutters like atrue professional. Hannah wasalso shown how crews carry out aHome Safety Assessments andgiven an insight into Key Stage 2visits to local schools. � Hannah with the crew and trying on the BA set.

First of its kindA new Prince’s Trust Team beganwork at the end of January and hasthe accolade of being the first teamever to run out of Mid CheshireCollege at the Verdin Centre inWinsford.

The team is made up of 14 youngpeople, 13 of which are under 19years of age. This is the first team tobe run in Winsford for some time.Those involved in the course are notcurrently involved in training, educationor employment, which is a key targetgroup for the Prince’s Trust.

Connexions and other localagencies have worked very closelywith team leaders, John Walkey andJennie Riding, to make sure that team14 is a resounding success.

John commented: “Without ourlocal partners we would struggle todeliver the excellent course, so specialthanks must go to the localConnexions team in Winsford whohelped recruit the young people whoare now attending the twelve weekcourse”.

AstmoorCharityCar WashOn Saturday 6 February, GreenWatch from Runcorn visited their“Phoenix Project” school AstmoorPrimary to take part in a “CharityCar Wash Event” organised by the“Friends of Astmoor”.

After a good humoured and wellsupported day, they raised almost£100 to be donated to a charity still tobe decided by the committee. Thiswas a particularly sterling effort for thevolunteers as the event clashed withthe Merseyside derby betweenLiverpool and Everton (1-0 final score).

� Crew Manager Doodson and FirefightersMainwaring and MacIntyre get “stuckin”.

� Team Photo taken at Winsford FireStation after a tour of the Station.

� Drive Survive Picture with a PTT Teammember.

� At Macclesfield Fire Station withTeam members Cara Washburnand Christopher Hooper.


THANKSMEMORABLECHESTERVISIT�Dear Sir - we would like to thankyou and the staff of White Watch fortheir kindness in giving Simon Parr amost memorable visit to the Stationin particular Watch Manager ChrisRodaway and Firefighter Mark Tabor.WM Rodaway cannot be praisedenough as Simon, who has severelearning difficulties, was made to feelso welcome and did not stop talkingabout his visit until he went home.

I would again thank you and yourstaff for the kindness shown toSimon.�Yours sincerely, Mr & Mrs Fowler

ALSAGERRESIDENT�Dear Sir - Could you please say abig “thank you” to Advocate SeanMcCormick for all the help andadvice he gave us, “what a niceman.�Yours faithfully, P Hammond

The letter was also accompanied bya cheque for £10 for The FireFighters Charity.

MACCLESFIELDPRAISE�Dear Sir - I should like to expressmy appreciation to the teams thatcame out to our house on Fridaynight / Saturday morning to attendto the smoke alarm andsubsequently replace it. Both teamswere courteous and very helpful at adifficult time for us.

I am very grateful to them.�Yours sincerely,

E Kingdom, Macclesfield

THINK, DRIVE,SURVIVECheshire Fire Authority Chair,

Cllr David Topping,has recently attended the

rebranding of the ‘Drive Survive’initiative to the new ‘Think, Drive, Survive’.

Cllr Topping spoke at length with some of the students attending. Afterwardshe said, “This is a highly professional event which is designed to emphasise thechoices each one of us makes when getting on the road on either four or twowheels. Such choices will inevitably affect the journey and, wrongly chosen, couldresult in death or serious injury to the driver, passengers or others.

“This is not a fun course. It is hard hitting and based on the real world.However, it is delivered positively using effective film and video footage and isthought provoking and moving throughout. I defy anyone who has attended notto admit to being a safer driver as a result. It makes me think, even weeksafterwards and I encourage any road user to make an effort to attend.”

This course is designed for 16 -25 year olds and has been running in variousforms for almost 10 years. Over 12,000 young people have benefited fromattending.

Accurate and meaningful evaluation of Road Safety initiatives is notoriouslydifficult, however there is no greater example of the success of ‘Think, Drive,Survive’ than the evidence gathered by Crew Manager, Stu Guy.

Stu explained: “A Runcorn fire appliance attended an incident involving twovehicles on the A56. One of the vehicles was very heavily damaged andcontained four young people. Thankfully they walked away with only minorinjuries. When firefighters asked them about whether they had been wearingseatbelts their reply was ‘Yes, we always wear seatbelts after going to DriveSurvive a couple of years ago’. In my experience these young people were savedfrom serious injury or probably even worse, by a decision they made because theattended Drive Survive.”

� Think Drive Survive team and CFA Chair

THANK YOU TO RUNCORN�Hello, Last Thursday in Delph Lane, Daresbury, I managed to get my car stuckwhile trying to get up my drive. After almost an hour of digging, reversing andskidding, the car slid across the lane completely blocking it off. I couldn’t shift itand was just about to call the Police to tell them the lane was blocked when fourmembers of Red Watch came across the humpback bridge, seemingly out ofnowhere, and set about getting the car off the road and up the drive.

They were absolutely brilliant and are a credit to the Fire and Rescue Service.Would you please pass on my thanks to them again.�Yours sincerely, E Kingdom, Macclesfield


Cadets fund raise inDelamereTwo charities – Crimestoppers and The Fire

Fighters Charity - are set to benefit from thehard work of Cheshire’s Fire Cadets.

During three weekends leading up to Christmas theCadets helped thousands of families to choose andwrap their trees and carried them safely to thepurchasers’ cars while other Cadets were seen expertlycontrolling the flow of vehicles in the car parking area.They raised almost £1,500 in the process.

Crimestoppers Committee Chair, Colin Brown,commented, “The Cheshire Committee is very gratefulto the Cadets. We enjoy a superb working partnershipwith the Service and we are delighted to be nominatedas one of their charities of choice. We are indebted tothe Cadets and Officers for all their hard work.”

� Andy Garner with Frodsham Cadets fundraising in Delamere.

Warrington Community FireProtection team has joinedforces with the Cheshire and

Warrington Economic Alliance to takepart in an exciting new climate changeinitiative aimed at Warrington businesses.

The CWEA are working to raise awarenesson how climate change could affect localbusinesses and are encouraging them to consider

what impact issuessuch as flooding,heat waves and highwinds could have ontheir business. Inaddition, businesses arebeing asked to look athow they can reducetheir carbon emissions toprevent more climatechange in the future.

WarringtonCommunity FireProtection ManagerStation Manager KevinMassey said: “We saw areal opportunity to

support the CWEA with the initiative by adding asection on climate change into each Fire Safety Audit.

OurOfficersare already onsite dealing with aperson responsible so it is a perfect opportunity todiscuss the important issue of climate change.Businesses are provided with a support leaflet and arebeing asked to complete a questionnaire – the results ofwhich we can then feed back to CWEA. The pilot wasstarted in February and runs through to the end ofMarch.

“We are really excited to be part of such an importantinitiative and so far the quality of feedback we havereceived has been excellent”.

Climate change pilotMany thanks to Cadets from the following units who contributed to collecting the grand total - Crewe, Sir William Stanier

School Cadets, West Cheshire College Cadets, Widnes, Warrington Wolves Cadets, Frodsham, Sandbach, Birchwood,Audlem, Nantwich, Middlewich and Holmes Chapel.


Knutsford winter animal rescuesDue to the icy and snowy

conditions over the Christmasperiod and early January

Knutsford fire crews have beencalled out to some interesting andvery rewarding animal rescues.

‘Raven’ the Dog, Tatton Park

It all started on the afternoon of Friday18 December. Crews were called torescue ‘Raven’, a Chocolate Labradorwho was stuck in water in Tatton Park.The dog had fallen through ice in asmall fishing pond.

Once there crews found two adultsand two very upset children who werewatching their dog struggling in themiddle of the icy pond. The crewquickly inflated the rescue sled whileSteve Buckley prepared himself to goin the sled over the pond.

Steve paddled towards thewhimpering dog using the paddles tobreak the ice. Raven leapt into Steve’sarms as he approached and the pairwere pulled back by the crew.

Once on very firm ground the dogwas greeted by the very relievedowners, and then quickly taken intothe back of the waiting RSPCA van tobe warmed up by being placed into aheated cage.

‘Faye’ the Duck, The Moor pond,Knutsford

While crews were still at Tatton Parkwith Labrador Raven, the RSPCAofficer mentioned an Aylesbury duckbeing stuck on the ice in The MoorPond, Knutsford and asked if therewas any chance the crew could usethe sled to rescue him. This call forhelp was replicated moments laterwhen the pump received a call fromthe Fire Station alerting crews to thesituation and warning that somemembers of the public were discussinggoing out onto the ice to save it.

Once again, firefighter SteveBuckley, who was already kitted up

after the previous rescue, took to thewater to rescue another beast in need.He completed his mission in front ofmore than 50 onlookers, managing tobring Faye back to safety of the waitingRSPCA officers.

Buster the Dog, TrentabankReservoir, Macclesfield

On December 27 the crewssuccessfully rescued ‘Buster’ the dogfrom the freezing waters of TrentabankReservoir.

Buster had been in the water foran hour when Temporary CrewManager Andy Horne reached him.Andy had made his way through theice, lying flat on his stomach on thesled and pulling himself alongsmashing through the ice with hisgloved hands.

Thirsty cows in Tabley

On the early afternoon of Sunday 10January a distressed farmer phonedKnutsford Fire Station and asked forassistance as his dairy cattle hadn’thad water for three days due to theextremely cold weather freezing thewater pipes and the fact that he wasunable to walk at the time due tohaving a crushed foot.

An appliance was sent to the farmin Tabley. On arrival at the farm, crewswere greeted by the farmer oncrutches and his daughter whoshowed where the water was needed.The hydrant which was situatedoutside the farm was identified and

several large troughs were filled for theherd of nearly 200 dairy cattle.

While crews were providing the watersupply much to their amazement thefarmer’s daughter delivered a bull calf.

The Fire Fighters Charity is herefor all fire service personnelduring their times of need,providing vital support servicesacross the UK for the whole firecommunity. But it costs over £9million every year to keep theCharity running, and with noGovernment funding, we arecompletely reliant upondonations.

Please help to continueproviding crucial support servicesto the fire community bybecoming a regular donor. £5 amonth probably won’t makemuch difference to you, but yoursupport would make all thedifference to a member of the firecommunity in need.

To sign-up to become a regulardonor, please complete a RegularGiving Form available from KateGriffiths, Level 6, Belvedere,Basing View, Basingstoke RG214HG or call Kate on 01256366566.

SupportThe FireFightersCharity

FarewellsFF Tristan Jones Wilmslow 5 Dec 3 yrs

Anne-Marie Mounfield Chester 10 Dec 2 yrs 1 mth

FF Heather Jackson H Chapel 31 Dec 5 yrs 6 mths

CM Peter Hollingsworth Frodsham 31 Jan 13 yrs 8 mths

Leavers

FF Gerard Seils Ellesmere Port 4 Dec 30 yrs

SM Tony Snelson SHQ 10 Dec 16 yrs 9 mths

FF Guy Burdett Warrington 12 Dec 30 yrs

FF Philip Marsh Widnes 21 Dec 32 yrs

FF Thomas Staley Middlewich 31 Dec 30 yrs 9 mths

WM Brian Tuohy Crewe CFP 3 Feb 25 yrs 1 mths

Susan Yates Ellesmere Port 5 Jan 20 yrs

FF John Webster Knutsford 10 Jan 31 yrs 8mths

FF Martin Scragg Macclesfield 15 Feb 31 yrs 10mths

SM John Noden SHQ 11 Mar 31 yrs

FF Alan Ollier Crewe 13 Mar 31 yrs

Retirements

CM David Howard Warrington 8 Jan 7 yrs 6mths AM John Redmond SHQ 31 Jan 26 yrs 3mths

Transfer


ArrivalsNew startersJONATHAN MOULDJonathan has started in the role of EnergyEfficiency and Carbon Reduction Officer.Previously he graduated from LeedsUniversity then had a gap year travellingabroad before joining us.

MEGAN BOWYERMegan worked for Barclays Bank formore than 25 years. She has joined theService to provide maternity cover asProject Manager for the HRIS (HumanResources Information System) Project.

LISA EDWARDSLisa graduated from Liverpool HopeUniversity in 2006 and has job roles withinhousing and youth work. She is now partof “On the Streets” project within ourYouth Engagement department.

NEIL OSBORNENeil has worked for ten years teachingCadets adventure training activities. He isa gradulate from Lancaster University andworks within the Youth Engagementdepartment with the “On the Streets”team.

DANIEL RITCHIEDaniel spent over three years as an ITSupport Technician at UK Fuels in Crewe.He has now joined CRFS as an ICTHelpdesk Technician at SHQ.

JAMES TRUSCOTTJames is a recent graduate from theUniversity of Liverpool and is now amember of the “On the Streets” teamaimed at tackling anti-social behaviour inthe Halton area.

RACHEL ALLENBefore joining the Service as a HomeSafety Advisor in Cheshire West andChester, Rachel was a teacher of businessand ICT for more than four years. Rachel,who is from a family of North Walesfirefighters, is based in Chester.

MELISSA BUTLERMelissa graduated from the University ofLiverpool where she studied physiologyand spend some time in temporarycontracts before being employed as anICT Helpdesk Technician at SHQ.

AMY ROBERTSAmy is a Home Safety Advisor for theHalton area. She is based at theCommunity Safety Department in Widnes.Amy was a Fire Cadet at Widnes for fouryears. She still continues to be anOutreach Worker with Merseyside Fire andRescue Service.


CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONSPhotographed are retired Deputy Chief Fire Officer KeithNewnes and Mrs Newnes, current Chief Fire Officer PaulHancock and former Chief Fire Officer Denis Davis and MrsDavis celebrating at the Retired Members ChristmasCelebration.

Santa with his little helpers, Julia Morrison, Judi Boardman,Chris Blackham , Linda Jones and Sharon Langerrecuperating after the HQ Sports & Welfare Children’s Xmasparty where a record 36 children enjoyed an evening of play,food and presents.

‘Smile’ for Macclesfield Town CentrePhotographs of staff at

Macclesfield Fire Station arehelping to brighten up and

promote their town.

Cheshire East Regeneration Teamapproached the Station and asked ifstaff would mind having their picturestaken and displayed on the front ofempty shops. The plan was to makethe town centre more appealing tovisitors.

Staff agreed and are now delightedwith the results of this partnershipinitiative that also involved pictures offellow emergency service professionalsfrom the police and ambulanceservice.

� Firefighter Helena Gowler on the right

� Firefighter Ian Moore

� Advocate Julie Cooper and AdminAssistant Rachel Tideswell

� Firefighter Jim Rowley

Visit to Ditton Early Years CentreJanuary saw Blue Watch from Widnes visit one ofthe larger nurseries in the area with over 100 pre-school children to deliver home safety informationto them and the staff of Ditton Early Years Centre.

The children enjoyed having the firefighters visit,joining in role playing and reading all about Francis theFirefly, the dangers of playing with fire and the singalong joining in nursery rhymes about Firefightersgoing to a shout. This gave the staff at the Centre theopportunity to work closely to deliver the safetymessage and to ensure that the children receivedinformation to take home to their parents.


Sport & Welfare

SPORT & WELFARE • SPORT & WELFARE • SPORT &

Stuart Devereux who works at SHQ ER Resilience Unit took part in the ‘HellRun’ last November through Delamere Forest raising over £300 for The FireFighters Charity.

This is an annual event and is a twelve mile trail run through the forest taking aroute up streams, down dips and through bogs. Stuart said, “Many thanks to allwho sponsored me.

“This was a well organised team spirited event with over 1500 runners tacklingand helping each other through the course. A period of heavy rain right up to thestart of the event ensured the bogs were topped up much to the organisersdelight but that just added to the atmosphere.”

Stuart has entered another event in March, the ‘Cumbria Commotion’ involvinga trail run, mountain bike and kayak course to support the Children’s CancerCharity CLiC Sargent. If anyone would like to sponsor him please contact him [email protected]

� Stuart looking a lot cleaner than he didat the finish of the run!

Shooting sectionChristmas claysCheshire Fire and Rescue Service Clay Target Club held their ChristmasShoot at Doveridge Shooting School in Derbyshire.

The group, which included members of support and operational staff, retiredmembers and their families, shot some challenging clays over mixed terrain onthe day. The shooting ground offers clay shooting facilities which are second tonone so the competition was fierce. The last time the group shot at this venuewas the World Firefighter Games so the day brought back many memoriesespecially for the medal winners.

The shoot provided a mixture of simulated game shooting which includedclays to resemble springing teal, mixed pairs and running rabbit shots. Allabilities enjoyed the shooting and there was a tie which saw a shoot off for firstand second place in the Seniors section which was won by Steve Crick.

The ladies section saw Chris Blackham from the Corporate CommunicationsDepartment at Headquarters take home the first prize and Leo Hawkins won thenovice section. There were three sections and the winners were:

Seniors - 1st – Steve Crick, 2nd – Roger Morris, 3rd – James WoodwardNovice Winner - Leo HawkinsLadies - 1st – Chris Blackham, 2nd – Helen Crick, 3rd – Joyce Hawkins

� Trading stories after a busy morning’s shoot.

Stuart completesthe “hell run”

GYM COURSEKNOWLEDGEOver a two week period BirchwoodFirefighter Gareth Evans and MikeWyman from Knutsford attended aLevel Two Gym Instructors course atCheshire Police HQ in Winsford.

The course was set up to train anumber of police staff to become ‘FitnessChampions’, and the firefighters wereinvited along to try to extend this initiativeto their Watchs to have a positive influenceon operational staff and to bring back bestpractice. The course content was quitedemanding, with a lot of physiology andbiomechanical information included on thefirst day. At the end of the two weekscourse, however, after lots of practicalassessments, course work and a finalexam all successfully passed.

� The successful graduates

Keeping Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Personnel ... · I N S I D E Snowproblem-p3 Firefighters...

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