© Copyright Roger Mardon
www.romar.org.uk
All rights reserved
Fire service historian and author
Roger Mardon
www.romar.org.uk
TVAC in administration
January 2009
TVAC Ltd -
Papworth SV, another AssetCo subsidiary, is not affected and continues to trade.
Transfer of New Dimension Assets
April 2009
The target date for transfer of New Dimension assets to individual fire & rescue authorities is now 1 October 2009.
Cornwall Fire Brigade Renamed
October 2009
Cornwall County Fire Brigade was officially renamed Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service as from 1 October 2009.
Most UK fire brigades adopted the fire & rescue title a number of years ago to better reflect the services provided. Now only London and Cleveland adhere to the traditional fire brigade title while West Midlands has, by name, a fire service pure and simple.
There are 46 fire & rescue services in England, including the Isles of Scilly, 3 in Wales and 8 in Scotland.
The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service provides cover for the whole of the province.
The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey have their own services.
UK Response to Indonesian Earthquake
October 2009
Specialist search & rescue teams from nine UK fire services have been deployed to assist in the relief effort following the earthquake which struck close to Padang, Sumatra on Wednedsay, 30 September. Over 1,000 people are known to have died and thousands more are thought to be still trapped in the rubble.
Teams from Cheshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, West Midlands, West Sussex, South Wales and Grampian flew out from Gatwick early on Saturday morning, 3 October.
Twenty urban search and rescue (USAR) teams were set up under the Government's New Dimension programme intended to ensure that Britain's fire & rescue services are able to cope with major chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents as well as search and rescue scenarios, major flooding and transport disasters.
USAR capability includes kit to lift, cut and remove concrete and rubble from collapsed structures along with sophisticated equipment for finding casualties, including special cameras and listening devices. The tools used can penetrate reinforced concrete and metal to gain access to casualties and the use of shoring equipment allows team members to maintain a safe working position during rescues. While in Indonesia, the USAR teams will use a UK central cache of equipment.
Search & Rescue Teams Return Home from Indonesia
October 2009
All members of the UK International Search & Rescue response have returned safely home together from Indonesia, arriving at RAF Brize Norton at 13.50hrs on Thursday 8 October.
The 64 personnel and two search dogs were originally due to fly out from Gatwick
on Friday 2 October to assist in the relief effort following the earthquake which
struck close to Padang, Sumatra on Wednedsay, 30 September. However a hydraulic fault
in the chartered aircraft prevented that and they left in a C-
They arrived in Padang at 21.24hrs where they were met by an EU representative who had arranged transport from the airport to the scene of operations. Base of operation was set up at 06:00hrs local time on 4 October at Agus Salim and the UK teams coordinated their reconnaissance effort with the Australian search and rescue teams.
Kent team leader John Mazzey explained some of their duties during the deployment, “Our initial task was to carry out an assessment in the area to the north of Padang as the first rescue teams had concentrated on the centre of the city. We found that some houses had only slight damage whereas others were completely flattened. When the operation moved from the rescue phase to the recovery stage, and before our return to the airport, we then helped deliver aid to Save the Children who were working in the area.”
He added, “The reception from the local community was very good and it was excellent to be able to help but it is important that we are not a burden to the country and so we take our own food and accommodation, and as soon as the rescue phase is over and our skills and training are no longer needed we return home. The team is very close knit and has worked together for a long time but we also made sure we talked about anything we’d seen or done. Our extensive ongoing training certainly prepared us for this."
A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on 9 October says that there are 805 confirmed deaths with a further 241 people missing.
During the course of the UK operation West Midlands Fire Service provided a national command and control function and West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service undertook a logistics role.
Search dogs quarantined on return from Indonesia
October 2009
The two search dogs, from Kent and Essex, deployed to Indonesia for the earthquake aid mission have been quarantined for six months on return to the UK to make sure they have not picked up any diseases.
Transfer of New Dimension Assets
October 2009
Fire & rescue authorities have now been asked to sign up to the final version of the agreement for transfer of ownership of New Dimension assets from central government to individual authorities by the end of December 2009. It is intended that the actual transfer will take place early in 2010. (CLG Circular 59/2009 dated 23/9/2009)
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