CHIEFOFFICER’S
ACtIvIty REPORt
April 1 – June 30 2013
Welcome / CFO Introduction
WELCOME to the latest activity
report where you can read about
some of the things Greater
Manchester Fire and Rescue
Service (GMFRS) has been
involved in from April to June
2013.
The report highlights the work we
do and how the Service continues
to engage with and support its
communities – from operational
incidents to prevention work,
commendation awards, events,
plus lots more.
GMFRS supported National Boat
Safety Week, which ran from May
25 to May 31, by highlighting the
dangers of carbon monoxide
poisoning to canal boat users.
Also the latest seasonal campaign
Safe4Summer was welcomed
with open arms and brought with
it some good weather.
This quarter saw two large fires in
the Northern Quarter area of
Manchester City Centre which
resulted in a burger restaurant
being forced to shut at the end of
June and a historic building being
demolished on Oldham Street in
April.
Importantly, and while we are on
the topic of Oldham Street, you
will all know there was a more
recent blaze on the street at
Paul’s Hair World on Saturday,
July 13 – which claimed the life of
Firefighter Stephen Hunt.
[ABOVE] FIREFIGHtERStEPHENHUNt
Details of this incident and
everything that surrounds it will be
covered in the Quarter 2 Report.
Steve McGuirk
CBE, QFSM, DL, MA, BA (Hons), BSc, FRSA, FIFireE
Chief Executive/
County Fire Officer
[ABOVE] OLDHAMStREEtINCIDENt,APRIL2013
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Contents
4
Operational Incidents
56
Prevention and Protection
10
Service Delivery
58
Children and Young People
60
Training and Resilience
63
Corporate Communications
68
Other news of interest
Bolton
10
Bury
14
Manchester
18
Oldham
24
Rochdale
28
Salford
32
Stockport
36
Tameside
42
Trafford
46
Wigan
50
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3
Operational Incidents of Interest
Almost Famous catches fire
A FIRE in Manchester’s Northern
Quarter destroyed the kitchen of a
restaurant and caused the roof to
collapse.
A fire alarm went off in Almost
Famous burger restaurant at
1.30pm on Friday, June 28, and
all customers and staff were
evacuated to safety.
Station Manager Damian
O’Rourke said: “Our crews
worked hard throughout the
afternoon and stopped the fire
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from spreading to the
neighbouring buildings.”
The fire involved a second floor
kitchen and it got into the roof
space, so an aerial appliance was
sent along to the scene along
with the five fire engines.
Blaze at Horwich recycling
plant
FIREFIGHTERS brought a fire at
recycling site Armstrongs in
Horwich under control.
GMFRS was called to the site on
Chorley New Road at around
6.40am on Wednesday, April 24.
[BELOW] BLAZEAtHORWICHRECyCLINGPLANt
At its height eight fire engines and
an aerial appliance were at the
scene with around 50 firefighters
tackling the blaze.
Crews surrounded the fire to stop
it from spreading.
Station Manager Jon Aspinall
said: “The fire involved a large
amount of waste material within a
warehouse and crews worked
hard to contain it to stop it from
spreading.”
GMFRS worked with the
Environment Agency at the
incident and firefighters remained
on the site for several days.
The fire is thought to have started
when combustible waste
materials self-heated.
GMFRS joins forces with West
yorkshire to tackle moorland
fires
MORE than 40 GMFRS
firefighters joined crews from
West Yorkshire to tackle moorland
fires in Littleborough and over the
county border.
Six GMFRS fire engines and an
Operational Support Unit were
called to land behind The Summit
Pub on Todmorden Road at
7.32pm on Tuesday, May 7.
In addition, a fire engine from
Rochdale and one from
Littleborough joined six fire
[ABOVE] MOORLANDFIRESINLIttLEBOROUGH
engines from West Yorkshire Fire
and Rescue Service in tackling
pockets of moorland fire.
Crews used water to defend and
protect neighbouring property and
to tackle the pockets of fire which
cover around five hectares of land
close to Todmorden.
Station Manager Pete Buckley
said: “We protected a small
number of remote cottages and
farm buildings from the wildfires.
“Firefighters withdrew from the
hillside for safety reasons in the
darkness and redeployed to
protect these isolated local
buildings with strategically
positioned fire engines.
“Monitoring any fire spread
through the night, they used a
protective spray of water around
the buildings and continued to
fight the fires on the hillside safely
in daylight hours.”
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Operational Incidents of Interest
young boy raises alarm that
saved family from fire
A FIVE-year-old saved his family
from a fire after smelling the
smoke and waking his dad in
Hyde.
The family might not have
otherwise been alerted to the
blaze as their home did not have
smoke alarms.
Firefighters from Hyde and Ashton
were called to a fire at a house on
Werneth Low Road, Werneth
Low, at 12.20am on Thursday,
May 16.
Crew Manager Nick Slack, based
at Hyde’s White Watch, said: “If it
wasn’t for the early actions of the
young lad the fire would’ve
spread throughout the house and
potentially injured someone and
caused a lot more damage than it
did.
Man rescued from 150-foot
tree in Heywood
FIREFIGHTERS rescued a man
from a tree after he climbed into
the top of it from a bridge.
“There’s no doubt he saved his
family.”
When crews arrived, four
firefighters in breathing apparatus
went in and tackled the blaze with
hose reels and used a fan to clear
the smoke once the fire was out.
Firefighters isolated the gas and
electricity supply to the house.
The mum, dad, boy and a friend
who was staying over managed
to get out quickly so none of them
needed any treatment.
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LIvESOFHISFAMILy-MUMRACHEL,BROtHERHARRyANDDADPHIL-WHENHE
SMELLEDSMOKEANDWOKEHISDAD- PHOTO COURTESY OF M.E.N. MEDIA
[ABOVE] MANRESCUEDFROM150FOOttREE
A crew from Heywood was called
to the tree off Queens Park Road,
Heywood, at 7pm on Saturday,
June 8.
They found a 28-year-old man
had climbed into the tree and got
stuck after a branch snapped
under him.
Watch Manager Barry Malone
said: “The branch he climbed on
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to snapped and he became stuck
on another branch and couldn’t
get back up again.
“He was too scared to climb all
the way down and when we
arrived he was literally hanging on
to the tree for his life.
“A harness with rescue line
attached was passed to him and I
told him to place it under his
arms, while still holding tightly to
the tree, and to pull it as tight as
he could to prevent him falling to
the ground.
“Firefighter Steve McNiffe was
then rigged in rope harness
equipment, lowered over the
parapet and on to a short
extension ladder, which was
strategically placed from the
parapet.”
Hattersley homes evacuated
after cylinder rockets into the
air
[ABOVE] HAttERSLEyHOMESEvACUAtED
between 30 and 40 houses with
the help of police and residents
gathered in a local pub – there
was a real community spirit in the
area.
HOMES were evacuated following
a fire involving cylinders in Hyde.
“The incident involved a garden
shed with three cylinders inside
and one of them ruptured and
launched like a rocket into the air.
GMFRS received a call just after
10.30am on Tuesday, April 30, to
a fire involving a shed in a garden
on Pudding Lane, Hattersley.
“It travelled about 60 to 70 metres
and landed in a back garden – the
contents spilled out and set fire to
another shed.
At the height of the incident four
crews from Hyde, Stalybridge and
Stockport fought the blaze.
“There were about three or four
seats of fire as a result of the
original fire – but the crews did a
fantastic job to bring it under
control and get residents to a
place of safety.”
Station Manager Kev O’Connor
said: “We had to evacuate
Two men admitted to hospital
after Failsworth fire
FIRE investigators found that a
blaze involving a container of
fireworks in Failsworth that left
two men in hospital started
accidentally.
Investigators from GMFRS found
that a company, which rents one
of the units, at the site was
burning off wood in a yard.
The burning got slightly out of
control and spread to rubbish
before reaching a nearby metal
container which contained
fireworks.
Firefighters were called to the
address on Morton Street in
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Operational Incidents of Interest
On Thursday, April 11, firefighters
were called out to the fire and
remained there for the coming
days until the fire was completely
out.
Demolition workers were at the
site as soon as the fire was under
control removing loose bricks and
debris to make it safe before
bulldozing it weeks later.
[ABOVE] FAILSWORtHFIREWORKCONtAINERFIRE
Failsworth at 6.09pm on Tuesday,
April 30.
The container of fireworks set
alight and exploded resulting in an
adjacent cabin containing LPG
(liquid petroleum gas) cylinders
also setting on fire.
in Manchester City Centre leaving
it in a state beyond repair.
GMFRS’ community vehicle was
present on Oldham Street with
community staff and volunteers
offering residents, and visitors to
the city, safety advice and
providing reassurance.
The dangerous state that the fire
left the building in meant that fire
investigators could not determine
the cause.
[BELOW AND RIGHT] OLDHAMStREEtBLAZE
Six fire crews were there at the
height of the incident and used
jets to fight the fire.
A Trauma Technician treated two
men at the scene who were
suffering from burns.
Firefighters continued the cooling
process throughout the night.
Oldham Street blaze
A FURIOUS blaze tore through a
historic building on Oldham Street
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Service Delivery Bolton
Statistics
Bolton Central, Bolton North, Horwich and Farnworth
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
62
55
62
58
Total deliberate fires
298
230
298
241
- Primary fires (dwellings)
59
52
59
62
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
239
178
239
179
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
2
0
2
1
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
Injuries
3
8
3
14
155
130
155
143
Number of people rescued from fires
2
0
2
7
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
20
0
20
24
Building fires
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
205
Completed volunteers
hours
318
Completed volunteers
hours
314
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
10
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
89
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
5
Prohibitions
0
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
1,423
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Borough Manager
Contact Details
Ian Bailey
Borough Manager Bolton
W52 HORWICH
W51 BOLTON NORTH
W50 BOLTON CENTRAL
Ian Bailey


01204 905 127
W53 FARNWORTH
baileyi@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Mohammed Ayub
Labour
Lynda Byrne
Labour
Hilary Fairclough
Conservative
Borough News
HeartStart techniques taught
to school children
YOUNGSTERS in Bolton were
taught life-saving skills by
firefighters from GMFRS during a
visit to their school in April.
Crews from Bolton Central Fire
Station spent the morning at Our
Lady of Lourdes RC Primary
School in Farnworth
demonstrating HeartStart
techniques.
Firefighters Matthew Halsall, Dale
Martin and Patrick Charles
delivered the training to the Year
Six pupils along with their Crew
Manager Dave Holden.
They are all trained teachers of
British Heart Foundation’s (BHF)
HeartStart, which teaches
lifesaving CPR and means they
are able to deliver life support to
youth groups and school children
of all ages.
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Service Delivery Bolton
Bolton Central, Bolton North, Horwich and Farnworth
[ABOVE] (LtoR)FIREFIGHtERSJOHNDUFFAND
ANDREWKOPICKI,COUNCILLORRyAN
BAttERSBy,FIREFIGHtERJONAtHAN
ASHtONANDWAtCHMANAGERIAN
AINSWORtH
Fireman Sam and London’s
Burning, a programme that his
mother enjoyed.
[ABOVE] BOLtONHEARtStARtFOROURLADyOFLOURDES-WItHFIREFIGHtERMAttHEW
HALSALL
The crew was watched on by a
special guest – GMFRS’ Chief Fire
Officer Steve McGuirk who was
visiting Bolton fire stations for the
day and spending time with the
watches.
Crew Manager Dave Holden said:
“The children were very well
behaved and attentive. All the
children were able to deal with a
faint, bleeding, choking, heart
attack and cardiac arrest by the
end of the session.”
Mayor of Westhoughton
spends day with firefighters
A TOWN mayor from Bolton
fulfilled a childhood dream when
he spent the day as a firefighter
with GMFRS.
12
Mayor of Westhoughton,
Councillor Ryan Battersby, was
invited to Bolton Central after he
presented certificates to
youngsters on one of the
Service’s Prince’s Trust schemes
during a ceremony at The Reebok
Stadium.
He spent a shift with crews on
Monday, April 29, when he
experienced the adrenalin rush of
two emergency call outs, got to
grips with the firefighters’
equipment and attended a
community visit.
Cllr Battersby, aged 22, said he
was inspired by the firefighters
during the day but was very
nervous. As a boy he dreamed of
being a firefighter after watching
During the day, firefighters and Cllr
Battersby also paid a visit to
Bolton Children’s Opportunity
Group in Lowndes Street to
speak to youngsters with learning
and physical disabilities.
Party in the park
IT was fun and games for Bolton
fire crews when they attended a
half-term party for children and
their parents at an Astley Bridge
park.
Red Watch crews from Bolton
North Fire Station took along a fire
engine and the GMFRS
community event bus to Party 4
the People at Barlow Park on
Thursday, May 30.
Crews were joined by volunteers,
community safety staff and
GMFRS Apprentice Gary Manville
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as well as Crew Manager Alex
Sugden from Green Watch, who
helped to organise the Service’s
involvement in the event.
Scores of children and families
were given vital advice about how
to stay safe and out of trouble this
summer and crews carried out
crash demonstrations to show
what they have to do at a road
traffic collision when they have to
cut someone out of a vehicle.
Other organisations there
included Bolton Wanderers
Football Club, Bolton at Home,
Bolton Council, Asda, the Street
Shakers Dance Club and more.
Horwich firefighters host open
day
FAMILIES flocked to Horwich on
Saturday, June 15 for the station’s
annual Open Day.
GMFRS mascot Cracker the fire
dog entertained children
throughout the day while
firefighters, volunteers and
community safety staff were on
hand to talk to the public and give
advice on how to stay safe over
summer.
Volunteers from Bolton Mountain
Rescue Team (BMRT) – who often
work with GMFRS during
incidents – took along a selection
of their vehicles for display,
including a mountain rescue Land
[ABOVE AND BELOW] CROWDSFLOCKtOHORWICHFIREStAtIONOPENDAy
Rover ambulance, minibus and
crew bus ambulance.
Firefighters were joined by BMRT
volunteers for a road traffic
collision demonstration to show
visitors how crews rescue
someone who has been injured in
a collision and is trapped inside a
vehicle.
The two services also teamed up
to carry out a rope rescue
scenario out of the second floor of
the drill tower.
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Service Delivery Bury
Statistics
Bury, Ramsbottom and Whitefield
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
32
27
32
28
Total deliberate fires
160
107
160
96
- Primary fires (dwellings)
20
19
20
22
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
140
88
140
74
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
2
0
2
0
Fatalities
0
0
0
1
Injuries
6
4
6
11
Building fires
72
75
72
82
Number of people rescued from fires
2
0
2
7
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
17
0
17
17
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
Completed volunteers
hours
308
Completed volunteers
hours
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
14
May
76
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
42
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
6
Prohibitions
0
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
215
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
546
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E38 RAMSBOTTOM
Borough Manager
Contact Details
E36 BURY
Pete Riley
Borough Manager Bury
Pete Riley


E37 WHITEFIELD
0161 909 0327
rileyp@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Alan Matthews
Labour
Stella Smith
Labour
Borough News
Hero kayakers commended for
saving man’s life
ceremony at Ramsbottom Fire
Station on Tuesday, May 7.
THREE kayakers who saved a
man’s life when they rescued him
from a fast-flowing river were
recognised for their actions.
The men were taking advantage
of fast-flowing water between
Nuttall Park and the Burrs Activity
Centre in September last year
when they spotted a man
marooned in the water and
clinging to a branch.
Ben Nuttall, 24, Louis Sheeran,
22, and Liam Dobson, 21, were
presented with a Chief Fire
Officer’s Commendation during a
The man, in his mid-50s, got into
difficulties after going into the river
alone in a small inflatable boat
with no emergency equipment or
helmet and only a basic life jacket.
The trio had ropes, wet suits,
helmets and mobile phones so
using ropes and a sling, Ben and
Louis secured themselves to a
tree and managed to get a rope
to the man and free him – getting
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Service Delivery Bury
[ABOVE] (LtoR)LOUISSHEERAN,LIAM
DOBSONANDBENNUttALL
RECEIvEtHEIRCOMMENDAtIONS
FROMDEPUtyCOUNtyFIRE
OFFICERJIMOWEN
him safely onto the river bank,
while Liam called the emergency
services.
Several appliances were sent to
the scene and crews worked with
the kayakers to get the man safely
up the river bank.
Eventually he was brought to
safety and taken to hospital where
he made a full recovery.
Bury, Ramsbottom and Whitefield
On Wednesday, May 8, students
acted out the story on the college
campus with the help of crews
from Whitefield and Bury along
with officers from Greater
Manchester Police and
paramedics from North West
Ambulance Service.
Students from the college’s media
department filmed the event as
part of their course and produced
a hard-hitting DVD, which was
shown to thousands of students.
Fake blood and theatrical makeup was used by students from the
make-up department and drama
students put on their best
performances to make the
scenario as realistic as possible.
A COMMUNITY internet café has
been launched at Greater
Manchester’s newest fire station.
Taking place during National Road
Safety Week, the aim of the event
was to raise awareness amongst
new and learner drivers of the
dangers of being distracted as a
driver or pedestrian, particularly
by using mobile phones and other
gadgets while driving or crossing
the road.
Community invited to use
Bury’s new internet café
The facility at Bury Community
Fire Station was officially launched
on Monday, June 17, and is
available to members of the public
who need to use a computer.
The new fire station – which
opened in November 2012 – was
designed with the community in
mind and it’s hoped that the
internet café will be a useful hub
for members of the community
[BELOW] StUDENtSRECREAtEDRAMAtICCOLLISIONSCENE
Students recreate dramatic
collision scene for DVD
BUDDING film directors in Bury
recreated the dramatic scene of a
fatal collision to highlight the
dangers faced by drivers and
pedestrians.
Students from Bury College
worked with GMFRS and other
emergency services to simulate a
road traffic collision in which a
young man is killed crossing the
road.
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who otherwise wouldn’t have
access to a computer.
The station’s community room is
already home to a number of
community groups who regularly
meet.
People can book to use the
internet café between 10am and
2pm from Monday to Friday via
the GMFRS website.
Anyone who is interested in using
the café out of these hours, for
school visits or community groups
for example, can contact the
admin team to discuss their
needs.
Hundreds visit Jewish Safety
Day at Prestwich centre
MORE than 800 people were
given advice on how to stay safe
during a GMFRS event at the
Manchester Jewish Community
Centre.
Families from Bury’s Jewish
community flocked to the centre
on Park Road in Prestwich on
Sunday, June 30 for the event,
which was officially opened by
Rabbi Brodie from Manchester
Beth Din, Ivan Lewis MP and Bury
Borough Manager Pete Riley.
Community safety teams and
volunteers were there with fire
engines from Whitefield and
Broughton fire stations to give
advice as well as staff from the
[ABOVE] JEWISHSAFEtyDAyAtPREStWICHCENtRE
Service’s Children and Young
People department and Fire
Protection officers who gave
business advice.
GMFRS’ community event vehicle
played safety videos throughout
the day which drew in the crowds
– as did the Kitchen Fire Safety
Unit which demonstrated how
quickly a chip pan fire can spread.
part of their ASDAN Fire and
Rescue qualification and they
took plenty of requests from
parents to work with their
children.
Community Safety Advisor Katie
Swierczynski, who helped to
organise the event, said: “The
feedback on the day was fantastic
and all the visitors said how much
they enjoyed the day.”
Bury’s brand new all-Jewish cadet
group Fire Crew 37 attended as
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Service Delivery Manchester
Statistics
Moss Side, Withington, Wythenshawe, Manchester Central,
Blackley, Gorton and Philips Park
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
137
100
137
106
Total deliberate fires
564
367
564
426
- Primary fires (dwellings)
85
97
85
116
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
479
270
479
310
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
1
0
1
1
Fatalities
0
0
0
1
Injuries
14
15
14
15
Building fires
288
292
288
322
Number of people rescued from fires
6
0
6
8
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
45
0
45
40
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Completed volunteers
hours
Apr
1,605
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
18
Volunteers Activity
Completed volunteers
hours
May
1,151
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
276
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
19
Prohibitions
5
Volunteers Activity
Completed volunteers
hours
Jun
1,383
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
2,578
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
S17 BLACKLEY
Borough Manager
Contact Details
S16 MCR CENTRAL
S18 PHILIPS PARK
S19 GORTON
S13 MOSS SIDE
Andy Heywood
S14 WITHINGTON
Borough Manager Manchester
Andy Heywood


S15 WYTHENSHAWE
0161 608 5327
heywooda@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Basil Curley
Labour
Grace Fletcher-Hackwood
Labour
Tommy Judge
Labour
Sheila Newman
Labour
James Hennigan
Lib Dem
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
19
Service Delivery Manchester
Moss Side, Withington, Wythenshawe, Manchester Central,
Blackley, Gorton and Philips Park
Borough News
Courtney receives Chief’s
commendation
AN AMAZING 12-year-old girl
who led her younger brothers and
sisters out of a fire has been
commended for her calm actions
by CFO Steve McGuirk.
Courtney Ratcliffe saved her
family from a blaze at their home
in Newton Heath by following
safety advice to the letter and
coolly leading everyone out of the
burning property in February.
Her quick-thinking was
recognised by CFO Steve
McGuirk at a ceremony at Philips
Park Fire Station on Tuesday, May
29.
CFO Steve McGuirk said:
“Remembering what to do in a
crisis is something that’s far easier
said than done but when
Courtney Ratcliffe faced a fire
raging through her home, she
kept her cool and made sure her
entire family got out safely.”
Along with recognising Courtney’s
actions, staff from Northwards
Housing were presented with
certificates for the efforts they put
into making sure the family were
as comfortable as possible when
they were rehoused.
Both crews from Manchester
Central and a crew from Philips
Park went to the fire on Finchley
Avenue, Newton Heath, at
[BELOW] COURtNEyRECEIvESCOMMENDAtIONFROMtHECHIEF
11.20am on Wednesday,
February 20, and six firefighters in
breathing apparatus tackled the
blaze using hose reels and a jet.
Because the blaze had taken hold
of the first floor and attic, they had
to use a thermal imaging camera
and cutting away equipment to
ensure the fire was entirely out.
A Trauma Technician treated
Sarah’s parents with oxygen as
they were suffering from the
effects of smoke after they had
tried to tackle the fire, which
started with a television in a
bedroom, themselves.
Crews didn’t stop once the fire
was out and spent time visiting
friends and neighbours of the
Ratcliffes to offer them HSCs in
the wake of the fire – which
Courtney even went out and
helped them with.
Withington Watch Manager’s
date with the Queen
A WITHINGTON watch manager
had a date with Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II thanks to his
work with the Manchester
Children’s Burns Camp.
David Lenagan, a fire protection
officer, was nominated by CFO
Steve McGuirk to attend the
Queen’s Garden Party.
20
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Manchester’s homeless
people given a boost
HOMELESS people in
Manchester received a boost from
the borough’s Prevention team
and crews from Manchester
Central during an event in the city.
[ABOVE] DAvELENAGANAttHEQUEEN’S
GARDENPARty
He said: “I volunteered to help at
Manchester Children’s Burns
Camp which was a one off event
in 1997.
“After that I became the assistant
director of Manchester Burns
Camps, a position I held for 15
years.
“Overall I have helped more than
1,000 children and raised over
£500,000.”
David was inspired to start his
charity work by his experience of
being badly burned as a child.
He said: “I was burned when I
was two years old falling off a
stool whilst watching my dad
wash-up, as I fell I grabbed a pan
of boiling water and pulled it all
over my arms and chest.
“It is because of these scars that I
got involved in helping burn
injured children.”
The event, held at the Ragged
School on Danzic Street, brought
together GMFRS, GMP,
Manchester City Council (MCC)
and various homeless charities.
During the day Manchester
Central’s kitchen was taken over
by community bakers The Dough
Devils, who baked bread to serve
to rough sleepers at the Ragged
School throughout the afternoon.
Station Manager Tony Bryan, who
helped to organise the event,
said: “The event was a fantastic
success with homeless people
from right across the city visiting.
“Our community safety team and
fire bike volunteers did a great job
travelling round the city and
inviting homeless people to the
event on the day – minibuses full
of people who needed our help
turned up all afternoon.”
[ABOVE] COMMUNItySAFEtytEAMLEADERROS
HOPKINS(LEFt)NEXttOStAtIONMANAGER
tONyBRyANANDREPRESENtAtIvESFROM
GREAtERMANCHEStERPOLICEAND
MANCHEStERCItyCOUNCIL
like to be on a fire station for a
shift.
From 4pm to midnight they took
part in typical station activities
from conducting routine testing of
cadet equipment, general
fireground drills and engaging with
members of the public.
CYP cluster Co-ordinator and
Retained Firefighter Lewis Jeffery
said: “The opportunity for the
cadets to experience this is a new
idea and a great opportunity for
[BELOW] CADEtSEXPERIENCESHIFtWItH
FIREFIGHtERS
Cadets experience shift with
firefighters Fire Cadets from Manchester
Central experienced what it was
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
21
Service Delivery Manchester
them, they usually only see the
station for two hours a week so to
experience a shift was fantastic.”
Manchester Day Parade
GMFRS staff and volunteers
dazzled the crowds of
Manchester during the
Manchester Day Parade.
Moss Side, Withington, Wythenshawe, Manchester Central,
Blackley, Gorton and Philips Park
The parade pump was crewed by
fire mascot Cracker and joined by
the children’s miniature fire
engine, which was on its debut
outing.
Head of Prevention Dave Keelan,
said: “It was an excellent day out,
the streets were lined with lots of
people, which made for a great
atmosphere.
“Our new children’s fire engine
went down really well with the
public and it was nice to see a
good mix of operational staff,
community safety staff and
volunteers walking alongside our
parade pumps.”
[BELOW] LOUISEAtKINSONANDKAtHRyNAyLEttFROMtHEPREvENtIONANDPROtECtIONDIRECtORAtEENJOyINGtHEMANCHEStER
DAyPARADE
22
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
APPRENtICECOMMUNItySAFEtyADvISORWILLHARtLEy[ABOVE] ANDCRACKER[BELOW] tAKINGPARtINtHEMANCHEStERDAyPARADE
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
23
Service Delivery Oldham
Statistics
Oldham, Hollins and Chadderton
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
43
48
43
50
Total deliberate fires
348
234
348
248
- Primary fires (dwellings)
40
53
40
58
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
308
181
308
190
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
1
0
1
2
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
Injuries
1
14
1
15
109
118
109
131
Number of people rescued from fires
1
0
1
11
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
14
0
14
8
Building fires
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
98
Completed volunteers
hours
138
Completed volunteers
hours
143
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
24
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
70
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
4
Prohibitions
0
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
1,326
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
E35 CHADDERTON
Kev Talbot
E33 OLDHAM
Borough Manager Oldham
Kev Talbot


E34 HOLLINS
0161 909 8627
talbotkj@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Derek Heffernan
Lib Dem
Bernard Judge
Labour
Steve Williams
Labour
Borough News
Grandmother thanks
firefighters for finding carbon
monoxide leak
Home Safety Check at the home
of 83-year-olds Joe and Florence
Garforth when they detected the
leak on Thursday, April 11.
back room where her husband
sleeps.”
FIREFIGHTERS fitting smoke
alarms averted tragedy when they
identified a potentially fatal carbon
monoxide leak at the home of an
elderly couple in Oldham.
Firefighter Graham Cooper said:
“Florence explained to me that
one of their smoke alarms was
faulty so they’d taken it down.
Concerned about the couple,
Crew Manager Simon
Wheelwright recognised the
potential signs of a carbon
monoxide leak and requested an
ambulance.
GMFRS crews from Chadderton
Fire Station were carrying out a
“When we saw it, it was actually a
carbon monoxide alarm from the
Grandmother-of-two Florence
said: “It was a carbon monoxide
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
25
Service Delivery Oldham
Oldham, Hollins and Chadderton
“I ran over and the man was
hanging from his seatbelt and a
passer-by was trying to keep him
calm.
“As a firefighter I knew what to do
and climbed inside the car and
kept the man still
“Thankfully he was conscious and
breathing and keeping him calm, I
was able to get him into a more
comfortable position on the roof
of the car in order to keep his
head and spine stable.”
[ABOVE] (LtoR)FIREFIGHtERGRAHAMCOOPER,JOEANDFLORENCEGARFORtHAND
FIREFIGHtERDAvEHARRISON
leak around the flue and Joe had
been sleeping up to 18 hours a
day in that room and being sick. I
am so grateful the firefighters
found it.
“They were absolutely wonderful they went above and beyond the
call of duty and they have even
come back and fitted us a new
alarm.”
[BELOW] OLDHAMFIREFIGHtER
StEvERUDOL
Oldham firefighter to the
rescue
AN off-duty Oldham firefighter
went to the aid of a taxi driver
following a road traffic collision
that left the cab on its roof.
School dinners with a
difference
Green Watch Firefighter Steve
Rudol was driving home with his
wife and children when he
stumbled across the RTC on
Saturday, June 29.
SCHOOL dinners at North
Chadderton School had a fire
safety theme when Red Watch
firefighters joined pupils over
lunch to talk water safety.
Two fire engines from Stalybridge
were on their way to the incident.
As summer approaches, the
Chadderton crew has been
building relationships at the
school with regular visits to help
educate pupils on the risk of
grass fires and water safety.
Steve said: “I saw the taxi on its
roof and I could see it had just
happened because there were no
emergency services on the scene
yet.
26
Watch Manager Jon Sweeney
said: “It was really fortunate that
Steve was passing by. When we
arrived he was able to assist us
because he was already in the car
and had moved some seats to
create space.”
The initiative is part of the
Safe4Summer campaign, which is
a joint campaign between
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Hollins crew spots gas leak
HOLLINS firefighters saved an
elderly woman from a dangerous
gas leak when they called round
to fit smoke alarms – and used
the ingenious solution of a bottle
of Tippex to stop it from
happening again.
[ABOVE] REDWAtCHCHADDERtONMEEt
WItHPUPILSFROMNORtH
CHADDERtONSCHOOL
GMFRS, GMP and the 10 local
authorities aimed at keeping
people of all ages safe.
Watch Manager Pete Marshall
said: “We started off by meeting
the school council, but we’ve
been down three times recently to
chat to students about our role in
the community and fire safety.
“With the summer holidays
approaching, we talk about the
dangers of swimming in open
water and how dry weather
means grass fires are a real risk.
Blue Watch planned to visit the
home of a 74-year-old woman on
Green Lane after their morning
checks at the fire station, but
thankfully, they decided to call
round earlier, at 9.30am on
Monday, April 22.
Firefighters Andy Tyas and Mark
Edgerton went in to carry out a
Home Safety Check but smelt a
very strong smell of gas. Going
through to the kitchen, crews
discovered that she had
inadvertently left one of the gas
rings on the previous evening.
Crew Manager Bill Biles said: “I
went in and the smell of gas
knocked you off your feet, but the
woman couldn’t smell it because
she’d been desensitised.
“We turned it off under the stairs
and I was concerned for her
health because she was a bit
shaky, so we gave her some
oxygen.
“To be honest, it wasn’t easy to
determine whether the cooker
knobs were in the ‘off’ position or
not so, at her suggestion, we
used some Tippex, of all things,
to put markings on the switches
to highlight the correct ‘off’
position.”
[BELOW] (LtoR)FIREFIGHtERSMARKEDGERtONANDANDytyAS,WItHCREWMANAGERBILLBILES
“It’s great to get to know the
pupils over lunch because they
start to understand the work of
GMFRS.
“The hope is they’ll become fire
safety ambassadors on our behalf
- talking to their own family and
friends, hopefully helping to
reduce the amount of grass fires
and water rescue incidents we’re
called to.”
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
27
Service Delivery Rochdale
Statistics
Rochdale, Littleborough and Heywood
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
46
35
46
37
Total deliberate fires
334
236
334
201
- Primary fires (dwellings)
51
45
51
47
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
283
191
283
154
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
2
0
2
0
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
Injuries
2
6
2
8
136
99
136
109
Number of people rescued from fires
2
0
2
2
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
16
0
16
19
Building fires
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
596
Completed volunteers
hours
697
Completed volunteers
hours
670
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
28
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
35
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
5
Prohibitions
1
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
719
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
E31 LITTLEBOROUGH
E30 ROCHDALE
Tony Lander
E32 HEYWOOD
Borough Manager Rochdale
Tony Lander


01706 900127
landert@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Amna Mir
Labour
Shaun O’Neill
Labour
Borough News
Work begins at Rochdale’s
new community fire station
BUILDING work has now begun
at the new community fire station
in Rochdale.
GMFRS has been closely working
with Rochdale Council on the
£2 million development on Halifax
Road for several months.
The new fire station is expected to
be completed by early 2014 and
will replace the town’s existing 80year-old station on Maclure Road,
where facilities are
understandably dated.
On Friday, April 19, Councillor
David Acton, Chair of GMFRA,
was joined by a number of project
members including Rochdale
Council’s leader Councillor Colin
Lambert - who took great
pleasure in marking the moment
that work officially began with a
ground-breaking event at the new
site.
Cllr Acton said: “To update and
refurbish the existing property
would have required substantial
investment, therefore, GMFRA
decided to build a new
community fire station which
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
29
Service Delivery Rochdale
Rochdale, Littleborough and Heywood
The training scenario involved a
fire with a family of four known to
live inside the flat on the 16th
floor.
Firefighter Minto said: “The
exercise was organised with
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
to make sure all the residents
were informed of the event, and
also to test procedures we have
in place with the council in the
event of a real fire.
[ABOVE] WORKBEGINSAtROCHDALE’SNEWCOMMUNItyFIREStAtION
represents an investment of more
than £2 million in Rochdale.
community partners and other
groups, and a community garden.
Brand new community facilities
will include an internet café, a
dedicated room for use by
Residents happy after crews
simulate fire at flats in
Rochdale
GREEN Watch crews took part in
an exercise with Rochdale
Council to test out their
procedures to be used in the
event of a fire at a high rise
building.
Saturday, May 11, saw Firefighter
David Minto and other Green
Watch members from Rochdale,
Heywood and Bury, head to
Underwood House in Rochdale
where they simulated a fire at
College Bank flats.
“The exercise ran smoothly and a
few residents told us that they
found it very satisfying to see their
local firefighters taking their safety
so seriously.”
Rochdale staff take part in
National Road Safety Week
GMFRS staff were keen to help
out local children and young
people during National Road
Safety Week.
The recognised week ran from
Monday, May 6, until the end of
the week - when helping out in
the communities and making
people safer on the roads was
high on the agenda for
community safety workers and
firefighters across the Service.
A pedestrian safety day was
hosted by Rochdale community
staff on Wednesday, May 8, at
Healy Primary School.
[LEFT] CREWSINHIGHRISEtRAINING
30
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Amongst the hanging baskets
and borders, crews again used
their gardening skills to spell out a
message about water safety.
A boat and signs placed amongst
the flowers is asking people to
Stay Safe Around Water.
[ABOVE] HELPINGtOPROMOtEROADSAFEtyIN
ROCHDALE(LtoR)vOLUNtEERSAM
DOyLE,CRACKER,StUARtHOWARtH
FROMROCHDALECASUALtyREDUCtION
tEAM,ALOLLyPOPLADyANDCSADAvID
BRIttON
Rod Holmes, Community Safety
Advisor, said: “We had a really
successful day thanks to the help
of the pupils and parents.
“We spoke about car seat safety
to the mums and dads dropping
off their children with Stuart
Howarth from Rochdale Casualty
Reduction Team.
“We also spoke to the children
about safe crossing of the road
with the help of Crossing Patroller
Bev Tucker who explained to
them the safe way to cross the
road.”
Station Manager Ian Tracey said:
“Heywood Community Fire
Station is the first public building
that the Britain in Bloom judges
will pass on their way into
Heywood so we wanted them to
know that we’re at the heart of
the community here and we’re all
behind the fantastic efforts going
on in Heywood for the
competition.
“We’d also like to thank Bowlee
Garden Nursery which is run by
Rochdale Borough Council, who
donated the flowers.”
On Monday, June 24, firefighters
were joined by schoolchildren
from Hopwood Community
Primary School, who helped put
the finishing touches to the
community fire station garden.
This is the second year that
Heywood firefighters have entered
the competition.
Red Watch Crew Manager Chris
Fowles said: “The tin man,
PanBot, proved to be a great
success with local people last
year.
“He was recycled after being
created by a friend of mine for the
Olympic torch relay – and after a
makeover, he’s back with us this
year with a new look helping us
spread the water safety message
in time for summer.”
[BELOW] HEyWOODFIREStAtIONINBLOOM
Heywood in Bloom 2013
HEYWOOD Fire Station is saying
it with flowers when it comes to
water safety this summer.
Green fingered firefighters got into
the spirit of the North West in
Bloom initiative and gave the fire
station a floral touch.
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
31
Service Delivery Salford
Statistics
Salford, Broughton, Agecroft, Eccles and Irlam
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
55
49
55
51
Total deliberate fires
395
211
395
236
- Primary fires (dwellings)
51
38
51
46
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
344
173
344
190
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
0
0
0
2
Fatalities
0
0
0
1
Injuries
3
12
3
4
138
111
138
123
Number of people rescued from fires
1
0
1
1
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
16
0
16
20
Building fires
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
200
Completed volunteers
hours
185
Completed volunteers
hours
299
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
32
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
Completed (year to date)
114
Enforcement Notices
6
Prohibitions
1
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
1,900
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
W59 BROUGHTON
W60 AGECROFT
W61 ECCLES
W58 SALFORD
Paul Petrykowski
Borough Manager Salford
Paul Petrykowski


W62 IRLAM
0161 609 0220
petrokop@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Jim Dawson
Labour
Iain Lindley
Conservative
George Wilson
Labour
Borough News
Salford becomes first fire
station to be used as driving
test centre
old Gabriel Winn who became the
first person in the country to pass
their driving test at a fire station.
IN April, Salford Community Fire
Station became the first fire
station in the country to be used
as an official Driving Standards
Agency (DSA) test centre.
The Salford University Sound and
Video Technology student said: “I
can’t believe I passed first time
and at a fire station too!
The innovative first for GMFRS
was also a great day for 20-year-
“It’s the best thing in the world,
I’m so glad to have got it out of
the way..
“Once I’m home from uni in the
summer I’ll get put on the
insurance on my parents’ car and
plan to drive safely.”
Once Gabriel passed, he was
given a Glovebox Guide
containing road safety
information. This guide has been
produced by the GMFRS in
partnership with the DSA in a bid
to keep new drivers safe.
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
33
Service Delivery Salford
Salford, Broughton, Agecroft, Eccles and Irlam
GMFRS community safety staff
and Green Watch from Salford
visited members of the travelling
community on Tuesday, June 11,
to encourage people to think
about protecting their caravans
and trailers from fire.
GMFRS Community Safety
Advisor Sofina Duloth-Joy said:
“We had a fantastic day on the
site and the fire engine proved
very popular with the children who
enjoyed having a go with the hose
squirting water.
[ABOVE] AUtHORItyCHAIRMANCLLR
DAvIDACtON(RIGHt)
CONGRAtULAtESNEWDRIvER
GABRIELWINN
Councillor David Acton, Chair of
GMFRA, said: “This is a really
exciting day. GMFRS is the first
fire service in the country to see
one of its stations become an
official DSA driving test centre.
“It’s an example of the Service’s
innovative approach to road
safety, because firefighters are
called to road traffic collisions to
cut people from the wreckage of
cars and sadly many of them
involve young drivers.”
Salford crews visit travellers
MEMBERS of the travelling
community in Salford benefited
from free fire safety advice when
firefighters visited Duchy caravan
site to fit free smoke alarms.
34
“We chatted to the travellers and
explained that we could help
protect them from a fire at home
and gave them advice about
cooking, disposing of cigarettes
safely and about the safe storage
of gas cylinders.
“We were able to carry out HSCs
in a number of caravans and fitted
smoke alarms. One lady was so
proud of her new smoke alarm
she agreed to be an advocate for
GMFRS at the site.”
Some members of the community
already had smoke alarms in their
caravans but batteries had been
removed. Crews were able to
explain that working smoke
alarms save lives.
Firefighters also spent time with
young members of the
community and let them dress in
fire gear.
[ABOVE] CREWMANAGERDAvECHAPMANMEEtS
MEMBERSOFtHEtRAvELLINGCOMMUNIty
Crew Manager Dave Chapman
said: “I was chatting to one little
lad, Johnny, for a little while and
he got really involved and told me
that when he grew up he wanted
to be a firefighter.
“It was really inspiring to hear him
say that and I’m proud that we
can help build relationships in that
Salford community to help make
them safer at home.”
Teenagers cut from mock car
wreckage TEENAGE girls from Salford Lads
Club were given an insight into
the harsh reality of being cut from
the wreckage of a car when they
paid a visit to Salford Fire Station.
Firefighters took the opportunity
to show the young girls how
dangerous it could be to be a
passenger in a speeding car on
Wednesday, May 29.
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Watch Manager Matt Keogh said:
“As part of our on-going
partnership with Salford Lads
Club, we invited a group of girls
down to the station.
“Using an old car inside the
engine house meant we could
chat to the girls about the
importance of road safety.
“We were able to tell them about
our experiences of going to road
traffic collisions and cutting badly
injured young people from the
wreckage and using two of the
girls as casualties really seemed
to grab their attention, so
hopefully the message will hit
home.”
[ABOVE] GIRLSFROMSALFORDLADSCLUB
EXPERIENCEBEINGCUtFROMA
CRASHEDCAR
Salford Lads Club Youth Mentor
Sophie Al-Damari said: “The girls
loved their time at the station,
they were so excited to see the
fire engine get called to an
emergency and they were
captivated the whole time.
“They told me they found the car
crash demonstration really
realistic and that the firefighters
stories were really interesting and
made them think twice about
road safety.”
Lucky dog adopted by kind
hearted bus driver
A VERY lucky little dog has been
adopted by a kind hearted bus
driver who read about her
dramatic rescue from a canal in
Salford on the GMFRS website.
Lottie was taken into the care of
the RSPCA, who had called for
assistance from GMFRS in
December after the dog got stuck
precariously on a canal sluice
gate in Irlam.
Watch Manager Jon Stewart,
from Green Watch, said: “It was
fantastic to get a call saying Lottie
had been adopted and even
better when we heard that her
new owner wanted to bring her to
visit us at the station.
“The rescue was back in
December but I remember it well she’d had made her way into a
pretty dangerous part of a canal
automatic sluice gate in Irlam.
“It was about 30ft down from a
foot bridge so we had to lower a
ladder down before sending
rescue crews down to collect
her.”
[BELOW] LOttIEISPICtUREDWItHFIREFIGHtER
NEILGASKELLWHORESCUEDHERIN
DECEMBER
When 45-year-old bus driver
Stephen Owen read about Lottie’s
rescue, he decided that he could
provide a loving home for her after
her ordeal, and on Monday, April
1, Lottie’s new owner took her on
‘walkies’ to Eccles Fire Station to
reunite her with the fire crews that
saved her life.
Bus driver Stephen Owen said: “I
really wanted to take her to the
fire station to thank the firefighters
who saved her life and show them
that there was a happy end to the
story. It was fantastic to see her
with the fire crews and fitting that
she got to meet the people that
save her life again.”
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
35
Service Delivery Stockport
Statistics
Whitehill, Stockport, Cheadle, Offerton and Marple
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
46
43
46
44
Total deliberate fires
225
117
225
129
- Primary fires (dwellings)
52
28
52
32
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
173
89
173
97
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
0
0
0
0
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
Injuries
5
9
5
10
119
102
119
107
Number of people rescued from fires
2
0
2
5
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
16
0
16
24
Building fires
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
381
Completed volunteers
hours
524
Completed volunteers
hours
260
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
36
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
45
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
6
Prohibitions
0
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
1,379
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
S20 WHITEHILL
S21 STOCKPORT
S24 MARPLE
S23 OFFERTON
Billy Myers
S22 CHEADLE
Borough Manager Stockport
Billy Myers


0161 608 5420
myersw@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Walter Brett
Labour
Daniel Hawthorn
Lib Dem
Brian Leck
Conservative
Borough News
Marple Firefighters take to the
water A FLOATING fire engine in the
local raft race was the innovative
approach that Marple firefighters
took to helping people be safer on
the waterways during National
Boat Safety Week.
with boat safety advice to ensure
that everyone taking part knew
just why they were there.
While the craft was excellent at
getting safety advice across, it
wasn’t the quickest vessel and
sparked the crew’s competitive
streak to do better next year after
coming third in the final.
Firefighter Robert Gall expertly
crafted the floating fire engine
along with colleagues during
lunch and breaks.
He said: “It wasn’t just capable of
keeping afloat all the seven whole
time firefighters, it looked suitably
impressive to the crowds of
onlookers.
The firefighters’ raft was shaped
as a fire engine and decorated
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
37
Service Delivery Stockport
Whitehill, Stockport, Cheadle, Offerton and Marple
Firefighter Kev Nugent had the
infants enthralled when the class
was shown the fire engine and
equipment that crews use to deal
with incidents.
Kev said: “They were all very
inquisitive and bombarded me
with questions throughout the
‘what we do’ demonstration.
“We even got biscuits and a big
thank you cheer at the end,
bonus!”
Cheadle firefighters
recognised for fantastic
fundraising efforts
[ABOVE] MARPLEFIREFIGHtERStAKEtOtHEWAtER
“It was a fantastic day for all
involved and a significant amount
of money was raised for charity.
Of course, next year we will have
to re-design our raft a bit to try
and challenge for first place!”
Offerton crews visit grammar
school tots EMERGENCY Services Week at
Stockport Grammar saw the
youngsters visited by firefighters
from Offerton Fire Station as well
as police and ambulance.
Watch Manager Russ Carr took
White Watch along and the
firefighters made a real impact on
the little ones when the Key Stage
1 pupils spent the week learning
about the blue light family.
[LEFT] FIREFIGHtERKEvNUGENtSHOWS
PUPILSFROMStOCKPORt
GRAMMARAROUNDtHEFIRE
ENGINE
38
FIREFIGHTERS from Cheadle
have been recognised by The Fire
Fighters Charity for their
astonishing performance in their
National Car Wash competition.
Fire stations across the country
joined in the event in March 2013,
and Cheadle’s crews raised one
of the highest totals in the UK.
Scrubbing and hosing down
hundreds of cars and vans on
Saturday, March 30, Cheadle’s
record breaking fire crews raised
a total of £1,647.65 – the largest
percentage increase in the UK, up
a whopping 845 per cent on their
total from their car wash in 2012.
Not only that, the Blue Watch
crews at Cheadle raised the
second highest total in the
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
[ABOVE] FIREFIGHtERS,StAFFANDvOLUNtEERSBUSyCLEANINGUPFORtHEFIREFIGHtERSCHARIty
country behind only Didcot Fire
Station in Oxfordshire.
Watch Manager Jagjit Dhaliwal
said: “We’d like to thank everyone
in the community who brought
their cars to the station to be
washed in March – we couldn’t
have raised so much for The Fire
Fighters Charity without them.
“Blue Watch were helped on the
day by off duty crews, GMFRS
volunteers and community safety
staff as well as volunteers from
the Bramhall branch of Barclays,
who put some elbow grease in to
wash cars and donated £750.
“As a community fire station it’s
great that we can depend on local
people to bring their cars for a
wash at the station for charity
when it counts. We’ll be holding
another car wash in September
and I hope they can help us up
the total further still.”
The Fire Fighters Charity compiled
the results and collectively
GMFRS faired very well, with
crews from Eccles coming third in
the country, raising £1,441.67.
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
39
Service Delivery Stockport
Realistic training tests fire,
ambulance, police and rail
industry staff for level crossing
collision horror
DOZENS of injured people thrown
from their seats in a train carriage
and two people lying unconscious
in a car after a crash at a level
crossing is a horror the
emergency services hope never
to face.
But firefighters, ambulance, police
and rail professionals must
prepare themselves for the
nightmare scenario in case the
worst ever does happen.
The emergency services and rail
industry staff spent Sunday, May
19, training for this type of serious
incident on tracks close to
Stockport Train Station.
40
Whitehill, Stockport, Cheadle, Offerton and Marple
Station Manager Pete Lamb,
based at Whitehill, said: “It was a
chance for us to work with other
agencies in a controlled
environment on an incident
involving a large number of
casualties, which we would not
normally get to do.
“It enables us to plan for that
worst case scenario – that we
hope will never happen – and
tests our response to it.
“It’s a chance for senior officers to
command a large scale incident
and for our GMFRS Trauma
Technicians to work with NWAS
staff and British Transport Police
and get as realistic practice as
possible assessing large numbers
of injured people and dealing with
this kind of incident.
“We must thank our rail industry
colleagues such as Network Rail,
Northern Rail and Virgin as
making an exercise happen like
this on a real carriage on the
tracks has taken a lot of time and
planning on their part as well.”
The exercise was made extremely
realistic as GMFRS volunteers
were made up by the Casualties
Union to make it look like they
had realistic injuries and each
person involved was given a
specific role to play.
Crews from Stockport, Whitehill,
Marple, Cheadle, Moss Side and
Hyde were involved in the
exercise.
[BELOW AND RIGHT] StOCKPORttRAINEXERCISE
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 4
1 2012
3/13
4
ACTIVITy REPORT Q4
1 2012
3/13
4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
41
Service Delivery Tameside
Statistics
Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Mossley and Hyde
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
38
35
38
34
Total deliberate fires
145
115
145
135
- Primary fires (dwellings)
20
26
20
32
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
125
89
125
103
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
0
0
0
1
Fatalities
1
0
1
0
Injuries
5
9
5
9
Building fires
90
76
90
83
Number of people rescued from fires
1
0
1
6
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
13
0
13
13
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
74
Completed volunteers
hours
140
Completed volunteers
hours
177
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
42
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
63
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
4
Prohibitions
1
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
1,294
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
E41 MOSSLEY
E39 ASHTON
E40 STALYBRIDGE
Jon Heydon
Borough Manager Tameside
Jon Heydon


E42 HYDE
0161 609 1627
heydonj@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
John Bell
Conservative
Barrie Holland
Labour
Michael Smith
Labour
Borough News
Staly Blues demo
decontamination for Hyde
students
PUTTING frightened members of
the public through
decontamination is a situation that
firefighters hope never to face but
must train rigorously for.
Stalybridge’s Blue Watch invited
students from Hyde Clarendon
Sixth Form College to the station
to join them for training to find out
about what GMFRS does to
protect communities.
The students were particularly
keen to know more about the
wider role GMFRS has in largescale national emergencies as
they are studying public services.
Crew Manager Greg Punshon,
based at Stalybridge’s Blue
Watch, said: “The visit was
organised by me through Alan
Kirk who is a retired watch
manager from Ashton who now
works at the college.
“About 30 students attended and
they were given a talk about the
national resilience capability by
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
43
Service Delivery Tameside
Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Mossley and Hyde
Keen-eyed fire safety officer
keeps a mother and child safe
from fire [ABOVE] StALyBRIDGEDECONtAMINAtION
EXERCISEWItHHyDEStUDENtS
Firefighter Alan Horsfield who is a
mass decontamination instructor.
“They then had a walk through
the mass decontamination
structure and looked at all the
equipment carried on the IRU
(Incident Response Unit).
The young people were shown
what firefighters would do during
a chemical incident - where those
thought to have been
contaminated have to disrobe,
enter the decontamination unit to
shower before moving into a
robing area where they will then
be checked by firefighters to
ensure they are free from
contamination, before being
allowed to leave the scene.
Special packs containing
disposable clothing are then given
to those who have been affected
because their clothes would have
been contaminated.
A MOTHER and toddler are safer
in their home thanks to the keen
eye of a Tameside fire officer
working in a specialist role that
brings the work of Greater
Manchester Fire and Rescue
Service (GMFRS) and Tameside
Council closer together.
Watch Manager Steve Egerton’s
years of experience meant he
spotted the dangers to the
mother and child immediately
when he took a wrong turn while
on his way to another job.
Steve said: “I took a wrong turn
and straight away it looked
dangerous. There was a big pile
of rubbish in the open under the
child’s bedroom and a derelict
workshop next door, which
makes it an arson risk.
“On looking closer, the timbers of
the floor in the child’s bedroom
were exposed to an open garage
and, underneath, rubbish was
piling up.
“I asked a crew to come out and
do a Home Safety Check for the
family and they fitted three smoke
alarms, and I also went to
Building Control and housing to
get their support for the family.
“The risk has been vastly reduced
because she’s got smoke
44
[ABOVE] WAtCHMANAGERStEvEEGERtON
detectors in the house and the
problems outside have been
sorted out.”
Crews’ unseen work
highlighted through Hidden
Tameside radio series
AN eye-opening experience led to
the community getting a greater
insight into the work of local
firefighters when crews took part
in the Hidden Tameside series.
The new radio documentary
series aims to give people an
insight into things that happen –
often not widely seen by the
public – to make life in the
borough better and safer for
people.
Hyde’s Green Watch welcomed
volunteer presenter Louise
Croombs from Tameside Radio
onto the station to spend a day in
the life of the firefighters that serve
the nine towns.
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Watch Manager Tom Weate said:
“We wanted Louise to get a good
understanding of how dedicated
firefighters are and how they and
the organisation as a whole
improves the communities and
lives of the people we serve.
“Every time we turn out of the
door to an incident we can
improve almost any situation we
attend.
Tom and Crew Manager Trev
Smallwood were put through a
safe working at heights
assessment so the level of
support and training that crews
receive became apparent.
More training followed and Louise
acted as a casualty injured in a
road traffic collision (RTC) with the
crews having to cut her free from
the car.
“And when we are not at
incidents, we’re either training to
keep the skill levels as high as
possible or we are trying to
reduce the risk of fire or accidents
by preventing and protecting the
community through many different
activities.”
young women take the rap for
fire safety in Hyde Louise said: “It opened my eyes
to how much firefighters do
beyond going to fires – they were
so welcoming and showed me
the whole range of things they
do.”
The Tameside Fire Safety
Ambassadors unleashed their
innovative approach to educating
their families, friends and
neighbours about staying safe at
A GROUP of young women are
getting creative to help their
community be safer from fire –
including writing and performing
their own rap!
home after completing a sixmonth course with GMFRS.
The project came about as the
result of a partnership between
GMFRS and Hyde Community
Action’s ACE (Always Connecting
Everyone) girls’ group.
GMFRS Community Safety
Advisor Wendy Hall, who
developed and led the project,
said: “The commitment and
enthusiasm of these girls has
meant they have achieved some
amazing things in six months.
“They are now going to help us
ensure that Asian people,
particularly the Bangladeshi
community that lives so close to
Hyde Fire Station, will be safer as
they pass on the knowledge and
training they’ve received.”
[BELOW] (BACKROWLtoR)BOROUGHMANAGER
BILLyMyERS,DEPUtyCFOJIMOWENAND
BOROUGHMANAGERJONHEyDONMEEt
tHEFIRESAFEtyAMBASSADORS
Louise joined the crew when they
started shift on Friday, May 10,
and almost as soon as she had
been kitted out, the bells went for
the Operation Support Unit and
the regular crew to go to a
warehouse fire in Oldham.
After seeing what happens at a
fire, it was back to the station to
meet all the other people that
support what the crews do – such
as community safety advisors and
fire protection officers.
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
45
Service Delivery Trafford
Statistics
Stretford, Sale and Altrincham
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
28
35
28
37
Total deliberate fires
118
66
118
76
- Primary fires (dwellings)
20
18
20
21
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
98
48
98
55
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
0
0
0
0
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
Injuries
7
3
7
5
Building fires
74
66
74
74
Number of people rescued from fires
3
0
3
2
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
14
0
14
14
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
745
Completed volunteers
hours
633
Completed volunteers
hours
637
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
46
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
76
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
5
Prohibitions
2
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
995
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
S10 STRETFORD
S11 SALE
Tony Holt
S12 ALTRINCHAM
Borough Manager Trafford
Tony Holt


0161 608 9220
holtaw@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
David Acton
Labour
Brian Rigby
Conservative
Michael Whetton
Conservative
Borough News
Landmark for Rotary
volunteering partnership in
Altrincham
A TEAM of Rotarians have
celebrated their first year of
working with their local fire station
to help people in Altrincham be
safer in their homes.
The Rotary Club of Altrincham
teamed up with GMFRS just over
a year ago to create a special
partnership that has since gone
from strength to strength.
Following a meeting with CFO
Steve McGuirk and staff from
Trafford Borough, Rotarians John
Edwards, Iain Bannerman and
Robert Strachan put themselves
forward to join the Service’s
volunteering project and help to
make a difference in their
community.
The trio received training by
GMFRS’ community safety teams
in Trafford and were kitted out
with the volunteer uniform before
hitting the streets of Altrincham to
carry out Home Safety Checks.
Altrincham Station Manager Kevin
Brogden said: “The Rotary
A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4 G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E
47
Service Delivery Trafford
Stretford, Sale and Altrincham
partnership with a Manchester
radio station.
The Trafford Youth Offending
Team took a group of six
youngsters to the fire station on
Park Road to spend the day with
journalists and broadcasters on
the Key103 Media Bus. [ABOVE] (LtoR)JOHNEDWARDS,StAtION
MANAGERKEvINBROGDEN,
ROBERtStRACHANANDIAIN
BANNERMAN
volunteers are brilliant – they give
100 per cent to everything they
take part in and they do a
fantastic job.
“We have a great relationship with
the Rotary Club of Altrincham and
the volunteers and I’m looking
forward to building on that
partnership in the future.”
GMFRS supports young
offenders in radio initiative STRETFORD Fire Station opened
its doors to young offenders
looking for creative inspiration as
part of an art project in
Through a range of creative
activities, the youngsters learned
about photography, how to set up
an online CV, how to be a radio
presenter and microphone skills
for being in a professional studio,
as well as learning fire and
personal safety skills.
The youngsters were given a tour
of the station by Watch Manager
Mike O’Neill and shown a road
traffic collision demonstration by
Green Watch crews – supported
throughout the day by GMFRS
community safety team members
Adam Tormey and Kate
Akkermans.
It was part of Key2Radio – an
innovative scheme that gives
young offenders the opportunity
to develop their arts, broadcast
and social skills, and to gain a
national qualification.
The project, funded through the
Arts Council, is delivered by a
partnership between the radio
station and the arts charity TiPP,
[LEFT] WAtCHMANAGERMIKEO’NEILL
WItHAyOUNGOFFENDER
48
which specialises in arts provision
in the Criminal Justice System
and similar settings.
Stretford hosts successful
road safety day THE wet weather didn’t dampen
the public’s spirits when they
visited Stretford Fire Station’s road
safety day on Saturday, May 11.
Families flocked to the station in
Park Road to watch live road
traffic collision demonstrations,
have their vehicles checked and
learn about staying safe on the
roads – as a driver and a
pedestrian.
The event was part of the Chief
Fire Officers Association’s National
Road Safety Week.
GMFRS joined forces with GMP,
NWAS, Trafford Council’s Road
Safety Unit and various other
organisations for the day to raise
awareness of road safety.
Students from Trafford College
gave demonstrations on how to
check your car is safe while
volunteers from local bike
companies carried out free
maintenance checks and repairs,
helped by the Trafford Youth
Offending Team.
Firefighters and paramedics gave
a live demonstration in the station
yard of what they do when they
get called to a collision.
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physical, fun and educational
activities hosted by the LCCC
Foundation, local community
groups, Greater Manchester
Police, GMFRS and the Armed
Forces.
[ABOVE] StREtFORDROADSAFEtyDAy
There was face-painting and
giveaways for children as well as
information stalls from The
Magistrates’ Association, Institute
of Advanced Motorists and
Greater Manchester Probation
Trust.
GMFRS Volunteer Co-ordinator
Andy McGurgan said: “We took
along the Service’s parade engine
which pumped out music and the
children all really enjoyed it and
we also had a fire engine and
crew from Stretford there showing
the children around the fire engine
and its equipment.
“The GMFRS caged soccer unit
was transferred into a mini cricket
course to be in-keeping with the
theme of the day and this was a
main attraction for the youngsters
– allowing us to meet and engage
with a range of young people from
across the North West who we
usually wouldn’t get the chance to
meet.”
[BELOW] vOLUNtEERCO-ORDINAtORANDy
MCGURGAN(BACKLEFt)AND
COMMUNItySAFEtyADvISOR
JONAtHONCOOPER(BACKRIGHt)
WItHSCHOOLCHILDRENAt
LANCASHIRECOUNtyCRICKEtCLUB
Thousands of schoolchildren
meet GMFRS staff at cricket
club event THOUSANDS of schoolchildren
from across the North West took
part in sporting activities and
learned about fire safety with staff
from GMFRS.
Volunteers, community safety staff
and crews from Stretford joined
other emergency services and
local community groups at
Lancashire County Cricket Club
(LCCC), Old Trafford, for a school
open day on Wednesday, May 8. More than 3,000 youngsters from
across the region attended the
day to watch Lancashire play
Essex and take part in a host of
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49
Service Delivery Wigan
Statistics
Wigan, Hindley, Atherton and Leigh
Year to date
Target to date
Quarter 1
Prev. year to
date
Number of accidental dwelling fires
44
47
44
48
Total deliberate fires
644
304
644
271
- Primary fires (dwellings)
53
34
53
42
- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc)
591
270
591
229
The number of incidents involving
hostilities towards firefighters
1
0
1
1
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
Injuries
3
10
3
4
134
105
134
117
Number of people rescued from fires
1
0
1
1
Total number of calls to road traffic
collisions
18
0
18
22
Building fires
Volunteers
Volunteers Activity
Apr
Volunteers Activity
May
Volunteers Activity
Jun
Completed volunteers
hours
476
Completed volunteers
hours
618
Completed volunteers
hours
824
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
50
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order
Home Safety
Checks
Fire Safety Audits and
Inspections Completed
86
Completed (year to date)
Enforcement Notices
9
Prohibitions
1
Actual generated activity /
cancelled activity data not
available for this quarter
1,461
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Borough Manager
Contact Details
W54 WIGAN
W55 HINDLEY
Steve Sheridan
Borough Manager Wigan
Steve Sheridan


W56 ATHERTON
W57 LEIGH
01942 650 127
sheridas@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Authority Members
Jim Ellis
Independent
John O’Brien
Labour
Fred Walker
Labour
Borough News
Wigan Green Watch give local
MP insight into firefighter role
before embarking on a day of
training and community visits.
involved freeing a casualty from a
road traffic collision.
MP Lisa Nandy got a unique
insight into the day in the life of a
firefighter when she visited Wigan
Fire Station.
Wearing breathing apparatus, Lisa
got to experience what it’s like to
search a smoke filled building in
the yard of the station while crews
carried out a drill.
Lisa said: “It was a really
interesting and inspiring day and it
was great to spend the full day
with the watch.
Donning fire gear, the Wigan MP
joined Green Watch on parade at
8.30am on Friday, June 28,
She then got a chance to use
cutting gear to dismantle a car
during a training exercise which
“The cutting gear was really heavy
you have to be strong to do that
but in the safety of the fire station
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51
Service Delivery Wigan
Wigan, Hindley, Atherton and Leigh
On Thursday, May 9, the trainee
mechanics aged between 14 and
19, looked on, as crews cut
through the framework of a car to
free one of their youth trainers.
Becky Jane, aged 16, said: “It’s
actually something you’d never
want to see for real, it’s quite
depressing and sad.
“You really get the idea of what
it’d be like, and it’d be terrifying if
it did happen – if it didn’t kill you
first.”
Their visit took place during
National Road Safety Week.
[ABOVE] MPLISANANDyJOINSGREENWAtCHAtWIGANFIREStAtIONFORtHEDAy
yard it was good fun to cut the
car apart.
“I was really surprised how hard it
was to wear the breathing
apparatus and how heavy the
dummies were we were rescuing
and it really gave me an idea of
how difficult conditions must be
for fire crews tackling a real fire.
“I was also very impressed with
their work in the community here
in Wigan.”
Lisa also joined firefighters at
Lamberhead Green Community
Primary School.
52
Trainee mechanics watch on
as trainer is cut free from
wreckage
THE horrors of being cut out of a
car after a road smash were
revealed to teenagers outside of
mainstream education by
firefighters in Wigan.
GMFRS Children and Young
People Co-ordinator Tricia Flynn
said: “We invited some of the Fix
It UK students to the station to
help raise their awareness.
“We focussed on how dangerous
distraction can be, so whether
they’re driving or on foot crossing
roads, mobile phones, wearing
[BELOW] FIXItUKStUDENtSWAtCHtHE
DEMONStRAtION
Young people taking part in a
year-long garage based training
project got a unique insight into
the devastating aftermath of a
road accident thanks to a
partnership between GMFRS and
Wigan based charity, Fix It UK.
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
headphones, texting – they can all
result in road accidents, which
can prove fatal, and it’s our
firefighters who have turn up to
horrific crash sites to free them.”
Hindley crews open doors to
the community
CLIMBING, dancing and skateboarding were just some of the
activities on offer when Hindley
Fire Station opened its doors to
the community and became a
hive of sporting activity during
half-term.
GMFRS welcomed young people
into the station on Thursday, May
30, and Friday, May 31, to
encourage them to try out a range
of sports and keep fit.
[ABOVE] CAGEDFOOtBALLWItHBOROUGHMANAGERStEvESHERIDANINGOAL
Borough Manager Steve
Sheridan, who joined in as
goalkeeper in GMFRS’ caged
soccer unit said: “It’s fantastic that
Hindley Fire Station is opening its
doors to the community in this
way.
“Seeing young people take part in
team building and sporting
activities and engaging with our
firefighters as role models at the
station is fantastic.
“After the success of the half-term
Sports Zone we’ll host caged fivea-side football every Friday
evening at Hindley.”
Scores of young people called in
to the station in Hindley, where
they got the chance to take street
dance lessons in the engine
house, and try out a climbing wall,
mobile skate park and caged
football in the station yard.
Working in partnership with Wigan
and Leigh Culture Trust (WLCT)
and GMP, it came days after
almost £180,000 of Sport
England funding was awarded
which will see GMFRS fire
stations in Wigan become sport
zones.
Atherton firefighters host open
day
ATHERTON crews joined their
community at the town’s carnival
as scores of families received fire
safety advice as part of their open
day.
Hundreds of people gathered at
the event on Saturday, June 22,
and Red Watch crews delivered
lifesaving HeartStart training to
onlookers, teaching them what to
do in an emergency situation.
Station Manager Paul Sumner
said: “It really was the perfect day
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53
Service Delivery Wigan
Wigan, Hindley, Atherton and Leigh
Adults with learning difficulties
visit Leigh Fire Station
HAVING a planned escape route
in case of a fire was what a group
of adults with learning difficulties
learned about thanks to
firefighters from Leigh.
[ABOVE] FUNANDSAFEtyADvICEAt
AtHERtON’SOPENDAy
to combine Atherton’s Open Day
with the carnival, because we’re a
community focused station.
“Firefighters were joined by
GMFRS volunteers and Cadets
from Leigh who helped chat to
families about the importance of a
working smoke alarm and about
water safety as summer
approaches.
Green Watch crews paid a visit to
the group on Tuesday, June 4, to
help them with their project about
fire safety.
“We told them all about how to
use the fire exits and the
importance of a working smoke
alarm, which means testing it
once a week. They seemed to
enjoy our visit and loved the fire
engine.”
The Just BU group was set up by
the family of a man with Down’s
Syndrome and operates five days
a week.
Watch Manager Mick Callan said:
“The members of the group all
have varying learning disabilities
and they asked us to visit after
seeing the fire on Coronation
Street.
Justin Fellows from Just BU said:
“After the fire on Coronation
Street we did a fire safety project
because some people with
learning difficulties haven’t come
across people wearing uniforms
before.
“It was nice to be able to show
them that as firefighters we are
there to help them with fire safety
and that they shouldn’t be
frightened of our uniform.
“Seeing the fire engine and
firefighters in a non-emergency
situation made it much more real
for them and they now know
GMFRS are there to help.”
“A number of people signed up
for a Home Safety Check and the
GMFRS caged soccer unit proved
really popular and people of all
ages enjoyed looking round both
the fire engine and the
Operational Support Unit.”
Leigh Cadets took part in a tug of
war competition with the Army
Cadets before doing a hose drill
display and the GMFRS Pipe
Band also attended.
[RIGHT] ADULtSWItHLEARNING
DIFFICULtIESENJOyA
DAyAtLEIGHFIREStAtION
54
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
[BELOW] SPORtSACtIvItIESAtHINDLEyFIREStAtIONINMAy
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55
Prevention and Protection
National award for our work
with BME communities
THE work firefighters and staff do
in the community has led to
GMFRS winning a national award
for its work with black, minority
and ethnic communities.
GMFRS was named Asian Fire
Service Association (AFSA) Fire
and Rescue Service of the year at
a ceremony in Derbyshire on
Thursday, May 24.
Chairman David Acton said: “It is
fantastic that the hard work fire
crews and community safety staff
have been carrying out to protect
people from fire and other
emergencies has been
recognised in this way.
“AFSA acknowledged that
GMFRS works with a wide range
of diverse partners, including
Bolton and Rochdale Council of
Mosques, the Wai Yin Chinese
[BELOW] (LtoR)BRIDGINGCULtURESCO-ORDINAtOR
yASMINBUKHARI,BRIANZIELINSKI
BUSINESSDEvELOPMENtDIRECtOR,
AFSAANDAREAMANAGERDAvEKEELAN
Women Society of Greater
Manchester, and the Asian
Development Association of Bury
(ADAB).
“GMFRS works with these
partners to reach out to diverse
communities across Greater
Manchester and help prevent fires
in homes. The Gold Award
recognises the fact the Service
has driven down accidental fires
in the home and fitted more than
half a million smoke alarms.”
The AFSA Gold Award, which
was in recognition of overall
excellence and significant
achievement in improving the
safety of the community, was
presented at the AFSA National
Conference at Derbyshire Fire and
Rescue Service Headquarters.
A project involving 12 young
women from the Bangladeshi
community in Hyde who became
Fire Safety ambassadors, helping
GMFRS build relationships and
carry out Home Safety Checks
with the community was
recognised as good practice.
Ex GMP Rob Rigby fills Kev’s
boots
JOINT working with police is vital
to our work – and to help make
this process as effective and
efficient as possible, a highlytrained officer has been seconded
into GMFRS.
56
[ABOVE] DCROBRIGBy
Detective Constable Rob Rigby,
from GMP, joined the Service in
May as a Police Liaison Officer
based with the Fire Investigation
Team at Agecroft.
He replaced DC Kev McDermott
who worked with GMFRS for two
years before retiring in December
last year.
During his career, Rob worked in
various police roles and
departments, including the drugs
squad, exhibits, family liaison, CID
and the Major Incident Team
(MIT).
He spent 20 years with Cheshire
Constabulary before moving to
GMP in 2006 where he was
initially based in the city centre
before moving into MIT to deal
with murders and large-scale
serious and violent crimes.
GMFRS’ Head of Protection Geoff
Harris said: “Having Kev with us
for two years proved to be
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extremely useful and we felt it was
important to continue to build on
that relationship with GMP so we
have seconded Rob in to work
with us for another two years –
with a review after 12 months.
“Having Rob here will allow us to
educate each other and raise
awareness of how police and fire
services work and make the
process of liaising with the police
as efficient as possible.”
Bolton mill owner fined
THE owner of a Bolton mill was
fined £10,500 after officers found
evidence of people sleeping inside
the building following a serious
fire.
Suleman Patel, aged 54,
appeared before Bolton
Magistrates’ Court on
Wednesday, May 1, 2013, after
pleading guilty to three fire safety
offences.
On Sunday, April 8, 2012, a fire
broke out on the fifth floor of
Derby Mill in Thomas Street –
resulting in around 30 firefighters
tackling the blaze.
The mill was undergoing roofing
work at the time and the fifth floor
was not in use.
A specialist Fire Protection Officer
visited the building on April 10
and found two areas where there
was evidence of people sleeping
inside.
When the officer returned on April
17, the security guards were
present but when asked to show
how they would get out in a fire,
they led the officer to a door
which once opened was blocked
by a padlocked gate so they
could not get out without
returning for a key.
Magistrates fined Patel £3,500 for
each offence and he was ordered
to pay costs of £2,828 and a £15
victim surcharge.
Director of Prevention and
Protection Peter O’Reilly said:
“The fact that Mr Patel was aware
of his obligations for fire safety,
but did not think about the risks
to those sleeping in the mill,
shows a disregard to the safety of
his workers.”
Community Safety Advisor Tony
Skipp said: “National figures show
that over the last 20 years 60
boaters have been killed because
of a carbon monoxide incident or
a boat fire so we got on our bikes
to hand deliver safety advice.
“Carbon monoxide poisoning is
most likely to be caused by the
exhaust emissions of portable
generators, or problems with solid
fuel stoves including flue pipes.
“Although boat fires on inland
waters are less common than fires
on land, when they do occur, they
can have devastating
consequences.”
[BELOW] CSAtONySKIPPDELIvERS
SAFEtyADvICEtOBOAtUSERS
National Boat Safety Week
GMFRS supported National Boat
Safety Week by highlighting the
dangers of carbon monoxide
poisoning to canal boat users.
National Boat Safety Week ran
from Saturday, May 25 to Friday,
May 31, and on the Wednesday
and Thursday community safety
staff distributed safety advice
leaflets and free carbon monoxide
detectors to people along the
Bridgewater canal.
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57
Children and Young People
young offenders spend
morning with firefighters
YOUNG offenders in Wigan spent
a morning with firefighters as part
of a GMFRS pilot project
designed to make them think
differently about car crime, fire
setting and discipline.
Blue Watch crews acted as role
models when six teenagers from
Wigan Council’s Youth Offending
Team (YOT) donned fire gear and
joined in hose drills at Wigan Fire
Station on Friday, May 17.
[BELOW] WIGANyOUNGOFFENDERStRAIN
WItHBLUEWAtCH
Watch Manager Tony Callaghan
said: “It was great to have the
young people with us at the
station and to see the difference
in attitude from when they arrived
to when they left a few hours later
was really encouraging.
“We talked to them about the
consequences of fire setting and
car crime and did some hose
drills and had them shadow us
wearing breathing apparatus
through a dark smoky training
house.
“We really seemed to have a
positive effect on them as
firefighters – and if we can
discourage just one of them from
stealing a car and having an
accident which sees us having to
cut them out of the wreckage,
then it’s worthwhile.”
The teenagers, aged between 14
and 19 are on a six month rolling
programme with Wigan YOT
working in partnership with Wigan
Warriors Community Partnership.
As part of their morning at the
station, Firefighter Joe Steven
spoke to the young people about
road traffic collisions the crews
have been to.
It’s hoped the pilot project will see
Wigan Blue Watch crews become
a regular fixture of the Wigan YOT
programme.
58
[ABOVE] ECCLESPRINCE’StRUSttEAM
New Prince’s Trust team set
up in Eccles
A GROUNDBREAKING new
Prince’s Trust team was set up in
partnership with City West
Housing Trust at Eccles Fire
Station.
The new team is a fantastic
opportunity for young people
between the ages of 16 and 25 in
Eccles, Irlam, Cadishead and
Little Hulton.
GMFRS Prince’s Trust Delivery
Co-ordinator, Yvonne Neary said:
“It’s a really exciting partnership
with City West Housing Trust
(CWHT) that presents a fantastic
opportunity for young people
living in the west Salford area.
“It’s an area that GMFRS has
never tapped into before by
running a Prince’s Trust
programme and they will fund
three teams that will run from
Eccles Fire Station until February
2014.
G R E AT E R M A N C H E S T E R F I R E A N D R E S C U E S E R V I C E A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 1 2 0 1 3 / 1 4
“CWHT will help support the
team, they will offer work
experience placements and mock
interviews alongside the
programme’s community projects.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for
young people and it will help them
with life skills, become more
employable and could lead to
apprenticeships both with
GMFRS and City West.”
Cheadle Reds’ drill makes
impact on Police Academy
youngsters
A JOINT venture between
Cheadle Red Watch and a
Stockport Youth Engagement Coordinator made a real impact on a
group of young people from one
of the borough’s key target
neighbourhoods.
An opportunity for Cheadle Reds
and Youth Engagement Coordinator Laura Saidler came
about as a result of a partnership
between Services for Young
People and local Police
Community Support Officers
(PCSOs).
The initiative – called Police
Academy – focused, on this
occasion, on young people from
one of the borough’s most high
priority areas for targeting
Prevention work on.
As part of their 12-week
programme, the youngsters spent
time with the watch and took part
in activities to raise their
awareness of arson, home fire
safety and antisocial behaviour.
Laura said: “Adswood and
Bridgehall are probably our
second most priority areas and
we already work closely with the
PCSOs to take action in that area.
“Because of those links, we found
out about the project and
Cheadle Red Watch made an
impact on them.
“They did a breathing apparatus
drill and had to work on their
communication to get around the
room. They were quite shocked at
how much effort goes into finding
someone when it’s hot and you
can’t see.”
Police Academy also runs in other
areas of Stockport and there are
opportunities for the borough’s
crews and community safety
teams to get involved.
Sensory learning for children
with special educational needs GMFRS has always visited
primary schools to meet local
schoolchildren and teach them
about fire safety – but it’s the first
time the Service has created a
bespoke educational programme
aimed solely at SEN children.
The key topics covered include
the role of the fire service, fire
hazards, calling 999, smoke
alarms, escaping from fire, what
to do if your clothes catch fire,
road and water safety, firefighters’
uniform, equipment and fire
engines.
The programme, which is
primarily aimed at children aged
two to 11, focuses on the senses
and helps the pupils to touch,
feel, see, smell and hear
information and advice – using
play mats, toys and a range of
materials and textures to simulate
fire and smoke.
[BELOW] COMMUNItySAFEtytRAINER
DANIELLECOWAP
DEMONStRAtEStHEPLAyMAt
AN innovative new way of
teaching fire safety to children
with special educational needs
was introduced at GMFRS in May.
The programme focuses on multisensory learning and is delivered
by trained firefighters and
community safety staff in SEN
(Special Educational Needs)
schools.
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59
Training and Resilience
Water training in Leigh
WATER safety was the name of
the game when firefighters joined
forces with a local youth group at
Pennington Flash.
Working in conjunction with Leigh
and Lowton Sailing Club, Red
Watch from Leigh were training in
how to safely rescue people using
throw lines from the water’s edge.
But members of Oakwood Youth
Club, who were canoeing on the
Flash, were roped in to give their
training some added realism
when they capsized their canoes,
and in return firefighters gave
them some water safety advice.
Watch Manager Jim Bridge said:
“With the recent warm weather,
we were keen to both train for
incidents like rescuing people
from the water and to chat to the
young people about water safety.
“The youth group helped us with
our training too - having the real
life casualties meant we could
practice both throwing lines, and
inflatable hose training where we
quickly pump oxygen into a hose
to make it float on the water to
help free them from their capsized
canoes.
“We were assisted in our training
by Firefighter Martin Carney who
crews the Water Incident Unit at
Eccles Fire Station.”
Hundreds take up new skills
during Learning at Work Week
STAFF from across GMFRS took
the chance to learn a new skill or
sign up to a course during
National Learning at Work Week
which took place from Monday,
May 20 to Friday, May, 24.
Hundreds of staff members and
firefighters visited events at
various locations including the
training centre and headquarters.
This year, for the first time, the
Learning and Development team
took the event out to staff by
holding a mini roadshow – which
saw the GMFRS community event
vehicle visiting various fire stations
to showcase the opportunities on
offer.
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Staff learned about health and
wellbeing, self-defence and
sensory training for schools and
children with special educational
needs, while many people signed
up for free courses such as NVQs
including mental health
awareness, equality and diversity
and employability.
Richard Copland – National
Manager for the Campaign for
Learning, which runs National
Learning at Work Week – also
attended and was impressed with
variety of learning opportunities
on offer.
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It is part of the Future Firefighting
Project that is looking at a variety
of elements, including equipment
and kit.
Paul Wilkinson from White Watch
Rochdale said: “There isn’t one of
us that wasn’t literally amazed at
how effective the lance was.
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Learning and Development
Advisor Jude Honeyman said:
“The week was a great success
with lots of energy and fun for all
involved.”
Future firefighting techniques
on display during derelict
house burn “First of all in powering through
the door/brickwork etc, but also
the instant and dramatic effect it
had on the fire inside.
“The temperature reduction was
just incredible and I can easily say
it’s one of the best learning
experiences I’ve had after 25
years in the job, and I am
predicting this will create a whole
new method of firefighting in the
future. I would definitely
recommend any other watch
officers to witness this for
themselves if they get the
chance.”
State-of-the-art training site to
be built in Bury PLANS are underway to develop
a state-of-the-art training centre
and community hub in Bury.
A 10-acre area of land off
Wellington Street is being
transformed to provide realistic
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A DERELICT row of houses in
Rochdale was set alight by
training centre staff to test some
state-of-the-art fire fighting
equipment.
The burn, which was months in
the planning, saw a high pressure
lance used to blast a hole in the
front door of a house, which filled
the burning lounge with water
vapour.
The lance rapidly brought down
the temperature of the room,
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Training and Resilience
training scenarios for crews and
take the Service’s training facilities
to a new level.
Existing features on the land will
be used as part of the training,
including a large warehouse,
tunnels and culverts, cellars,
bridges, cuttings and
embankments, rubble piles and
old mill walls, a lodge and a
section of river.
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It is part of a drive to bring more
training in-house and reduce the
need to send staff on external and
costly training courses.
As well as providing training for
crews, it’s proposed that the site
will have a significant community
element, including an interactive
community safety centre for use
by schoolchildren and the wider
public.
It’s proposed that public viewing
areas will be created so that
people can watch some of the
training taking place and get a
real insight into the training carried
out by their fire service.
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Corporate Communications
Fire Minister impressed with
GMFRS’ training
THE Minister responsible for the
UK’s fire and rescue services was
given a demonstration of state-ofthe-art firefighting technology
during a visit to GMFRS on
Tuesday, June 25, organised by
the Events team.
Brandon Lewis MP visited the
training centre in Manchester for
an insight into the work of
GMFRS and a practical
demonstration of new equipment
and techniques that are being
introduced as part of a future
firefighting project.
He began his visit meeting Fire
Authority Chairman Councillor
David Acton and CFO Steve
McGuirk, who gave a
presentation about the history of
Greater Manchester and how
GMFRS has adapted its work to
reflect changing times and risks.
Mr Lewis was given a whistlestop tour of the Service’s work in
the community, Home Safety
Checks, youth engagement
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Corporate Communications
schemes, volunteering and
apprenticeship projects and
GMFRS’ commitment to
sustainability.
The minister was then given a
practical demonstration of new
firefighting equipment and
techniques, which are being
introduced at GMFRS as part of a
wider project to bring firefighting
and training into the 21st century.
Mr Lewis said: “I was thoroughly
impressed with the training
facilities the Service has for its
operational firefighters and officers
and the live demo was excellent.”
Locals awarded for their
bravery
A COMMENDATION was held for
two men who tried to save the life
of a man who died after
apparently setting himself on fire.
Paul Tunnah and Grant Blears
were at work in Gooch Street,
Horwich, on the morning of
August 3, 2012, when Antony
Breeze was discovered.
On Thursday, June 27, the two
men attended a ceremony at
Horwich where they were both
awarded a Chief Fire Officer’s
Commendation for their bravery.
Grant and Paul ran over to try and
help Antony, aged 36, as soon as
they spotted him on fire in the
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COMMENDAtIONSFROMCFOStEvEMCGUIRK
street at around 11.35am that
Friday morning.
Paul took off his top and used it
to try and smother the flames
while Grant went to get further
help and a fire extinguisher.
Grant returned with the fire
extinguisher to try and put out the
flames and the men waited with
Antony while the emergency
services made their way to the
scene.
Crews from nearby Horwich Fire
Station arrived shortly after and
paramedics were on the scene
treating the men for their injuries.
Paul suffered serious burns and
was taken to the Royal Bolton
Hospital for treatment. He made a
full recovery but will be scarred for
the rest of his life.
Doreen ditches her chip pan
THE power of social media and
the GMFRS Twitter feed has
saved a grandmother from Salford
from a chip pan fire at her home.
Doreen Armstead from Swinton
ditched her chip pan and
swapped it for a safer deep fat
fryer after her granddaughter
responded to tweets about
GMFRS’ Ban the Pan campaign.
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Claire Simpson said: “I was
following @manchesterfire on
Twitter and they tweeted about
#BanThePan when Peter Kay was
at a fire station as part of the
campaign.
“I replied on Twitter and told them
that I wish my gran would listen,
because she has a chip pan and I
was anxious because I’d seen her
leave it unattended before now
and I know that is how serious
fires start.”
Doreen hadn’t had one so
Salford’s Community Safety team
came to her rescue with a HSC
with a difference.
Spotting an opportunity, the
Corporate Communications team
replied to Claire on Twitter asking
if Doreen had a Home Safety
Check.
Community Safety Advisor Martin
Farrell said: “When we heard
about Doreen’s chip pan and her
granddaughter’s concern, we
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CHAIRMAN
knew we had just one spare deep
fat fryer in the office.
“We decided to offer Doreen a
one-off free chip pan exchange,
and she was happy to take us up
on the offer and as part of
GMFRS’ Ban The Pan campaign,
she traded in her chip pan for our
deep fat fryer.”
66
Doreen, aged 80, said: “Now,
thanks to Claire I know I’m much
safer and my grandchildren
haven’t noticed any difference in
the way the chips taste!
“Claire uses oven chips and I’d
urge anyone to throw their chip
pan out and swap it for them or a
deep fat fryer like mine.”
Staff members celebrate long
service and good conduct
FIREFIGHTERS and staff
celebrated a combined 400 years
of service and good conduct on
Thursday May 30.
A total of 18 firefighters received
their Fire Brigade Long Service
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and Good Conduct Medal for 20
years exemplary service.
Chair of GMFRA, Cllr David
Acton, presented the Fire
Authority Medal for Long Service
to Arthur.
Speaking to the assembled
firefighters, Cllr Acton said: “On
behalf of the people of Greater
Manchester I would like to thank
you all for your long service.
“We should never underestimate
what it takes to be a firefighter.
You have all put your lives at risk
countless times to keep the
people of Greater Manchester
safe.
“I would also like to thank your
families for their support because
without them I’m sure none of you
would have been able to
celebrate 20 years exemplary
service tonight.”
broke out in the kitchen of a family
home. It was sparked
accidentally when cooking was
left unattended.
Shortly afterwards, Phil and his
girlfriend Gemma Greenhalgh
heard shouts for help from across
the road and ran outside.
Phil kicked the door open and ran
into the house but was beaten
back by smoke. He then pitched
a ladder, held by Gemma, and
carried three children aged eight,
six and three to safety, just as fire
engines from Leigh, Hindley and
Atherton arrived.
Fire crews then rescued the rest
of the family, a man, woman and
10-year-old boy before putting the
fire out.
Phil was awarded a CFO’s
Commendation in front of
firefighters at Leigh Fire Station by
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Peter
O’Reilly.
Peter said: “Without question,
Phil’s courageous actions saved
the lives of three young children
and he should be very proud.
“Thanks to his actions, together
with those of GMFRS crews from
across Wigan Borough, a tragedy
was prevented and the entire
family saved.”
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HISCOMMENDAtIONFROM(LEFt)
COUNCILLORJOHNO’BRIENAND
(RIGHt)ASSIStANtCOUNtyFIRE
OFFICERPEtERO’REILLy
Brave men commended after
fire at a family home
A MAN who rescued three young
children from a house fire in Leigh
has been commended for his
bravery by GMFRS.
Phil Keane, 29, received the
award in a ceremony at Leigh Fire
Station on Tuesday, April 16.
It followed an incident on Gregory
Street in the early hours of
Sunday, January 20 when a fire
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Other news of interest
Sheriff’s Cup
GLORIOUS weather meant
GMFRS came out winners as
hosts of the 52nd Sheriff’s Cup.
Despite the two GMFRS teams
not finishing in the top 10 of the
competition, the three day
tournament - the most prestigious
competition in fire service golf –
went well as the fairways at North
Manchester Golf Club were
bathed in sunshine.
CFO Steve McGuirk said: “We
might not have won the Sheriff’s
Cup, but in other ways GMFRS is
clearly the winner of this event.
“It was fantastic to see so many
fire services from across the
country brought together to play
golf.
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tHEStARtOFtHE52ND
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“It was also fantastic to see so
much support given to the event
and our teams from across
GMFRS, including ICT, Corporate
Communications and volunteers
who supported Lee Burns,
Howard Barker and the GMFRS
Golf Society to deliver a highly
successful and professional three
day golf competition.”
GMFRS hosts Fire Brigade
Society’s 50th anniversary
[ABOVE]
GMFRS hosted the Fire Brigade
Society (FBS) for its 50th
anniversary at Rochdale Fire
Station and Fire Museum.
speeches from FBS Chairman
Ralph Horton. The society was launched in
1963 in founder Robert ‘Bob’
Bonner’s living room in a house in
Longsight.
50 years on, the membership is
still strong and Bob’s son, also
named Bob, is a strong supporter
of the FBS and runs the Fire
Museum in Rochdale.
The anniversary event, on June 1,
started with FBS members visiting
fire stations across GMFRS,
including Bolton Central,
Farnworth, Bury, Heywood and
Rochdale to photograph
appliances and meet the crews.
The day finished at Rochdale Fire
Station with CFO Steve McGuirk
welcoming around 70 FBS
members and guests, followed by
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FIREBRIGADESOCIEtyMEMBERS
GAtHERFORtHE50tHANNIvERSARy
High Sheriff George Almond also
unveiled a plaque in recognition of
the founder of the Society Bob
Bonner and in celebration of 50
years of activity.
Fire Authority clerk and
treasurer have firefighter
experience
THE clerk and treasurer of Greater
Manchester Fire and Rescue
Authority (GMFRA) became
firefighters for the day during an
action packed shift with Blue
Watch at Wigan Fire Station.
Donning fire gear, GMFRA Clerk,
Donna Hall - who is also Chief
Executive of Wigan Council - and
Deputy Chief Executive of Wigan
Council and GMFRA Treasurer,
Paul McKevitt reported for duty at
8.30am on Monday, April 15,
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when they joined crews on
parade.
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During the day they even turned
out with crews to a kitchen fire
and joined crews giving fire safety
talks to pupils at Wigan St
Andrew’s Church of England
Primary School.
Crew Manager Tony Callaghan
said: “They couldn’t have picked
a better day to get an overview of
what it’s like for firefighters at
GMFRS.
“It was nice that they got to see
the diversity of the work we do as
crews at GMFRS to help protect
and serve communities across
Wigan.”
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