March 2010 - Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

aid arrives for Haiti 

the magazine of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service 

Vol. 6 Issue 1 March 2010

Time to Quit 

Making the decision to stop smoking isn’t always easy and the first few weeks can be challenging. 

However there are real benefits to achieving your goal and many resources available to help you 

along the way. Take a look at the tips below to help you get started. 

Thinking about stopping smoking? 

Top reasons to quit: 

• You will increase your life expectancy by around seven 

to eight years. 

• You will greatly reduce your chances of having a heart 

attack, cancer, Type 2 diabetes or a stroke. 

• Increased energy levels, improved fitness and better 

looking skin, hair and nails. 

• More confidence and self esteem, knowing that you 

have had the determination and willpower to stop. 

• You, your clothes, your house and your car will smell 

much nicer. 

• Fresher breath and whiter teeth. You may also notice 

that the formation of wrinkles around the eyes and 

mouth slows down. 

• You’ll be more attractive to others. It’s been found 

that non-smokers are three times more appealing to 

the opposite sex than smokers. 

• Your sex drive and fertility will improve. Quitting 

smoking improves the lining of the womb and can 

make men’s sperm more potent. 

• A heightened sense of taste and smell, meaning that 

foods will taste better and your favourite smells will 

be more intense. 

• You won’t have to stand outside offices, restaurants 

or sneak out of the cinema half way through the film. 

• You will save money! 

Start saving 

After you’ve stopped smoking, it’s not just your body that will benefit, your 

finances might too! Take a look at the table below and find out how much you can 

typically expect to save by giving up smoking. 

No. of cigarettes a day 5 10 20 40 

Daily Cost £1.43 £2.85 £5.70 £11.40 

Weekly Cost £9.98 £19.95 £39.90 £80.00 

Monthly Cost £42.75 £86.00 £171.00 £342.00 

Yearly Cost £520.00 £1040.00 £2081.00 £4161.00 

The above costs are based upon a pack of 20 cigarettes costing £5.70 

Copyright: No Smoking Day 

© Copyright 2010 AXA ICAS. All rights reserved. Information correct at the time of writing. PB36415:02/10/LFRS 

Additional resources and information 

There are many websites featuring stop smoking guides, 

printable resources and tools to support those stopping 

smoking. These include: 

Smokefree - www.smokefree.nhs.uk 

Order a ‘Quit Kit’, take an addiction test, or calculate 

how much you’re spending on cigarettes with the online 

calculator. 

No Smoking Day - www.nosmokingday.org.uk 

Featuring an online forum where you can chat to others 

in a similar position to you. 

British Heart Foundation - www.bhf.org.uk 

Features information and guidance around the effects of 

smoking on your heart. 

Quit - www.quit.org.uk 

Features guides about the health issues effecting men 

and women who smoke. 

NHS Choices - www.nhs.uk 

A variety of articles and tools to help you stop smoking, 

including a desktop Stop Smoking Tracker that can be 

downloaded onto your computer. 

Call. Any time. Whatever the reason. 

0800 072 7 072 

The telephone helpline is provided for LFRS employees and their families only.

Chiefwelcome 

Welcome all to this new look copy of Call Out which, once again, paints a 

fantastic picture of our wonderful Service. 

For this edition, I would like to take the opportunity to talk about our 

Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP). With the Combined Fire 

Authority approving the latest IRMP, we are entering a phase in the 

life of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service that will be as interesting 

and challenging as any that we have experienced. It will require us to 

demonstrate strong leadership and excellent management if we are to 

achieve the outcomes that the Fire Authority has set out for us. 

There will clearly be a number of acute challenges for individuals and for 

the Service but I do believe that the end result will be worth the efforts. We 

have an absolute duty to provide the best possible response to emergency 

incidents that our budget and resources will allow and we believe that the 

‘blueprint for the future’, as detailed in our latest IRMP, will make changes 

that ensure we use our resources in the most effective way. 

I have stressed throughout the consultations and discussion that this IRMP is 

about doing more with the same and certainly not about ‘cuts’. I make no 

apology for repeating that again here, as it is crucial that we all understand 

that to be the case. Clearly it is difficult to see this if you are at a station 

that is to be closed or reduced in crewing levels but I am sure that the plans 

stand up to very close scrutiny in delivering on our aims to the whole service 

area of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. 

All of the above said, I know that we face a very challenging future as 

Government attempts to address the parlous state of the economy. We 

are not immune from any future public spending cuts and I wait with a little 

trepidation on what the next national budget will bring. I don’t think it will 

be easy but I am sure we will be ready to rise to the challenge. 

On a more positive note, can I encourage you all to attend the Charity 

Ball and presentation night. The previous nights have proved to be really 

excellent and thoroughly enjoyable for all and we expect there to be a full 

house again this year. 

Thank you to you all for you hard work and undoubted commitment, our 

future is strong and I know we will continue to provide an excellent service 

to all who need us. 

Dave Webb 

Chief Fire and Rescue Officer 

www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk 

CallOut March 2010 

03

Editorletter 

? 

Amanda Pike 

Acting Editor 

Hello and welcome to the 

March issue of CallOut 

I am currently in the role of 

Acting Editor, thrust forward 

from behind the scenes of 

CallOut, after Joanna, the 

previous Editor, resigned. 

I would like to thank Joanna 

for all her hard work and 

contributions to previous issues, 

but this now leaves us with a 

great opportunity for someone 

else to come forward and be 

the next Editor. 

The post will involve 

working with the Corporate 

Communications Team 

to ensure we continue 

to produce a high 

quality publication that reflects the excellent work done by 

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. The role will involve 

sourcing articles from across the Service, contributing to the look 

and feel of the magazine and helping to decide on the content. 

This issue has seen a great number of submissions; thanks to 

all that have sent in articles. I believe this our biggest issue 

to date. I hope you will find Kal and Mark’s article on Haiti 

interesting and it is impressive to read all about the other 

activities that go on above and beyond the usual ‘day job’, 

such as the firefighters work in schools and Kate Clay’s work 

with the Prince’s Trust. I was particularly interested to read 

about the National Women’s Rugby section and hope all you 

women out there feel inspired to get involved. 

As always, please send your articles, thoughts and images in. 

We now have a SharePoint site where you can upload them 

direct. Enjoy the issue! 

04 CallOut March 2010 

ACTING EDITOR Amanda Pike 

Corporate Communications Co-ordinator 

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service 

Headquarters 

Leicester 

LE3 8HD 

E-mail: amanda.pike@lfrs.org 

DESIGNER Steve Ballinger 

Graphic Designer 

Corporate Communications 

Tel: 0116 229 2180 

E-mail: steve.ballinger@lfrs.org 

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE 

Nathanael Holden 

WORDS 

Kalpesh Diyar, Mark Bryers, Helen Cooper, Helene 

Sutliff, John Brown, Pete Trayner, Andrew Quine, Andy 

Forster, Andy Hartley, Frank Byrne, Jerry Askham, 

Robert Perin, Kate Clay, Steve Elliff, Ian Bachelor, Andy 

Kirk, Howard Robinson, Perry Mason, Raj Dard, Dawn 

Merrett, Laura Foz, Dave King, Imran Lambat, Charlotte 

Varnam, Edd Rogers, Neil Jenkins, Stuart Wolfe. 

PICTURES 

All photography by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue 

Service unless otherwise stated. 

PRINT Grid Design and Print 

Tel: 01332 368869 

ADVERTISING DESIGN 

ICAS, Fire Fighters Charity 

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES 

Corporate Communications 

E-mail: corporate.communications@lfrs.org 


All content © Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service 

unless otherwise stated 

Published March 2010 

www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk

18 

34 


contents 

24 

chief welcome 

Dave Webb - Chief Fire and 

Rescue Officer 

editor letter 

Amanda Pike - Acting Editor 

cover story 

Pair fly out to help with 

Haiti disaster victims 

2009 medal ceremony 

Helen Cooper reflects on another 

great award ceremony 

embedded firefighters 

Spotlight on firefighters working in 

local schools 

hydrant technicians 

Spotlight on the work our fire 

hydrant technicians do 

new vehicles 

Three new appliances about to go 

on the run 

christmas card 

competition 

School produces winning design 

great station initiative 

Western offer taster session to 

young person 

operational exercise 

Report on Operation Marble 

regional control news 

Two new advisors join the team 

technical rescue news 

Technical Rescue remove 

Coalville’s redundant boiler flue 

twinning anniversary 

40th anniversay celebrations in 

Krefeld 

Vol. 6 Issue 1 March 2010 

03 

04 

06 

09 

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14 

16 

18 

20 

22 

24 

26 

28 

30 

32 

33 

34 

37 

38 

39 

40 

42 

44 

47 

cover 

Kal Diyar pictured tending to 

a patient in Haiti, following the 

earthquake. 

historic rail disaster 

Robert Perin reports on a 1975 rail 

disaster 

Prince’s Trust volunteer 

Kate Clay volunteers and becomes 

a responsible adult 

Prince’s Trust news 

Unsung hero wins young volunteer 

award 

training news 

Recruits training course 04/09 

crumball rally win! 

‘Les Pompiers’ win charity rally 

sudoku and competition 

grand charity ball news 

looking back 

retirement event 

Walter McBain is sent off in style! 

control’s annual 

challenge 

White Watch combat the force! 

sports news 

Rugby match report, Des Sables 

Marathon, Women’s rugby and 

Golf news 

letters received 

Thank you letters received by the 

Service 


05

cover story 

WE ARRIVED IN PORT-AU- 

PRINCE, HAITI, ON SUNDAY 

AFTER AN ARDUOUS 

JOURNEY THAT WAS BESET 

WITH VEHICLE BREAKDOWNS 

AND OTHER DIFFICULTIES. 

06 CallOut March 2010 www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk

WORDS Kalpesh Diyar, Technical Rescue 

Mark Bryers, Training 

PHOTO Kalpesh Diyar, Mark Bryers 

On 13 January 2010 Haiti was hit 

by a massive earthquake of 7.0 

magnitude, the epicentre of which 

was 10 miles south west of 

Port-Au-Prince, the capital. Reports told of massive 

destruction and thousands of fatalities. Search 

and rescue teams from across the globe prepared 

to fly to the disaster zone and search for victims. 

The UK’s own International Search and Rescue 

(ISAR) teams were also mobilised. Having not long 

been deployed to the Indonesian earthquake, 

Leicestershire was not on call and therefore were 

not deployed. 

Mark and I were asked to prepare for a 

mobilisation on behalf of Humanity First (UK) 

although not as part of the initial team. Humanity 

First (USA and Canada) were preparing teams 

to respond initially and Humanity First (UK) was to 

provide backup later on. 

On Friday 22 January 2010 Mark and I found 

ourselves on an aircraft on route to Haiti, via the 

Dominican Republic, as part of a medical disaster 

response team from Humanity First. The team 

consisted of paramedics, doctors and surgeons. 

For the last three years or so Mark and I have been 

members of Humanity First. Initially we acted as 

advisers to a team of doctors producing a manual 

for other medics to prepare for deployment to 

disaster areas. Our combined experience in 

search and rescue and pre-hospital care proved 

to be very useful in providing an insight into the 

type of work that the doctors would encounter. 

Mark is a state registered paramedic and I am an 

EMT-paramedic, and we are both medics in the 

International Search and Rescue Team (ISAR). We 

have extended our skills allowing us to perform 

minor surgical work and wound care as well as 

trauma and primary health care. 

We arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Sunday 

after an arduous journey that was beset with 

vehicle breakdowns and other difficulties. After a 

brief orientation and tour of the base camp and 

surrounding area, the team decided to set up a 

medical facility in a refugee camp in Carrefour, 


on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince nearer to where 

the epicentre occurred. On Monday morning the 

crowds began to gather even as the tents were 

being put up. On the first day we treated over 500 

patients. The patients started arriving with a wide 

range of medical problems including infected 

wounds, broken limbs, burns, cuts and grazes. In 

the evenings, we returned to our main base in 

Port-au-Prince, re-stocked for the next day and 

helped out in the clinic that had been set up there 

and was being run 24/7. 

As experienced medics, both Mark and I soon 

found ourselves performing procedures such as 

minor surgery involving cutting away infected 

tissue and helping to set limbs in plaster. We both 

found that these challenges pushed our skills to 

new levels. The team continued to work at this 

camp for a further seven days and it is estimated 

that our team as a whole, treated over 4,000 

patients, although some suggested that this 

number could be as high as over 7,000 as not all 

of the patients were logged in. 

Throughout the mission the United Nation’s 

peacekeeping force from Sri Lanka provided 

security for the team and also lunch, which was 

PREVIOUS PAGE: 

Mark Bryers with victims 

of the disaster. THIS 

PAGE (l-r): Mark 

Bryers, Asif Hamid 

and Kal Diyar using 

mobile technology in 

their work NEXT PAGE: 

Mark (TOP RIGHT) and 

Kal (BOTTOM) treating 

victims with injuries. 


07

gratefully received. By 1 February the number of serious 

patients was starting to diminish and Mark and I along with 

the rest of the team found ourselves treating a variety of 

pre-existing medical conditions ranging from diabetes, 

hypertension (high blood pressure), asthma and other chest 

infections. At this stage, it was decided that the acute 

phase of the mission was at an end. The team started to 

make plans for the next team to arrive and continue with 

the relief phase of the mission dealing with the long-term 

health care and regeneration programs. 

Both Mark and I returned to Leicester on Friday 5 February. 

Although very tired, the experience was very rewarding and 

will leave a lasting impression on both of us and our families. 

The success of this mission would not have been possible 

without the support and training of Leicestershire Fire and 

Rescue Service and ISAR, the doctors from the Humanity 

First Disaster Medical Response Team and the Clinical Skills 

Training Team at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. 

Our thanks go out to all that have helped and been involved. 

BOTH MARK AND I SOON 

FOUND OURSELVES 

PERFORMING PROCEDURES 

SUCH AS MINOR SURGERY 

INVOLVING CUTTING AWAY 

INFECTED TISSUE 


2009 medal ceremony 

WORDS Helen Cooper, Information and Corporate Communications 

PHOTO Stuart Carter 

NUMBERS UP ON LAST YEAR! 

BACK (l-r): Roger Dumford, Bruce Jennings, Stuart Willis, Colin Lee, Nigel Shaw, Paul Speight, Alan Searle, Ian Cotton, Nigel Alexander, Paul Collins, Martin Bee, Roger Hawes, 

Robert Beckwith, Julian Harding, Ian Batchelor, David Hamilton and David Palethorpe 

FRONT (l-r): Andy Parkin, Howard Robinson, Ian Scarrott, Dave Webb, Jennifer Lady Gretton JP, Peter Roffey, Louise Barton and Mark Draper 

Music and carols 

throughout the day 

were provided by local 

schools. No, it was not 

the annual carol service it was our 

Long Service, Good Conduct Medal 

presentation which took place 

on Monday 7 December 2009 at 

Beaumanor Hall, Woodhouse Eaves, 

Leicestershire. It certainly had a 

Christmassy feel. 

During the past three years our 

numbers have been steadily rising. This 

year we had 20 recipients for medals. 

Their medals were formally presented 


by Jennifer Lady Gretton JP on behalf 

of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. 

Jennifer Lady Gretton is “Her Majesty’s 

Official Representative” and holds the 

title of Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. 

This year the recipients consisted of 

one member of staff from Control, 

twelve wholetime firefighters and 

eight retained firefighters. They were: 

Nigel Alexander, Louise Barton, Ian 

Batchelor, Robert Beckwith, Martin Bee, 

Paul Collins, Ian Cotton, Mark Draper, 

Roger Dumford, David Hamilton, Julian 

Harding, Roger Hawes, Bruce Jennings, 

Colin Lee, David Palethorpe, Andrew 

Parkin, Alan Searle, Nigel Shaw, Paul 

Speight, Stuart Willis. 

Following the ceremony, group 

photographs were taken along with 

additional family photographs. An 

excellent buffet then followed. 

The next formal event planned is the 

20/30/40 Years Long Service Certificate 

ceremony, proposed to take place in 

March 2010. 

Congratulations to all of the 2009 

recipients. 


09

spotlight on staff 

FIREFIGHTERS 

IN SCHOOLS 

In April 2009 we decided to pilot a new ‘Embedded 

Firefighter’ project. I approached three colleges 

(Riverside, Fullhurst and Winstanley) to see if they 

would be agreeable to having a firefighter in the 

college for one day a week. The firefighters’ main task 

would be to support the Service’s Community Safety 

Strategy through many areas of the curriculum. The 

individuals involved would be presenting the ‘human 

face’ of the fire service to the students and acting as a 

role model. 

This role wouldn’t be easy, the firefighters would have 

to be very pro-active, and I must admit I felt some 

trepidation! Eventually Craig Hallam, Al Gore and Edd 

Rogers were selected and sent off to school with a box 

of DVDs and mug shots of themselves to display on the 

school notice boards. 

It was interesting to see how each individual operated 

within the different schools. Al, who was based at 

Winstanley, managed to participate in all Personal, 

Social and Health Education (PHSE) lessons in the school, 

which included organising a fire safety day. He also 

worked with the Science, Sports and Careers staff. Steph 

Underwood (Head of PSHE ) wrote: 

WORDS Helene Sutliff, Community Safety Support 

PHOTO CSSG Archive 

‘Alan is an asset to the department… his presence 

is positive and friendly and he is able to work with 

all students… The content of his lessons is extremely 

effective to all and Alan consistently stresses the 

importance of fire safety. We hope that Alan will carry on 

working with us at Winstanley for a long time.’ 

Craig had a difficult task ahead of him, as Fullhurst 

was under ‘special measures’ and its students were 

particularly challenging, but nothing deters Craig! Craig 

worked across several areas of the curriculum and was 

on the spot to address specific incidents such as the 

misuse of fire extinguishers. He too organised a fire safety 

event with the help of Community Safety Support Team. 

Craig commented: 

‘The students are comfortable now and accept me as 

part of the college staff. At the same time, they respect 

that I’m not a teacher and my primary role is to educate 

them about arson, fire safety issues, tackle anti-social 

behaviour, engage and help them with their academic 

studies and advise them about a possible career in the 

fire service.’ 


In contrast, Edd was placed in Riverside’s base for 

excluded or ‘difficult’ pupils: 

‘I use fire service resources to educate the 

children on fire safety issues, first aid, careers, and 

the work the fire service does in the community 

I find this work very rewarding and regularly get 

youngsters saying that they would love to have a 

career in the fire service. I work alongside individual 

pupils and act as a mentor making sure that they 

take the most from their lessons. This type of work 

can also be frustrating... you need to be quite 

determined and strong not to just give up on an 

individual, as it takes time and effort... Some of these 

children have very difficult lives at home, some are 

pushed around the care system, some have abusive 

relationships with their parents and some have simply 

never felt that anyone cares about them.’ 

After fantastic feedback from the school staff, we 

are hoping to extend the existing placements for the 

Summer Term. We are also offering the opportunity 

to four other schools in targeted areas. Hopefully, 

by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service having a 

higher profile in these colleges and by us working in 

partnership with the staff, the positive relationship 

forged with the students will pay off long-term. 

We know from the students’ feedback that they 

have great respect for the firefighters and that Edd, 

Al and Craig have been wonderful ambassadors. 

AFTER FANTASTIC 

FEEDBACK FROM THE 

SCHOOL STAFF, WE ARE 

HOPING TO EXTEND THE 

EXISTING PLACEMENTS 

FOR THE SUMMER TERM. 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Edd Rogers with a hot oil 

demonstration. THIS PAGE: (top-bottom) Al Gore with 

pupil wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Al 

Gore at front of class, Edd Rogers plays drafts with a 

student, Edd plays “Buckaroo” with student. 

www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk CallOut March 2010 11

spotlight on staff 

come rain or snow 


WORDS John Brown, Operational Planning 

PHOTO John Brown 

YOU CAN WRAP UP 

AGAINST THE COLD 

BUT IT IS THE RAINY 

DAYS THAT GET YOU. 

ONCE WET YOU ARE 

STUCK WITH IT! 

The recent cold weather conditions have made life 

difficult for us all, but when your job entails you being 

outside every day then these conditions become 

a way of life. Come ice, snow, rain, wind or, looking 

forward to the summer, sun, the fire hydrant technicians will 

be out checking and maintaining our hydrants to ensure 

they are available for the fire and rescue service to use. 

The winter weather however, has meant that some days 

have been so bad that the technicians have been forced to 

work from a local station updating their computer records. 

Recently, I spent a day out with Paul Maitland to get an idea 

of the varied work the technicians are involved with. Trust me 

to pick one of the coldest days of the year meaning not only 

double, but triple layers of clothing. But, as Paul explained, 

`you can wrap up against the cold but it is the rainy days that 

get you, once wet you are stuck with it`. 

The technicians all work to weekly work sheets, inspecting 

repairs to hydrants, signing off new installations, and 

consulting with Severn Trent Water (STW) and ensuring that 

our fire hydrant management system is updated. These 

are just some of their jobs carried out over and above the 

regular inspection and testing they carry out as routine. 

The water team are part of the Operational Planning Group 

and are led and managed by Jo Eustace. Each person 


PREVIOUS PAGE: Paul Maitland at work in all weather conditions. 

THIS PAGE: (l-r) Tony Waterfield and Tony Stratford 

brings their own skills to the team and Jo is one of those 

people that makes you wonder what we would do without, 

her knowledge of the system, contacts with STW and 

management of the team could make her irreplaceable. 

Both Paul Maitland and Tony Waterfield have both worked 

for STW in a previous life and this benefits the service in many 

areas, from knowing the acceptable standards required 

through being able to communicate these requirements 

to contractors. Recently Tony Stratford has joined the team 

and brings vast operational firefighter experience to an 

already knowledgeable team. 

The work at times can be physical, digging out silted 

hydrant pits is no picnic, and as all firefighters know locating 

hydrants in rural areas can become a frustrating search, 

information that is now available to the technicians through 

improved maps on the system are making this easier and 

as this data is placed on the mobile data terminals, vital 

information will be made available to operational crews. 

We are all looking forward to the weather getting warmer, 

sunnier and drier, I know three hydrant technicians that 

certainly are, but until then they will go out come rain or 

shine. I’ll stop in a nice warm office until July or August and 

will then look at going out again with them. 


13

service vehicles news 

COMING TO A STATION 

NEAR YOU! 

WORDS Pete Trayner, Appliances and Equipment 

PHOTO Jerry Askham 


As part of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s policy to provide its firefighters with the best possible equipment, within 

the budgets set, three new special appliances will be going on the run in the first part of this year. 

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS AND 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

UNIT 

The first vehicle is the Hazardous 

Materials and Environmental 

Protection Unit (HMEP). This vehicle is a 

combination of the old Environmental 

Protection Unit and the Hazardous 

Materials Support Unit. 

The vehicle is based on a Scania 

chassis with a gross vehicle weight of 

18000Kg. A safety day cab is mounted 

on this chassis along with a box 

container and DHOLANDIA tail lift for 

easy access to the equipment load. 

The power is provided by a nine litre, 

230 horsepower, Euro 4 engine 

The internal locker layout has been 

designed and built by Botts of Ashby. 

Botts were chosen by us after seeing 

examples of their quality solutions for 

companies such as British Gas and BT. 

This is the first time that they have been 

used by a fire and rescue service for an 

operational appliance. 

Although much of the equipment is not 

new, the versatile stowage solution will 

allow for future changes and it is hoped 

that the combining of the two previous 

appliances into one will provide a more 

efficient response to incidents involving 

hazardous materials. 


HOSE LAYER 

The second new vehicle is the Hose 

Layer. This appliance will replace 

the old unit once based at Wigston 

Fire and Rescue Station and will now 

be crewed by Technical Rescue at 

Southern Fire and Rescue Station. 

Again the unit is based on a Scania 

Chassis with a safety day cab but this 

vehicle will have a gross weight of 

26000Kg. The Euro 4 engine will be a 12 

litre, 340 horsepower to deal with the 

greater load. 

The main piece of equipment is the 

Hydra sub 60 diesel powered hydraulic 

pump which is capable of delivering 

4000 litres at 12 bar over two kilometres 

through 150mm hose. The hose is 

contained in two vehicle mounted 

boxes that can be deployed using 

the HIAB crane mounted to the front 

of the chassis and the vehicle engine 

powered retrieval system can operate 

from either side of the appliance. 

WATER CARRIER 

The third new vehicle is a water carrier. 

All engine and chassis details are 

identical to the hose layer and the 

larger engine will make it a quicker 

vehicle than its predecessor. The 

stainless steel tank is capable of 

carrying a total of 13000 litres and 

this can include a separate load of 

1000 litres of foam concentrate. The 

tank has a built in vacuum pressure 

system which enables faster load and 

discharge times with an estimated 12 

minutes to fill from empty. 

The suction hose is stored on two 25m 

reels, one each side of the vehicle, 

enabling easy deployment to open 

water and the vehicle also carries two 

8000Litre inflatable dams so that the 

full load can be dropped at a location 

whilst the tanker refills. 

ALTHOUGH MUCH OF THE EQUIPMENT IS NOT 

NEW, THE VERSATILE STOWAGE SOLUTION 

WILL ALLOW FOR FUTURE CHANGES 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Hose Layer 

THIS PAGE (Top l-r): Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Unit and Water Carrier 


15

community safety competition 

WORDS Helene Sutliff, Community Safety Support 

PHOTO Kim Westbury 

SANTAS, STARS AND STOCKINGS! 

HELENE SUTLIFF reports on another successful community safety initiative 

It was the beginning of September when I got the call from 

Corporate Communications. Could Community Safety 

Support Team help with running a schools competition to 

create the official 2009 Christmas card for Leicestershire Fire 

and Rescue Service (LFRS)? ‘No problem’ I answered, inwardly 

sighing and visualising the joy and rapture on teachers’ faces 

when the subject of Christmas was raised this early in the 

term… But after an initial meeting, I quickly realised that in 

order to print the entry forms, advertise the competition, get 

the entries back, judge them, get the cards printed in good 

time to be sent out, and then present the prizes before the end 

of the school term, we’d need to get cracking straight away. 

In fact, last week would have been preferable… 

We asked the children to design a card at home on a 

pre-printed template, then return it to school. Then all the 

teachers had to do was to put all the entry forms into a 

pre-paid envelope and post them back to Fire Service 

Headquarters. It was difficult to decide how many schools 

we should approach – we didn’t want to be swamped with 

entries – and then we had to consider which age groups we 

wanted to include. After some discussion we came to the 

conclusion that as we only needed one Christmas card, it 

wouldn’t be fair to compare designs from all age groups, so 

we needed to target one year group only. 


As CSST already visits all Year 5 children (9 -10 year olds) 

the most manageable plan was that the educators would 

‘sell’ the competition to a few of these groups when they 

were doing their regular school presentations. Participants 

would be asked to design a Christmas card incorporating a 

Christmas fire safety theme. 

Finally it was decided that the competition would be 

offered to children in four schools during the second week in 

November. The winner would have their design printed and 

used as the official LFRS card for 2009. He/she would also 

receive a box of art materials, a set of cards for their own use, 

a framed print of their design and a ‘goody bag’. The two 

runners-up would each receive a framed print of their own 

card and a goody bag. 

We gave the children a couple of weeks to return their 

designs and in the end only three schools took part; 

however there were plenty of entries to choose from! I got 

together with Corporate Communications again to do a first 

sift. Efforts chosen were then passed to Dave Webb, Chief 

Fire and Rescue Officer to choose the winner. We were 

really pleased with the standard of entries and first prize 

was won by Ana Ugrinic from St John the Baptist Primary 


PREVIOUS PAGE: Anna’s winning Christmas card design 

THIS PAGE: (l-r) Ed Backes, Andrew Marriott, Anna Ugrinic, Tony Parsons, Pete Harriman 

and Kate Jarvis 

on Clarendon Park Road; and the runners-up were Broyan 

Mann from Inglehurst Junior School and Sa’ad Alimuddin 

from Shenton Primary School. 

The CSST educators who did the original presentations 

revisited the schools concerned to present the prizes to 

the runners-up in their assembly time. However, in the case 

of the winner, we asked Central White Watch to do the 

presentation, accompanied by Tony Parsons in case they 

were called elsewhere. Then there was a degree of panic 

when White Watch called to say they’d had a shout. Luckily 

for Tony, who had the job of doing the short introductory 

speech to the children, the Watch went straight back to the 

school and got there in time to present a delighted Ana with 

her prizes. Then it was time for photos and even a media 

opportunity which resulted in a write up and photo of a 

beaming Tony and Ana in the Leicester Mercury. 

We’d like to thank Central White Watch for making a special 

effort to get to the school in time, and to Tony Parsons and 

the other CSST staff who helped with the distribution of entry 

forms and prizes. And I suppose we’d better get on with 

planning next year’s competition! 


17

new station initiative 

at Western 

Young person spends a day alongside White Watch 


WORDS Andrew Quine, 

Station Manager, Western 

PHOTO Andrew Quine 

Western Fire and Rescue 

Station has recently 

provided a taster session 

for a young person 

with additional needs. Gemma Ball, 

aged 17, from the New Parks area 

of Leicester, expressed an interest 

in joining a uniformed service. Her 

youth worker, Sam Merry, requested 

help from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue 

Service and the visit was coordinated by Jo Adams of the 

Integrated Services HUB under the Common Assessment 

Framework (CAF). This is a Government initiative for children 

and young people with additional needs. It is used to assess 

and draw together these needs and address them through 

a single plan, led by one individual. 

The CAF Guide for Practitioners explains that while all 

children and young people require access to high-quality 

universal services, some of them also have additional needs 

which may relate to their development, education, health, 

social welfare or other areas. These needs will in many cases 

be cross-cutting and might be associated with: 

• Disruptive or anti-social behaviour 

• Overt parental conflict or lack of 

parental support/boundaries 

• Involvement in, or risk of, offending 

• Poor attendance or exclusion from 

school 

• Experiencing bullying 

• Special educational needs 

• Disabilities 

• Disengagement from education, 

training or employment post-16 

• Poor nutrition or inadequate 

clothing 

• Ill health 

• Substance misuse 

• Anxiety or depression 

• Experiencing domestic violence 

• Housing issues 

• Teenage pregnancy and parenthood (including the risk 

of pregnancy and early parenthood, as well as actual 

pregnancies and parenthood among young people) 


THE HIGHLIGHT OF 

GEMMA’S VISIT WAS 

A TRAINING EXERCISE 

WHICH TOOK PLACE AT 

A DERELICT SCHOOL 

• Young carers 

who exhibit additional needs which are as a direct 

result of their caring responsibilities, e.g., truancy/lateness, 

ill health, housing issues 

Gemma visited the station on Friday 23 October to learn 

more about the work of a firefighter. After been issued with 

full firefighting kit, Gemma spent the morning alongside 

White Watch, joining their parade at 0700 hours, undertaking 

kit checks and attending a team briefing. Circuit training 

followed, where she “kept up with the lads”, explaining 

that this was due to her regular football training. Meals 

were taken with the watch where she joined in and asked 

questions. The highlight of her visit was a training exercise 

which took place at a derelict school. 

She undertook the role of a casualty 

for a search and rescue exercise, 

where she was impressed to see the 

progress of her rescue on a thermal 

imaging camera. “It was fantastic to 

see how the guys worked together to 

rescue me”, she said afterwards. 

This visit has given Gemma a more 

detailed insight into, and enthusiasm 

for, the Fire Service. Her view was 

that her “whole day was brilliant” and that, after a nervous 

start, her confidence grew and she now wants to become 

a firefighter. With effort and determination on her part and 

with the right help and support, Gemma might well achieve 

her goal. We wish her well. 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Anthony Wildgoose demonstrating hose use with Gemma. 

THIS PAGE (l-r): John McGowan, Matthew Curtis, Mark Jarvis, Mitch Varnam, Gemma Ball, 

Mark Black, Simon Langton, Terry Wildgoose, Anthony Wildgoose and Richard Craston. 


19

operational exercise report 

WORDS Andy Forster, Operational Planning 

PHOTO Andy Forster 

OPERATION MARBLE ROLLS ON! 

Imagine for a moment that you 

are walking through the Highcross 

shopping centre in Leicester, 

maybe you’re thinking about where 

to go and have a coffee when an 

enormous explosion rocks the building. 

What would happen next? 

That’s exactly the question that 

was posed around the table when 

the planning for exercise Marble 

began. Representatives from all the 

emergency services and other key 

agencies came together to try and 

create a scenario that would test the 

plans and protocols that were in place 

to protect the public in the event of a 

major incident at the centre. 

Plans were studied, heads were 

scratched and relevant agencies were 

consulted on the likelihood of various 

occurrences. The group decided in the 

end that a large gas explosion would 

be the disaster of choice and so it was 

that on the 28 January 2010 between 70 

and 80 representatives from the relevant 

agencies gathered at the management 

suite to play out the scenario. However, 

had you have been at the shopping 

centre that day you wouldn’t have 

noticed anything as the explosions, 

casualties, collapsed structures and 

the co-ordinated response from the 

emergency services all took place on 

paper around a table. 

The players were divided into four 

separate groups; operational, tactical, 

specialists and media. They were then 

directed into separate rooms and 

given their brief. 


The operational syndicate team from 

the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue 

Service comprised Bruce Jennings, 

Watch Manager, Operational Planning, 

Dave Mitton, Watch Manager, Control, 

Tom Augustzinyi, Watch Manager 

Control and Dave Watson, Southern 

Fire and Rescue Station Manager. 

The media representative was Mark 

Baker, Watch Manager, Regional FiRe 

Control Project. 

The specialist representatives were 

Gavin Russell, Watch Manager, Fire 

Protection and Chris Bilby, Station 

Manager, Technical Rescue. 

The Tactical representatives were Des 

Stone Central Group Manager and 

Rick Taylor, Area Manager, Community 

Risk Management. 

The exercise was also observed by Tim 

Hiskens, Watch Manager, Training and 

Development 

The scenario was designed to start 

small and then to escalate into a 

major incident so that the scale up of 

operations could be monitored along 

with the transition to the recovery 

phase of the day. We even managed 

to fit lunch in. 

It was stressed from the outset that it 

was the plans that were being tested 

not the players so people could 

speak freely. Players at all levels had 

to communicate with other agencies 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Plans showing the geographic area of the major incident. 

THIS PAGE: (l-r) Chris Bilby, Tim Hiskins, Gavin Russell, Bruce Jennings, Mark Baker, Tom Augustzinyi, Dave Mitton and Dave Watson 


throughout the exercise and hopefully 

gained an insight into how our varying 

roles fit together in the context of a 

major incident. 

The day ended with a hot debrief 

where a few areas for development 

were discussed. 

The exercise was seen to be a success. 

The aim of testing the plans was 

achieved and best of all, not so much 

as a saucer was broken doing it! 

If service personnel wish to be 

involved in future exercises the training 

department will promulgate details 

although places have to be allocated 

on a first come first served basis. 


21

egional fire control update 

two new 

advisors join 

WORDS Regional Control 

PHOTO LFRS 


Two Training Advisors have just been appointed to the 

East Midlands Regional Control Centre (RCC) team 

to help develop, shape and deliver the training for all 

Control Room staff in the operation of the new ways 

of working and associated Control Room systems. 

All Control Room and support staff will be trained in the new 

Mobilisation Resource and Management System (MRMS). This 

is the main technology that will be used to manage a 999 fire 

call, from the moment that call is received, to the time the 

incident is closed from the Control Room’s perspective. 

Control Room Operators who are transferring from an existing 

Control Room will receive six weeks of full-time training before 

they take any calls; any new starters appointed will have an 

extra two weeks’ training. This training will be standard across 

all nine RCCs that make up the national network and will be 

piloted before it is rolled out to staff. 

The two new Training Advisors – Sally Renshaw and Liza 

Alexander-Scott – have been appointed from Control 

Rooms in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire respectively, and 

they will join the existing team to begin planning the training 

modules, the materials and style of training this autumn. 

A busy schedule lies ahead of the whole team managing 

the launch of the East Midlands RCC, despite the recent 

Government announcement of a delay to the national 

implementation schedule. 

The new timetable means that Derbyshire is scheduled to 

be the first Control Room function in the East Midlands to 

transfer to the RCC in May 2011, followed by Leicestershire 

(July 2011), Nottinghamshire (November 2011), Lincolnshire 

and Northamptonshire (both in January 2012). 

There is still plenty of work to be done in preparation for the 

‘go-live’ date. This includes: 

• refining the terms and conditions of employment 

associated with all the new posts 

• developing policies and procedures for the RCC 

• keeping Control Room staff in the five fire and rescue 

services and their union 

• representatives up-to-date with developments 

• conducting staff role-matching for positions at the RCC 

• liaising with the national project team and EADS – the 

company which is building the technological systems 

which will support the Control Room function 

• developing a website to provide information about the 

RCC; and 

• completing the ‘fit-out’ of the RCC building so that it can 

be comprehensively tested 


The RCC building itself is in constant use for meetings, 

briefings, training seminars and workshop events. The most 

recent series of seminars for Control Room staff across the 

region were particularly well attended, with 140 Control 

Room staff from all five FRS’ learning more about how the 

service is taking shape, what working there would mean for 

them, and taking part in the discussions that will inform some 

of the decisions to be taken over the coming months. The 

next staff seminars are likely to be held in the new year. 

Paul St Clair, Regional Control Centre Director said: “The 

deadlines for cut-over may have been delayed, but that 

doesn’t mean we have time to sit back and rest on our 

laurels. There is still a lot of work to be done to make sure we 

will be ready to take on the Control Room functions when 

the transfer takes place. 

“A lot of these preparations are the responsibility of the 

national team but, as one of the first RCCs to go-live, we are 

leading on a wide range of the decisions that need to be 

taken at that level, as well as developing the detail of how 

these will be consulted upon and implemented here in the 

East Midlands. 

“The appointment of our two Training Advisors is another 

significant sign of the progress we are making, and their 

work will help to keep us on course for our new goal of the 

first Control Room transfer in 2011.” 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Front entrance to the new Regional Fire Control Centre 

THEY WILL JOIN THE 

EXISTING TEAM TO 

BEGIN PLANNING THE 

TRAINING MODULES, 

THE MATERIALS AND 

STYLE OF TRAINING 

THIS AUTUMN 


23

technical rescue news 

who swiped the 

The perils of removing a 12 metre tall boiler flue 


WORDS Andy Hartley, Blue Watch Technical Rescue 

PHOTO Andy Hartley 

Coalville Fire and Rescue Station staff arriving 

for work any time after 3.00pm on Friday 4 

December might have had a strange feeling that 

something, somewhere was missing. They might 

not have been able to put their finger on precisely what had 

gone astray but there was definitely something amiss. 

Following a phone call from Martin Ballard, Blue Watch 

Coalville to Blue Watch Technical Rescue, a visit to the station 

had been arranged to discuss the feasibility of removing the 

redundant, 12 metre tall steel boiler flue that stood at the side 

of the boiler house in the station yard. 

At 9.00am on the Friday morning, an assorted group of Blue 

Watch operational personnel, including Technical Rescue, 

Coalville firefighters and an aerial ladder platform (ALP) 

crew from Central, stood around the base of the flue, looked 

upwards and suggested various approaches. 

Using the Technical Rescue hot cutting equipment from the 

ALP to cut the flue down in sections was ruled out due to the 

danger of damaging the ALP. Similarly the option of cutting off 

the flue ground anchor bolts and using a winch to pull 

the flue over dropping it onto a scrap 

car was also considered 

too risky 

due to the difficulty of 

controlling the drop. It was imperative that the job was done 

cheaply as the intention was to weigh in the metal to raise 

money for the Firefighters Charity. 

Options were running out and a successful outcome looking 

less and less likely…it was time for a tea break. During the 

interval it was suggested that the Technical Rescue crew 

might be able to persuade a local crane hire company, who 

they had visited in the past, to lend a crane for the duration 

of the removal. With this in mind Andy Hartley and Chris 

Pritchard paid a quick visit to Kevin Warwick at Quinto Cranes 

who, without too much persuading, very kindly agreed to 

send a 32 tonne crane to Coalville station for the afternoon. 

At the same time as this was going on, the ALP crew from 

Central were working to remove the aluminium cladding and 

insulating wadding from around the flue to enable the crane 

driver to attach slings to the flue when he arrived. 

The crane, with driver Ron at the wheel, duly arrived and got 

to work straight away. The first stage of the plan was for Chris 

Hurst to ascend in the ALP and attach a sling to the flue. He 

remained in position and attached the sling to the hook of 

the crane which then took the weight of the flue. 

With the flue safely supported and the ALP withdrawn, Chris 

Pritchard was set to work with the Clucas thermal lance to 

remove the eight ground anchor bolts that secured the flue 

to the ground. This was achieved in a matter of minutes and 

the flue was then lifted up and away from the boiler house 

and laid down flat in the yard. 

At this point the flue needed to be cut in two to 

allow it to fit into the tipper lorry 

that had been 

OPTIONS WERE RUNNING OUT AND A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME WAS 


LOOKING LESS AND LESS LIKELY… 

made available 

and so Chris was set to work with the Clucas again. 

Finally the two sections were lifted into the tipper and taken 

to be weighed in. The total value achieved was £112. 

It had been an interesting and challenging day that couldn’t 

have been achieved without the support of all those involved 

and thanks go to Mark Speight, Blue Watch Coalville, Blue 

Watch Tech Rescue, Blue Watch Central, Coalville Retained 

and especially Quinto Crane Hire. 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Chris Pritchard setting to work on the boiler flue with the Clucas thermal 

lance. 


25

twinning celebrations 

40TH ANNIVERSARY TWINNING 

ABOVE: The original horse-drawn and modern fire appliances used for firefighting in Krefeld 

NEXT PAGE: Picture diary of Krefeld Twinning 40th Anniversary visit 

When it was announced that the 40th 

anniversary twinning celebration in Krefeld 

was to take place, it was felt to be an ideal 

opportunity for the return challenge football 

match to be played. The biggest issue was arranging for 

the numbers required to be on leave for this amount of time 

and it was necessary for us to travel in two separate groups. 

A small group who were able to arrange extended leave 

travelled on the coach with the official party and the rest 

arranged a flight to enable them to arrive in time for the 

official twinning ceremony. On our arrival over the German 

border we were greeted by our colleague, Ulf, in a minibus 

which escorted the coach to the hotel in Krefeld. The fire 

service contingent was then taken to our hotel - Fire Station 

2, where we were welcomed with a glass of brandy. 

After checking into our rooms, a wash and a change of clothes 

we were whisked off to a restaurant in Linn where we joined 

some of the members of the Historical Fire Museum Society we 

met during our 2007 visit, and who had provided the historic 

horse drawn hand pumps that we used for the games. 

On Friday evening we visited one of the oldest pubs in 

Krefeld where we were joined by the Chief Fire Officer and 

the Chief of Police. 

WORDS Frank Byrne, Central Breathing Aparatus and 

Jerry Askham, Appliances and Equipment 

PHOTO Jerry Askham 

Saturday morning and it was off to the Flachsmarkt for 

the opening ceremony. Although wine and beer were in 

abundance the football team were very restrained, much 

to the amusement of the waitresses who were from one of 

the many historical societies at Linn and who we had met 

on previous visits when the wine and beer had not been so 

readily declined. 

The match was at Krefeld Football Club’s stadium. 

We fielded quite a strong team but our squad was 

outnumbered by our German colleagues and, following 

some early injuries, the toll began to tell. The first half 

was very close but in the second half, due to the lack of 

numbers, the team soon began to give way. Jerry arrived 

to give the team a boost but even this did not stop the 

opposition winning 3-0. The morning’s alcoholic restraint 

then became history and the beer flowed, tired legs 

suddenly becoming revitalised. The official dinner was 

enjoyed by all and was followed by a walk to a music 

festival that was on locally. 

Sunday morning for those able was a trip on the fireboat to 

meet up with the crew from Dusseldorf and although I did 

not go (I had been on the fireboat previously and visited 

the Flachsmarkt instead) I was told that it was enjoyed 

by all. Mark Lint was made an honorary fireboat captain 


in recognition of his last day as a firefighter. On return, a 

barbeque was waiting at Station 2 before the footballers 

had to depart for the airport. Those of us remaining were 

invited to Station 1 where there was a meal to celebrate the 

arrival on the watch of four new members from the training 

school. After the meal I made a presentation on behalf 

of the Retired Firefighters Association in recognition of our 

retired colleagues contribution to twinning in the early 1970s. 

The final evening found us in Dusseldorf to sample some of 

the many lively bars. We left with the promise of a rematch 

in Leicester next year. Another successful twinning! Let’s 

hope we can keep it up. 


The Germans are coming! - 2010 

Following the successful trip to Krefeld our Fire Service 

colleagues have decided to give us the opportunity of 

a rematch in our on going football tournament. They are 

planning to visit in August or September of 2010 and we are 

putting together a group to plan for the occasion. 

We aim to hold a meeting towards the end of January 

and ask that anyone interested in joining in contacts Jerry 

Askham or Martin Bee by early January. Just in case the 

football does not go well we are also thinking of challenging 

them to a game of cricket. 


27

historic event 

The 1970’s mean different things to different 

generations of colleagues. A sobering thought is 

that our youngest firefighters could possibly have 

only been born in 1990 or 1991. For myself I have 

extremely vivid memories of being a toddler in the 70’s. 

One such vivid memory is of being taken over Leicester 

Road bridge in Nuneaton in the aftermath of a massive 

train crash. I was somewhat surprised to find out this happened 

in June 1975 when I was only two years and ten months. 

I thought this would be an interesting incident to write 

about given the local fire station is only two minutes away 

from the location of the accident and that Leicestershire 

Fire and Rescue Service would have been involved. I am 

grateful to Lance Oldacres for putting me in touch with 

former Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO) Jim Smith who was 

in charge of the incident and was able to give me his insight 

into the incident. Unfortunately, the leading firefighter who 

was initially in charge has recently passed away. I also wish 

I could have had access to the knowledge and archive 

material of my late uncle who was a leading firefighter on 

duty at the incident the following day. Although the story of 

this incident was well known in the region for many years, it 

has been a real challenge to source the story and locate 

the many dramatic pictures I have seen in the past. 

From what I understand, between 0100 and 

0300 hours on 6 June 


1975 RAIL 

RESEARCH INTO A MAJOR ACCIDENT HAZARD 

1975 the London to Glasgow sleeper train was running late 

due to the locomotive breaking down and was trying to 

make up time. 

The broken down train was being towed by another 

locomotive attached to the front. However, just outside 

Nuneaton Station a temporary track had been laid and was 

illuminated by a gas powered warning sign. Unfortunately 

the sign was broken and the driver assumed the restriction 

had been lifted. The train, it was thought, hit the temporary 

track at some speed and whilst the replacement 

locomotive didn’t derail, the broken down unit did, along 

with most of the carriages. 

The broken down unit landed on the platform at Nuneaton 

Station. Around three or four carriages piled on top of one 

another, overhead gantries were brought down and all, but 

the last carriage, were derailed. All the fatalities occurred in 

the front four carriages. 

Unbelievably, possibly because it was the middle of the night, 

only one call was received to report the incident and even 

now, no-one knows who made the call, although official 

reports believe it to have been a passing milkman. The fire 

service mobilised believing it to be a suspected hoax. 

The first appliances were on scene within two minutes and 

ADO Jim Smith arrived within five. On arrival, Jim Smith 

remembers that it was difficult to comprehend the size 

of the incident as everything was silent and in complete 

blackness. One of his first tasks was to ascertain whether the 


power was off or not. After receiving assurance it was, he 

then asked if all trains had been stopped. To this he was told 

that they couldn’t move as the power was down. 

One of ADO Smith’s first tasks was to then look in the cab 

of the original, broken down train to look for the driver. 

Given the darkness it was natural to assume this was the 

lead locomotive. He was somewhat surprised to find the 

cab empty when they had expected to find a deceased 

or severely injured driver. It took a little while to find out 

that the lead train had actually stopped further up the line 

and that the uninjured driver was found being consoled by 

colleagues in the signal box. 

ADO Smith asked a firefighter present to go all round the 

incident to start drawing a plan. The late arrivals blackboard 

was commandeered to allocate the appliances and 

resources as by now a major accident hazard had been 

reported. An indication of the size of the incident is that a 

request was made for five emergency tenders. A thought that 

worried him throughout was the danger of 

fire breaking out 

particularly with the 

use of gas canisters 

on this sleeper train. 

Cutting was 

achieved using 

the equipment 

and volunteers of 

a local engineering 

firm as well as 

oxy acetylene 

equipment provided 

by West Midlands Fire 

Service. A policeman 

and fireman drove a 

WORDS Robert Perin, White Watch, Wigston 

PHOTO Robert Perin 

PREVIOUS PAGE: (TOP) Wreckage of sleeper train and the stationary goods train which 

was waiting at the station when the incident happened and (BOTTOM) Aerial shot showing 

Leicester Road Bridge and location of rendezvous point for emergency services (from FIRE 

magazine July 1975). 

THIS PAGE: (TOP) The driver of the goods train waiting at the station when the express train 

derailed. Extensive damage was done to his cab and he narrowly avoided injury. This picture 

was reenacted later for the press even though the driver had been witness to the trauma a 

few hours beforehand (From Nuneaton Evening Tribune Archive, June1975) and (BOTTOM) 

Photograph showing recovery and rescue work in operation the day after the incident. My 

uncle is seen carrying the stretcher on the right facing the camera. 

Triumph police car down a steep embankment to improve 

lighting. Dust masks were provided by the local hospital. 

One ambulance carried ten casualties to hospital. In looking 

at the photos there is evidence of all the services as well 

as rail staff and volunteers from the community mucking in 

together. What is less noticeable was that the entire incident 

was covered in asbestos. Efforts were made to avoid the 

substance and to clean kit but of course the priority came in 

helping the injured and trapped. 

The most difficult rescue involved a girl whose foot was 

trapped between a carriage and the railway line. Doctors 

were about to start procedures to amputate when British 

Rail managed to get a heavy lifting crane to the incident to 

lift the carriage allowing her to be released and later make 

a full recovery. In all six people were killed and 38 injured. 

Body recovery went on well into the next day, which was 

coincidently the local carnival day. 

www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk CallOut March 2010 

29

prince’s trust volunteer 


Kate Clay 

Becomes a 

Responsible 

Adult! 

THE BRIDGE BUILDING 

WAS INTERESTING 

AND HIGHLY 

COMPETITIVE 

INTERSPERSED WITH 

A MEDICAL 

EMERGENCY! 


WORDS Kate Clay, Stores 

PHOTO Jenni Stewart 

I 

(believe it or not) volunteered to be 

a ‘responsible adult’ on a Princes 

Trust Team residential. I thought it 

would be good for my tolerance 

(to see if I could acquire some) and to 

give me a better understanding of the 

Prince’s Trust and its role. 

We set off from Hinckley to Hathersage 

after a shopping marathon for food for 

the week (the young people have to 

plan, prepare and cook all the meals). 

On arrival at the hostel there was just 

time for a quick cuppa, a briefing and 

to unpack. It was straight back out to 

The Wall in Sheffield for some indoor 

rock climbing. This is all about trust 

and confidence - trust in the person 

holding the end of your safety line and 

confidence that ‘you can do this!’ 

Well, I didn’t like it, but I did it! Shaken 

and trembling I made it up and down 

with a 16 year old lad attached to a 

rather large bag of sand…it’s a weight 

difference thing! He was most incensed 

on my behalf. Rather that than see him 

propelled through the roof because I’d 

let go! 

On Tuesday we set out to create and 

erect a ‘postman’s walk’ across an 

extremely wide and deep gorge. After 

several false starts and tantrums we 

eventually got it completed. All team 

members had to harness up and walk 

the line – not me I’m afraid, I don’t do 

heights! After that, the abseiling was a 

piece of cake for them all. 

Back to the hostel for tea and then it 

was out again for the night activity. This 

was brilliant. A rope had been placed 

out over a course. All the team were 

blindfolded and the leader had to pass 

instruction from front to back. I’ve never 

seen or heard anything so comical and 

this activity included the quote of the 

week. Chris had used a tea towel as a 

blindfold with a hard hat over the top 

to keep it on and he stated, quick as a 

flash: “I’ve got towel vision”. 


Wednesday was bridge building and 

caving, another new experience. Dark 

(again), wet, cold slippery and quite a 

daunting prospect. All togged up in the 

right gear, we all merrily made our way 

to the cave entrance. Once we’d all 

made it down to the large cavern it was 

quite spectacular. We then did a small 

experiment to see if any of us could see 

in the dark. Something to do with an 

image leaving an imprint on your retina. 

We left the cavern in two groups; those 

that wanted to go out without any 

use of head lamps and those of us 

who chose to ‘see the light’. I can tell 

you it was a relief to see daylight. The 

bridge building was interesting and 

highly competitive, interspersed with a 

medical emergency and the need for 

an ambulance. Someone was stung by 

a wasp and believed themselves to be 

anaphylactic. They weren’t, but never a 

dull moment on these residentials! 

The night activity that evening was to 

walk up Mam Tor, again in the dark 

and in the pouring rain. They loved it, 

go figure! 

Thursday was raft building at Carsington 

Water. We had a gloriously sunny day, 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Kate Clay underground. 

THIS PAGE: Kate with Prince’s Trust Team 

unusual for Derbyshire! Two teams had 

to design, build and paddle a raft from 

one side of Carsington to an island in 

the middle and back again, dismantle 

the raft, put everything away and the 

winners were the first to complete the 

task. Well, laugh! I nearly cried. Just the 

sight of them all in wetsuits was enough! 

After this, it was back to the hostel, to 

clean pack and return home. When 

I finally got home, I thought I’d gone 

deaf, no shrieking, no iPods, no talking, 

just silence. It was lovely. 

However, I had a great time. I learned 

a few things about myself, teenagers 

(although I’d never pretend to 

understand) and a whole lot about 

the Prince’s Trust Team. 

So, after reading this, and I hope 

enjoying it, some of you might be 

encouraged to volunteer for this 

extraordinary week, engaging in 

activities you never thought you could 

or would ever do and discovering 

hidden talents. 

Go on, volunteer. You know you want to! 


31

prince’s trust news 

UNSUNG HERO WINS 

YOUNG VOLUNTEER 

AWARD! 


WORDS Steve Elliff, Prince’s Trust Team Leader 

PHOTO Steve Elliff 

After taking part in a Prince’s Trust Team 

Programme in Hinckley, Lacey Holdsworth went 

on to volunteer with Leicestershire Fire and 

Rescue Service to assist with the delivery of the 

Team programme in Hinckley. 

Lacey has now volunteered with two teams and has used 

her newly gained confidence, enthusiasm and supportive 

attitude to support and nurture nearly 30 young people. 

Lacey’s commitment and enthusiasm were recognised 

at an early stage; this lead to her being put forward for 

Prince’s Trust Team Leader Training. Following this course 

Lacey’s efforts continued to grow. It was for this reason that 

she was nominated for an award under the category of 

Best Young Volunteer with the Voluntary Community Sector 

(VCS) East Midlands. 

On the 8 December 2009, Lacey and I attended the 

award ceremony at Derby County Football Club and I was 

delighted when Lacey was selected as the Best Young 

Volunteer in the East Midlands region. 

We are very grateful to Lacey for all that she has done with us 

and it was great to see her hard work recognised. 

LEFT: Lacey Holdsworth in Prince’s Trust apparel 

BELOW: Lacey with her certificate and award 


training and workforce development 

WORDS Ian Batchelor, Training 

PHOTO Ian Batchelor 

The West Midlands Fire Service enjoys a long tradition 

of providing high quality training for its own personnel, 

and over the recent years has undertaken training 

of personnel from other Fire and Rescue Services. This 

year they have provided Phase 1 core skills training for nine of 

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service trainees. 

The West Midlands Training Centre at Smethwick West 

Midlands is a purpose built modern complex equipped 

with the highest quality facilities and has been awarded 

the ISO 9002 quality standard by the British 

Standards Institution. It has also obtained 

recognition as an approved and 

accredited training centre by the 

Institution of Fire Engineers 

On Friday 27 November 2009 training 

course 3A/09 completed their ten 


Recruits 

Training Course 04/09 

week training course. Family and friends attended the passing 

out parade with Joe Tasker from Training and Workforce 

Development along with Ian Batchelor who has been 

the course director for this training course. 

Following a demonstration of basic combination drills 

and a Road Traffic Collision Exercise, a small ceremony 

took place to present the trainees with their 

certificates of achievement for passing 

the course and also the award the 

Silver Axe to the best trainee. 

Bob Evans, Watch Manager 

from West Midlands Fire Service 

congratulated Firefighter Martindale 

who was presented with the Silver 

Axe award and a certificate by 

Joe Tasker. This award was for her 

efforts, enthusiasm, and high levels 

of achievement throughout this 

training course. 

A special thanks to West Midlands 

Fire Service Training Centre staff, in 

particular Watch Manager Tunstall, 

Watch Manager Evans and 

Watch Manager Holman. 

INSET TOP: Joe Tasker presents FF Martindale with the Silver Axe award and certificate 

INSET BELOW: (Back row l-r) Watch Manager Evans, Trainee Firefighters Champion, 

Hadfield, Buckler, Jalland and Watch Manager Holman (Front row l-r) Trainee Firefighters 

Robinson, Moore, Martindale, Carr and Gore 


33

charity rally report 

WORDS Andy Kirk, Melton District Manager 

PHOTO The Leicester Mercury and “Les Pompiers” 

August 2009 and Central 

Red Watch Lions were 

together talking 

about what watch 

based activities/jollies they 

had been up to recently; 

walking, running, climbing, 

rugby, biking, motor 

biking, paintballing, 

rafting and camping 

all got a mention and a 

smile when we looked 

back and reminisced! 

Still not satisfied, Rich 

Nurse flippantly threw 

in the idea of: “We 

should do one of those 

skin flint rallies across 

Europe for charity!” From 

that comment alone 

the ‘Les Pompiers 2009’ 

Crumball team was born! 

Richard Nurse (captain 1) 

Sam Greasley (captain 2) Edd 

Rodgers (Captain 3) and Andy 

Kirk (captain 4) 

The challenge was to drive 1600 

miles completing various challenges 

in a little over three days, racing/ 

crawling through England, France, 

Luxemburg and Germany, with a finish 

in Belgium. The war time ‘Allo ‘Allo series was the 

theme. ‘Easy!’ I hear you say, but all in a car that was valued 

at less than 200 English pounds, trust me you do not get a lot 

for your money these days! 

We shopped around a lot; Talbot Sunbeams, a Mark II Escort 

and an old ice cream wagon were all mentioned we even 

considered an old hearse, but more for comedy value than 

race capability! Mark Johnson, on cover for the day at the 

flagship station Central, heard the team chatting about 

the pros and cons of different racers and piped up saying 

‘I‘ve got a car you can have for 100 Quid’. Shocked at 

our interest his £100 soon went up to £175 and we had our 

chariot (thanks mark). A Mondeo, an absolute rust bucket 

but totally legal(ish). 

Next 

was the task of 

making it original and appropriate 

to the rally, this is where Moe Curtis at 

Hinckley Red Watch and his mate Lee 

came into their own! Street gaffing the car up 

to have a London blitz scene on one side of the 

car and an occupied Paris by night on the other. 

I was amazed as I watched a scabby, rusty, silver 

Mondeo transform into a head turning piece of art!! 

Well done fellas, you did us proud! 

Right, under starter’s orders it was! Captain Kirk’s job to 

organise a local news team to come see us off on the start 

of our journey and in true Kirk style, the BBC, ITN and CNN 



les pompiers win 

were all 

present... 

well it 

felt like it 

anyhow! 

Then we 

were off 

...losing 

a wheel 

trim and 

noticing an 

alarming steering 

pull to the left but we 

thundered on! France 

was the place where we 

met the other crumballers, 

30 teams in total and it’s 

simply too difficult to describe 

the array of vehicles we were 

up against. One common 

denominator though was that 

they had all made the best of their 

sheds! Fancy dress was the norm, with us four 

dressed as oooohhh René, the barman from ‘Allo ‘Allo, 

a costume we stayed in for the whole trip! Having no other 

clothes, by the end of the trip it really was ooohhhh René! We stunk!! 

Day One: France was hard on the car, we had a slippy clutch 

and a door that was now a dukes of hazards door! Oh and by 

sabotaging other rally cars we had made some enemies, who were 

out to get us! Four geeks in a Skoda! 


35

PREVIOUS PAGES: Les Pompiers - (clockwise from top) Edd Rogers, Andy Kirk, Richard Nurse and Sam Greasley (image kindly provided 

by The Leicester Mercury) 

THIS PAGE: Various shots taken before, en-route and after the Crumball Rally 

Day Two: France and Luxemburg was hard on the team 

more than the car as had sampled quite a lot of the local 

wines the previous night. Well when in France and all that! 

The daily challenges were becoming more and more 

ridiculous but in true fire service style we tried, we tried again 

and then we cheated! So, we reckon we were scoring well! 

Day Three: Germany and Belgium the finishing line was in sight 

and about time, as bits really were beginning to fall off of our 

car and we had ran out of gaffa tape. Cabin fever was well 

and truly beginning to set in! We finished the race in Brussels, 

tired, beaten but not broken we proceeded to the 

designated bar for the 

crowning of the Crumball Rally 2009 winners unknowing who 

the victors were we hoped for a top 10 finish. 

5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd place were called with no mention of 

the ‘Les Pompiers’ surely us bunch of numpties did not win... 

lo and behold we didn’t just win, we amassed the most 

points ever awarded to a team since the Crumball started 

in 2004. Totally shocked, we stepped onto the winners 

podium to receive the applause of the fellow crumballers!! 

Even ‘the geeks’ clapped us after we had returned their 

aerial and car stereo earlier in the day!! 

All in all the trip was a smashing 

four days away, blasting around 

some of Europe’s finest country 

side in a car with three of my 

bestest buddies! Oh and we raised 

over £1000 for Children In Need!! 

Bonus!! 


ain teasers 

2 

6 

4 

7 

5 

9 

3 

5 

7 

9 

4 

6 

6 


8 

7 

4 

8 

2 

6 

3 

5 

1 

8 

1 

9 

For those who have never played before, here’s how to play 

Sudoku: 

Fill in the game board so that the numbers 1 through 9 occur 

exactly once in each row, column, and 3x3 box. The numbers 

can appear in any order and diagonals are not considered. 

Your initial game board will consist of several numbers that 

are already placed. Those numbers cannot be changed. 

Your goal is to fill in the empty squares following the simple 

rule above. 

The answers will appear in the next edition. 

competition 

SWAG TO BAG! 

Up for grabs this edition is a £15 iTunes Voucher.* 

To win this voucher, simply answer the following question: 

What date was Apple’s iTunes launched? 

* Competition is open ONLY to employees of 

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. 

CLOSING DATE for entries: 1 May 2009 

Send your entries via e-mail or in writing via the internal 

mail to: 

Nathanael Holden, Corporate Communications, SHQ 

nathanael.holden@lfrs.org 

Every entry received with the correct answer will be 

entered into a hat and a single entry will be drawn by a 

Director/Head of Department. The winner will be notified 

by Corporate Communications and their name will 

appear in the next edition of CallOut 


37

charity ball news 

Saturday 15 May, Ramada Leicester 

Over the last two years the 

Grand Charity Ball has 

gone from strength to 

strength and last year we 

raised £2,107 for the Charity. 

This year’s event will be held in the centre 

of Leicester at the Ramada Hotel as we 

wanted to try a different venue. 

We have put together an evening of 

quality entertainment, good food and 

wine and above all, a chance to share 

good company whilst raising much 

needed funds for a worthwhile charity. 

All proceeds raised on the evening will 

be donated to The Fire Fighters Charity 

(previously the Fire Services National 

WORDS Howard Robinson, Assistant Chief Fire Officer - Corporate 

Resources Director 

PHOTO The Bee Gees Experience 

Benevolent Fund) and your support 

would be really appreciated. 

This year’s ‘Classic Disco’ themed 

Grand Charity Ball attempts to capture 

the sense of fun and celebration of this 

memorable genre, with a bucks fizz 

reception, an awards ceremony, grand 

prize raffle, live entertainment, a disco 

and, of course, good food and drink. 

The live entertainment this year will be 

provided by the ‘Bee Gees Experience’, 

a four-piece group who re-create 

the work of the world famous Gibb 

brothers. The band members perform 

classic four-part harmonies featuring 

the unforgettable voice of Nick Lester 

on lead vocals as Barry Gibb. The ‘Bee 

Gees Experience’ has successfully 

performed in Holland, Hong Kong and 

throughout the UK with a show that will 

make the evening into a great party. 

At the event the Service will once 

again be ‘Celebrating Success’ within 

the organisation with an awards 

presentation for those members or 

groups of staff who have gone the 

extra mile or who are recognised for 

outstanding achievements in both an 

operational or support staff role. This 

is everyone’s chance to nominate 

work colleagues that they believe 

are deserving of being recognised. 

Nominations should be sent to Shaun 


RIGHT: The Bee Gees Experience live on stage 

Nominations should be sent to Shaun 

O’Donnell for consideration by the 

Commendations, Honours and Awards 

Panel. The panel, as always, is made up 

from representatives from a cross section 

of the Service. 

So please come and join us for what 

should be a great event for all those in 

the Service but also bring along your 

friends and family for a good night out. 

Thanks to Perry Mason in Civil Contingencies for sending in this shot of Red Watch, Hinckley Fire Station, from 1989. 

Back row (l-r): Mark Edwards, Russ Fordham, Dean Smith, Gary Goddard, Perry Mason, Neil Mayne, Chris “Bruiser” Bostock 

Front row (l-r): Jim Spriggs (LFF), Jeff “Cess” Poole, Brian Tierney, Alan Ingham (Sub Officer) 



39

etirement event 

angels, devils and 

‘Beyonce’ say 

farewell to 

THERE W 

2 

40 CallOut March 2009 www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk

ERE APPROXIMATELY 

50 FRIENDS, FAMILY 

AND VOYEURS 

IN ATTENDANCE 


WORDS Raj Dard, Red Watch Central 

PHOTO Raj Dard 

Can I ask the real Walter 

McBain to please step 

forward and take a seat 

at the front? boomed God 

(aka Steve Kisby) the presiding judge for 

the night. 

It was at this point that the pseudo 

Walter McBain (aka Edd Rogers) could 

finally cut himself free of the sofa 

cushioning he had used as additional 

stomach profiling to try and match 

Walter’s vast physique... with an 

uncanny likeness! A lengthy and witty 

courtroom battle was then held at the 

pearly gates of Heaven, referred to by 

locals as the Liberal Club, Wigston. 

The size of the crowd in the public 

gallery on the evening of Friday 29 

January was testimony to the popularity 

of this larger than life character... or had 

they just come along for the free food 

and to make sure the defendant was 

sent down? 

The prosecution was led by the Devil 

(aka Darren Weston) with some 

wonderful evidence that detailed 

exactly why the unsavoury character, 

McBain, should be consigned to the 

hell of the Breathing Apparatus training 

centre for all eternity. 

Firstly, the loss of control of all bodily 

functions whilst on or off duty – but in 

fairness to Walter, this only affected the 

last 25 years of his career! The ease at 

which he constantly lost his temper, 

albeit with a little coaxing from certain 

members of his watch! His constant lying, 

his profanities, his made up language, 

that only made sense the less sober the 

listener was... the list is almost as long as 

his latest made up tale. 

The legal defence team, led by the 

Angel Gabriel (Duncan Rees –the teeth) 

tried in vain to keep Walter from a fate 

worse than death; at one stage even 

sending him to Occupational Health, 

which, unfortunately for Walter, is sited 

directly opposite the Horse and Trumpet! 

Unfortunately, the evidence was 

overwhelming, and though a fair trial 

had taken place, the jury foreman 

pronounced him guilty as charged. 

“Is there any insane person present that 

believes he should go to Heaven?” 

asked God. His wife was of course, was 

duty bound to offer a meek “yes”. 

“Who believes Walter should go to hell 

for all eternity?” boomed God. The 

roaring, screaming and yelling from the 

crowd overwhelmingly sealed his fate... 

Bring on Beyonce !!! Oh wait a minute, 

she is Heavenly... switch to the version 

from Hell! 

“Well Walter, that’s what you could 

have had – but you’re coming with 

me now... GIRLS, IN YOU COME” 

commanded the Devil. 

You will have to get hold of a copy 

of the DVD from Red Watch, Central 

to see what happened next... this is a 

family publication! 

Thank you to all those who turned 

up, there were approx 250 friends, 

family and voyeurs in attendance. A 

thoroughly enjoyable evening was 

had by all and it was fantastic to see 

so many retired colleagues enjoying 

themselves. 

The liberal club confirmed the following 

morning that their bar takings were 

extraordinarily high. The condemned 

man is currently recovering from his 30 

year work ordeal with a much earned 

break in sunny Sri Lanka. 

PREVIOUS PAGE: Walter McBain with members of the 

retirement ‘production’, including angels, devils and ‘girls’! 

CallOut March 2009 

41

control annual challenge 

white watch combat 

WORDS Dawn Merrett, Laura Foz, Dave King, Imran Lambat 

and Charlotte Varnam, White Watch, Control 

PHOTO Laser Force 

Following on from last year’s 

challenge at Go Ape in 

Nottingham, White Watch, 

Control, decided their annual 

challenge would take place this year 

at the new Laser Force in Leicester on 

Devonshire Road. 

The event was organised by Imran 

(known as The Dragon) along with Umo 

(known as The Slayer). White Watch 

went along not knowing what to 

expect but with lots of enthusiasm. The 

rules were explained and in we went, 

guns blazing. 

ABOVE (l-r): Dave King, Tom Augusztinyi, Laura Foz, 

Dawn Merrett, Imran Lambat, Laura Henderson, 

Dave Miwtton and Charlotte Varnam. 

The first game was everyone for 

themselves and was won by Umo, The 

Slayer. The highlight of the evening 

came in the next game which was 

boys vs girls and was won by, yes you 

guessed it, the GIRLS! 


The girls were an impressive sight with 

Laura (The Fox) winning top girl, Dawn 

(Titch the Sniper) basically following the 

boys around and being a pain in the 

neck, Charlotte (Night Hawk) running 

around shouting “I hate it” and “I don’t 

get it” and Laura Ellis (Cliffhanger) 

whizzing past screaming loudly. 

The final game of the evening was 

called Borg. This was everyone on the 

watch versus the Watch Manager, 

Tom Augusztinyi (known as Aggo). Not 

surprisingly at this point, members of the 

watch started asking for extra weapons 

including an axe or a sword. The idea 

of the game was for The Borg to shoot 

each member of the team seven times 

and then they transferred to his team. 

This was very confusing 

and ended 


up with lots of people shooting members 

of their own team (Titch the Sniper!). 

One of the highlights of the evening 

was when Charlotte (Nighthawk) leapt 

out at Tom (Aggo) as he let out a 

horrendous ‘girly’ scream that echoed 

through the whole of the B&Q depot 

next door! Tactics employed by Dave 

Mitton (Moggy) were to hide for as long 

as possible and at one point he was 

even found lying on the floor playing 

dead. The overall winner was the last 

person remaining on the original team 

(The Fox). 

WRITE IT UP! 

If you have anything interesting to say and would like to share it with your 

colleagues and communities, then why not write it up for CallOut. Maybe 

you have an interesting photo you would like to share? We want to hear 

from people across the Service with interesting stories, photos, incidents, 

sports and social events; in fact, pretty much anything you would like to 

write about. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling etc. - that’s what we 

have an Editor for! 

So send your articles to Amanda Pike and try to keep them to less than 

600 words. Wherever possible, try to include good quality images, as 

separate jpeg files, providing details of people in the photos and the 

name of the photographer who took them. 

Please be aware that your articles may be edited. 

The evening culminated in a trip to 

McDonalds for a burger and debrief at 

which point Tom (who took the night 

very seriously) pulled out an Ops28! 

If anyone is interested in having a go 

then give Laser Force a ring on 0116 

251 6778 and the boys will be happy to 

book you in and show you the ropes. 


43

sports news 

‘The ground looks a bit hard, what do you think?’ I asked. 

‘’We play on harder in May! It’s now or never!’ I was told. 

‘Roger!’ I proceeded to call 25 players to confirm that despite the 

coldest winter conditions in living memory, the match was still on! 

As always we had an excellent cause to play for, huge thanks go 

to everyone who helped sell raffle tickets, and those of you that 

bought some. Also thanks to people who donated prizes for the raffle such as the Leicester Tigers signed shirt. 

Our aim was to raise some money and show we cared for Rob Ayres, son of Mick and brother of Greg, both of whom 

work for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. Rob was hurt while on a night out in Leicester after being hit by a car. Rob 

had served his country in Afghanistan and was doing more medical training so he could help more people. Both Rob 

and Greg played for Aylestone Athletic along with several of the Fire and Rescue side; it gave the fixture certain warmth 

despite the bitter temperatures. 

It was not long after Christmas and New Year and the turkey sandwiches and trifle had not yet been fully digested. But, as 

usual, and gratefully, the lads all confirmed that they were on their way and all willing to play. 

As we got changed and shook hands with old friends, the starting line up was announced, leaving several players waiting 

for their turn on the cold side line. Huge praise and thanks to players who sacrifice time from their game in order to give 

others a chance. This is the sort of spirit that really helps when trying to arrange fixtures and teams. 

Anyway onto the game, I’m not sure if I have already mentioned that it was cold and hard... bit like an empty bath. The 

teams were evenly matched, with the fire service showing superior individual skill, but Athletic had the edge with their 

team performance and defensive strategy. Knees and elbows were cut to ribbons on the sharp ground and as the sun 

dipped below the trees, the temperature dipped even further. We were all even with only a few minutes to go, when the 

ball bounced awkwardly and was intercepted by the Aylestone Athletic winger who ran out of play, our 16th man, Cyril, 

who was touch judge, signalled that, indeed, the player had stepped out of touch and the lineout should be taken. 

All our players stopped for a well earned breather, The Aylestone Athletic winger, for some reason, carried on running 

towards our try line. It was at this moment that Cyril announced to the ref that he had made a mistake and the player was 

in fact in the field of play the whole time! Somehow play was allowed to continue and the try counted! We felt cheated 

but how could you be angry on such an occasion. 

The match was played in excellent spirits and this carried on to the Old Horse pub afterwards where food and drinks 

were served. 

A total of well over £1500 was raised that day showing the best of two things; rugby and a group of friends caring about 

each other. 

Next match currently being set up hopefully against the Police, should be good! 

44 CallOut March 2009 

WORDS Edd Rogers, White Watch Control 

PHOTO Edd Rogers 


THIS PAGE (l-r): Neil Jenkins and Ryan Weir. 

PREVIOUS PAGE (Top): Aylestone Athletic vs 

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service charity match. 

men 

WORDS Neil Jenkins, Blue Watch Hinckley 

PHOTO Neil Jenkins 


WORDS Edd Rodgers, White Watch Central 

PHOTO istockphoto.com 

My name is Neil Jenkins I am a Firefighter from Hinckley Fire and Rescue Station. 

On 2 April this year I will be competing in the 25th Marathon Des Sables, a 250km 

running race across the Sahara desert that has earned itself the title of the toughest 

footrace on earth. Apart from water rations, competitors have to be totally self 

sufficient during the race carrying all clothing, sleeping bag, food and such in a rucksack. The exact course isn’t revealed 

until arrival on location but it works out to roughly a marathon per day for six days... except for day four, which is the 50 

miler day! There are around 700 competitors this year and about 200 British runners, including Olympic gold medallist rower, 

James Cracknell. 

I will be going out there with another firefighter, Ryan Weir from Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service. We both entered the 

race two years ago along with two other colleagues and are racing as the UK Fire and Rescue Team, but due to injuries 

sustained whilst training, the other two have had to pull out. Training really has covered two years, Ryan and myself have 

done two multistage mountain marathons and numerous half-marathons, as well as cycling and swimming to get in 

condition for this race… hopefully! 

The equipment we are taking is the lightest available and as weight is key to success, only the very necessary items are 

coming along. My iPod is a luxury item that just might stop me from going insane whilst ploughing over non stop sand 

dunes! Freeze dried food, a minimum of 2000 calories per day, will make up nearly half of the weight we have to carry and 

water is rationed out for us at 10 litres per day. Considering the average midday temperature is 120 degrees Fahrenheit, ten 

litres doesn’t sound a lot! At night we are lucky enough to sleep under a ‘Bivouac Tent’ and temperatures can drop below 

freezing in the desert at night, so a warm sleeping bag and extra clothes are essential. 

We have entered this race not only as a personal challenge to ourselves but also as a way of raising sponsorship money 

for two worthy charities. To donate log onto wwwjustfiving.com/neiljenkins306 or pop into Hinckley Fire and Rescue Station 

where a sponsorship form and charity collection box will be available. 

Thanks in anticipation, Neil and Ryan. 


45

sports news 

WORDS Emma Morgan, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service 


women’s 

I am a firefighter from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and along with the Fire Service Sports and Athletics Association, 

I am currently establishing a new Ladies National Firefighter Rugby Union Team! So, if you think you might like to have a go 

and be part of a great new team, regardless of experience, then get in touch 

Please either contact myself (or if you would just like to find out a bit more about it all) on 02392 371044 or via e-mail at 

emma.morgan@hantsfire.gov.uk or Helen Durman at helendurman@yahoo.com 

This is your chance to get involved! 

WORDS Stuart Wolfe, White Watch Central 


The golf fixtures are now available to view on SharePoint by going to 

noticeboards, sports club then golf fixtures. 

The opening fixture will be held at Scraptoft on 15 March 2010, 

followed closely by the first midlands fixture being hosted by Derbyshire 

at Chevin. The team of Martin Boldry, Mark Johnson, Graham Robinson and 

Stuart Wolfe will represent Leicestershire in Bristol in June at the national 

Sheriffs Cup. 

Graham Robinson and Stuart Wolfe will be part of the 18 strong England 

team to play Scotland in Dundee in September. 

Andrew Parker will form part of a three person team representing the East 

Midlands at Breadsall in September. Nigel Brand, Dave Rushin, Paul Storer 

and Mick Tait will represent Leicestershire at Lutterworth in the Jubilee Cup. 

Look out for the national pairs event at Trentham and the new style National 

Fire Fighters Charity event at Crewe, both of which have closing deadlines of 

the end of March 2010. The ever popular Bob Miller Golf Day starting sheet 

will be available at the Scraptoft event and is being held at Hinckley on the 

27 October. 123 players took part last year so get your names down early to 

avoid disappointment. 


letters received 

ABOVE: Just one of twenty eight letters of thanks received at 

Hinckley Fire and Rescue Station from pupils in Class 1BC at 

Burbage C. of E. Infant School, following a fire safety visit. 


BELOW: Letter from Heather and Steve Baker sent to Moira 

Station, Technical Rescue, Tim Herbert and Mark Elliott to thank 

them for their involvemnet in the rescue of their dog, Monty, after 

he fell through the ice on a frozen lake, on 10 January 2010. 

LEFT: Letter of thanks from Mrs Allett sent to Southern Fire 

and Rescue Station, after Mrs Allett sufferd a serious fall at 

Marlborough Square Church, Coalville and was assisted by 

members of Green Watch. 


47

TRACING COMMANDER WILLIAM THOMAS 

CAN YOU HELP? 

Commander William Thomas OBE Born February 1900 - Bersham, Denbeigh, North Wales 

Served in Leicester and Bradford Fire Brigades 

I am looking to find information relating to my late Great Uncle - Commander William Thomas OBE. My uncle was originally 

from Coedpoeth, North Wales and married my late Great Aunt Ada, nee Harrison. As a married couple they resided in the 

Leicester area along with their much loved boxer dog, Julie, supported by a chauffeur/gardener. 

Having been in touch with other contacts, including Jenny Dugdale from the London Records Fire Service Records Office, 

none of us has had much success in finding out any information, so if anyone can help please get in touch. Your help would 

be much appreciated. 

Gill Wetton (e-mail: wetton77@yahoo.co.uk)

March 2010 - Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

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