Sheep stranded in floods
More than 70 sheep were trapped on flooded farmland as heavy rainfall
saw flood warnings issued all over East Sussex on Sunday.
The animals were grazing in a field in Robertsbridge when a combination
of wet weather and rising river levels left them stranded.
It took East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service three hours to save the
72 sheep from the flooded field.
Farmers in flood danger areas were advised to move livestock to higher
ground on Sunday.
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Fire at farmhouse
A farmhouse in East Sussex was badly damaged in a fire on Friday evening.
Firefighters were called to Horam Manor Farm in Horam, near Heathfield,
at 1840 GMT after reports of a fire in a chimney.
The flames spread to the roof of the building and at its height eight
fire engines were at the scene, with 20 firefighters in breathing apparatus
tackling the fire.
Fire crews left the scene just before 2200 GMT before returning on Saturday
morning to make sure the fire was definitely out.
Nobody was hurt.
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councillors give support to smoke alarm
campaign
Where: East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Headquarters, 20 Upperton
Road, Eastbourne, BN21 1EU
Date: Friday 12th December 2003
Time: 10:30am
With Christmas fast approaching, members of East Sussex Fire Authority
will sign a document to show their commitment to the installation of smoke
detectors.
The festive season can be a dangerous time, with candles, overloaded
electric sockets and flammable decorations creating greater fire risks.
There is also the temptation for people to take batteries out of smoke
alarms to use in new toys or gadgets.
East Sussex Fire Authority are committed to public safety and are urging
all members of the community to make sure they have working smoke alarms.
Chairman of East Sussex Fire Authority, Councillor Mike Murphy, said:
“This is an initiative that all members of the Fire Authority fully
endorse. We would encourage everyone to fit smoke alarms in their homes
and check them weekly. It’s such a simple thing to do, yet it really
could save your life.”
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safety surgery at wadhurst fire station
A safety surgery is being held at Wadhurst Fire Station, Sparrows Green,
Wadhurst on Saturday 13th December from 11am to 3pm.
As well as getting advice from the firefighters on all aspects of fire
safety, visitors will also be able to talk to Sussex Police about crime
prevention and meet the Police Community Safety Officers who work in the
area. Also in attendance on the day will be Neighbourhood Watch, The Safe
Lanes Group, Wealden District Lifeline and Handypersons Scheme, Trading
Standards and Crimestoppers.
Andrew Porter, Station Manager at Wadhurst Fire Station, said: “This
is the first safety surgery we’ve held, and it’s an opportunity
for members of the public to visit the Fire Station and get advice on
a range of safety issues.”
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east sussex fire & rescue service welcomes
new director of community protection
Gary Walsh has recently joined East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service
as Director of Community Protection.
Gary joined Merseyside Fire Service in 1986 as a firefighter. Ten years
later, and after a number of promotions, he was seconded to the Fire Services
College in Gloucestershire as an Instructor in the Hazmat (Hazardous Materials)
Section. In 1997 he returned to Merseyside as an Assistant Divisional
Officer, and was part of the Capital Challenge Team which oversaw a £6m
building project for two new Fire Stations and the refurbishment of the
Service’s Safety Training Centre.
In 2000, Gary was appointed as the Chief Fire Officer’s Staff Officer
at the rank of Divisional Officer. Following a Service restructure, he
was head of Corporate Research and in June 2003, moved to the Safety Training
Centre.
With his move to East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and as a Senior
Divisional Officer, Gary will have responsibility for Fire Safety and
Operations. He will be based at Headquarters in Eastbourne.
Gary has an Open University Diploma in Pollution Control, and is currently
studying for an MSc in Management with Liverpool Hope University. He was
involved in the development of the Friends of Merseyside Fire Service,
a charitable organisation, from its inception in 2000.
Gary enjoys all sports, and after playing and coaching rugby, became
a referee with Liverpool Referees Society. He is married to Jane, and
they have two sons.
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fire engine involved in five vehicle crash
The incident happened in King's Drive, Eastbourne, on Thursday evening
as the crew was on its way to a report that people were trapped in a building.
At just before 6pm, a call was received to a house fire in Willingdon
Trees. Some seconds later, further information from the caller indicated
that there were people still inside the property.
Two fire appliances were mobilised from Eastbourne fire station.
As the vehicles were negotiating traffic along Kings Drive, one appliance
was in collision with the rear end of a flat-bed lorry which then collided
with other vehicles ahead of it.
None of those injured was seriously hurt although, of a number of people
taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital for checks, one firefighter
was detained for further observation.
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recruits attempt to set new world record
The 35th recruits of East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service will attempt
to climb the equivalent of the world’s five highest buildings on
Saturday 29th November to raise money for charity.
The fundraising event has become an end-of-course tradition for the East
Sussex recruits, with a similar event two years ago raising over £7,000.
This year’s event will take place outside of Waitrose in Crowborough,
and all money raised will be donated to the Fire Services National Benevolent
Fund.
Two teams will compete against each other on “Stairmaster”
exercise machines, aiming to set a world record for the attempt.
The five tallest buildings in the world are:
The Taipei 101, Taiwan, 508m.
The Petronas Tower 1, Malaysia, 452m.
The Petronas Tower 2, Malaysia, 452m.
Sears Tower, Chicago, 442m.
The Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, 421m.
Each team will take a total of 22,750 steps in their bid to set the world
record.
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service cuts fires in east brighton
by almost 40%
The number of domestic fires in East Brighton has been cut by almost
40% following a two-year fire safety initiative run by East Sussex Fire
& Rescue Service.
The “Home Fire Safety for East Brighton” project was launched
in January 2002, with the aim of reducing the risk of fire in the area,
which had the highest occurrence of fire in the Brighton and Hove conurbation.
Funding was provided through the Government’s New Deal initiative
(known latterly as “eb4u”). Home Fire Safety education of
the community was the main priority, with every house in the area being
visited and the occupier(s) being advised about the most common causes
of fire and how to prevent them. In addition, a free 10-year smoke detector
would be offered, and the occupier(s) given an explanation of how it worked,
basic maintenance advice and what to do if it was activated by fire.
With the completion of the project, a total of 4,215 households have
been visited, with 3,385 of those being given home fire safety advice
and 3,124 having a 10-year smoke detector fitted.
Instrumental in the success of the project has been New Steps, a registered
charity supported by the Millennium Commission, European Social Fund,
and the Learning & Skills Council. The Charity take young people between
the ages of 16 and 25 not presently in any form of development, and gives
them community challenges to complete to aid their personal and social
development.
During trials of the project, the Service found its biggest problem was
explaining the scheme to each occupier and gaining their trust sufficiently
to enter the property to give advice and fit the detector. After receiving
training, the New Steps were used to do this first stage and break the
ice on behalf of the Service. This worked brilliantly, as it was found
that the residents were even more inclined to listen to the New Steps
people than a uniformed firefighter.
Many of the young people who have been involved in the scheme have since
returned to education or found employment, whilst some have shown an interest
in joining the Service.
Community Fire Safety Team Leader for East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service,
Bob Trotter, said: “New Deal funding from the Government has given
the Service the opportunity to provide the East Brighton community with
life-changing home fire safety advice, quicker and more effectively than
would otherwise have been possible.
“The reduction in the number of domestic fires has been better
than expected and this means substantially less fire damage, disruption,
injuries and cost to the community, which we are immensely proud to have
brought about.”
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firefighter shortage in herstmonceux at crisis
point
Firefighters in Herstmonceux have warned that lives are being put at
unnecessary risk in their local area due to the lack of part time (retained)
firefighters needed to crew the village’s fire engine.
A minimum of four crew are needed for the vehicle to remain operational,
yet with very few people working and living in the village, it has become
more and more difficult to recruit retained firefighters.
Over the summer, the fire engine has been unavailable to attend incidents
for an average of 36 hours per week, which equates to 21% of the time.
The shortage in Herstmonceux means that if an incident occurs when the
fire engine is unavailable, another fire engine will have to travel from
a neighbouring town or village, and this delay in attending could be critical.
Station Manager at Herstmonceux, Dave Yates, said: “Unfortunately,
the situation here is reaching crisis point. We’ve recently lost
four firefighters who have moved away from the area, and the situation
is going to get worse, as another firefighter will be moving away at the
end of the year.
“The lack of crew means that our fire engine is unavailable for
a significant part of the time, and our concern is that this is putting
the lives of people in the Herstmonceux area at risk. It may sound melodramatic,
but seconds really can mean the difference between life and death at some
of the incidents we attend.”
In an attempt to recruit more retained firefighters, the crew from Herstmonceux
will be taking the fire engine into the centre of the village on Saturday
(8th November) to talk to members of the public about becoming part time
firefighters.
Retained firefighters either live or work near the fire station and remain
on-call through their pager. When they are paged, the firefighters are
required to leave their home or work immediately and get to the fire station
as quickly as possible. Each firefighter is paid a fixed retaining fee
for being available and then gets paid for every call they attend.
Dave Yates added: “We would ask anyone who lives or works in Herstmonceux
to give some serious thought to becoming a retained firefighter. If you
would like to find out more, or just talk to the crew to find out what’s
involved, you can either see us in the village this Saturday, or call
into the Fire Station after 7pm on Monday evenings.
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first steps towards modernisation unveiled
At their meeting last week (Thursday 30th October), East Sussex Fire
Authority approved the draft of their Integrated Risk Management Annual
Action Plan that describes the proposals to modernise East Sussex Fire
& Rescue Service and improve standards of service delivery. The document
now goes forward for public consultation over the next twelve weeks.
Integrated Risk Management is part of the programme of reform currently
underway in the Fire and Rescue Service, allowing each Fire Authority
to more effectively manage risks and resources in their area. The Plan
looks at how to reduce risk in the community, taking into account the
risk from fire and special services, and the risk to heritage and the
environment. The primary objective of the project is to make East Sussex
Fire & Rescue Service more responsive to locally identified needs
and better able to deliver community safety.
The changes that are being proposed for East Sussex over the coming year
are:
response to Automatic Fire Detection Systems (AFDs)
Over the last seven years, 32% of the 999 calls received by East Sussex
Fire & Rescue Service have been from AFDs, such as those used in commercial
premises, hospitals, schools, industrial units etc. Currently, the Service
responds to these alarms with the same speed and number of fire engines
as if they were attending a confirmed fire. However, of the 30,914 AFD
calls attended by the Service in the last seven years, 28,501 (92.19%)
were false alarms, with only 152 incidents (0.5%) requiring any sort of
action from firefighters. Therefore, the Fire Authority is proposing that
only one fire engine be sent to AFD calls, unless there is further evidence
that there is a fire and re-direct resources towards community safety
initiatives.
aerial appliances
East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service currently has four aerial appliances,
stationed at Brighton (Preston Circus), Hastings (Bohemia Road), Hove
and Eastbourne, and each vehicle is permanently crewed by two staff. Of
all the incidents attended by aerial appliances in the last seven years,
75.15% were false alarms and 22.32% were incidents where the aerial appliance
was not needed. Therefore, the Fire Authority is suggesting that aerial
appliances should only attend incidents when specifically requested, providing
the scope for staff to undertake preventative and proactive safety initiatives.
They also propose that the crew of the vehicle stationed at Hove be used
for other duties, including Community Safety activities. While the vehicle
would remain available if requested by recalling the crew from their other
duties, the vehicle at Preston Circus would provide cover for the city
and further afield.
Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs)
The Fire Authority has, until now, had no statutory commitment to attend
RTCs. With this type of incident becoming an increasing part of the Service’s
work, the Authority would like to adopt a standard for attendance, with
the first fire engine to reach 50% of RTCs in 8 minutes, and 90% within
13 minutes.
Councillor Mike Murphy, Chairman of East Sussex Fire Authority, said:
“The integrated risk process has allowed the Fire Authority to look
at the way we use our people, equipment and fire stations, and check they
are being used as effectively as possible, to ensure the safety of local
communities. The emphasis of our work has changed in that we are now expected
to be pro-active and prevent emergencies from happening in the first place,
so these proposals would give crews more time for community-based work.
The next stage of the process is extensive consultation with the public,
our staff and other partners to ensure that safety remains our number
one priority”.
East Sussex Fire Authority is keen to hear your views on their proposals
and would welcome your comments. You can email comments to irm@esfrs.org
or complete an on-line questionnaire at www.esfrs-irm.org Alternatively,
you can write to the IRM Team at East Sussex Fire & Rescue Headquarters,
20 Upperton Road, Eastbourne.
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