Chief Officers Activity Report (Quarter 3 - 1st October to 31st ...

CHIEFOFFICER’S 

ACtIvIty REPORt 

October 1 – December 31 2012

Welcome / CFO Introduction 

WELCOME to the latest activity 

report that covers from October 

to December 2012. 

The report highlights the range of 

work that Greater Manchester Fire 

and Rescue Service (GMFRS) 

does and how the Service 

continues to engage with and 

support its communities. 

BONFIRENIGHt 

It’s been a hectic three months 

due to Bonfire activity and 

departments across the Service, 

along with partner organisations, 

pulled out all the stops to try and 

make it a safe period for 

everyone. 

This year included something 

GMFRS hasn’t done before – 

Bonfire Live! This was a 96-hour 

live stream operated by Corporate 

Communications that highlighted 

what was happening during our 

busiest weekend of the year and 

was a great way of showing the 

challenges we faced and what we 

were doing to make Greater 

Manchester safer. 

Some really positive information 

was revealed this quarter that 

really does prove that all our hard 

work is paying off. These are not 

one off results, but a downward 

trend over a number of years and 

include fires falling by 42 per cent 

since 2005 and fire related deaths 

and injuries dropping by 40 per 

cent during that time. Also, 40 per 

cent of homes in Greater 

Manchester have received a 

Home Safety Check – which I 

think you will agree is impressive. 

We mustn’t forget that this has all 

been done with fewer and fewer 

resources, as we have also 

delivered over £160m in 

efficiencies and reduced staff 

numbers both operationally and in 

support functions. 

GMFRS also had a busy festive 

season, which included a whole 

range of activities and events such 

as the lights switch-on in Bury, the 

pantomime at Manchester Central 

and the hugely successful carol 

service at St Ann’s Church – 

GMFRSCAROLSERvICE 

where a great time was had by 

staff and local people, who were 

attracted to the event by the 

snow-pumping parade vehicle, 

Pipe Band and Cracker outside 

the church during the service. 

facebook.com/ 

manchesterfire 

@manchesterfire 

Steve McGuirk 

CBE, QFSM, DL, MA, BA (Hons), BSc, FRSA, FIFireE 

Chief Executive/ 

County Fire Officer 

2 G R E A T 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 3 2 0 1 2 / 1 3

Contents 

4 

Operational Incidents 

52 

Prevention and Protection 

8 

Service Delivery 

56 

Children and Young People 

Bolton 8 

Bury 12 

58 

Training and Resilience 

Manchester 16 

Oldham 22 

60 

Corporate Communications 

Rochdale 26 

Salford 30 

64 

Other news of interest 

Stockport 36 

Tameside 40 

Trafford 44 

Wigan 48 

A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 3 2 0 1 2 / 1 3 G R E A T 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 

3

Operational Incidents of Interest 

Firefighters worked through 

night at Walkden mill fire 

DOZENS of firefighters attended a 

mill fire on Manchester Road, 

Walkden, on December 27. 

Over 80 firefighters were in 

attendance at the height of the 

incident and the fire proved a 

challenge as it spread through a 

large commercial mill. 

There was a complex layout to 

the building and also difficulty in 

gaining access as a result of a 

high level of security and high fire 

loading in a number of areas. 

WALKDENMILLFIRE 

The first reports came in at 

10.30pm and there were 14 

crews at the scene by 12.20am 

the following morning, supported 

by command vehicles, an aerial 

appliance and specialist rescue 

units deployed to assist with 

access to the building and 

salvage operations. 

The fire started in an area of the 

building being used for car sale, 

repairs and storage but affected a 

number of other commercial 

units. 

During the course of the incident 

a man was rescued from an area 

being used as a taxi rank, 

suffering from slight smoke 

inhalation and, though treated at 

the scene, later declined hospital 

treatment. 

GMFRS help with Devon 

floods 

A GMFRS Water Incident Unit 

travelled to the South West to 

help Devon and Somerset Fire 

and Rescue Service (DFRS) with 

their response to the floods on 

Thursday, November 22. 

A seven-strong team from across 

the Service was sent to the 

flooded areas after a request from 

DFRS. They joined firefighters 

from other fire and rescue 

services as part of a national 

response to the flooding. 

At the height of the flooding, the 

Environment Agency has issued 

33 flood warnings and 56 flood 

alerts across the South West of 

England. 

Water Incident Team Leader, Gary 

Dewar, said: “We were involved in 

briefings with representatives from 

organisations and services in the 

South West including the 

Environment Agency, other 

services and brigades.” 

The team were based just off the 

M5 near Exeter, but despite the 

heavy rainfall they were not 

deployed to any incidents and 

eventually stood down on 

Sunday, November 25. 

Despite not turning out to any 

incidents Team Leader, Gary 

Dewar, said the experience of 

working with other teams from 

across the UK was valuable for all 

the team members’ development. 

A job well done at eight pump 

Bury fire 

CREWS have been praised by fire 

chiefs after a challenging job at a 

hospital in Bury demanded eight 

fire engines and around 50 

firefighters. 

Green Watch from Bury and 

Whitefield were initially called to 

the Alpha Hospital at 4.20pm on 


The hospital, in Elton, is a low and 

medium secure psychiatric unit 

which also offers rehabilitation to 

ALPHAHOSPItAL 


patients with severe personality 

disorders. 

As the incident scaled up engines 

arrived from Ramsbottom, 

Atherton, Bolton North, Bolton 

Central and Eccles. 

A total of 25 patients were 

evacuated so crews could fight 

the flames with jets and hose 

reels. 

A 16-year-old boy was arrested 

on suspicion of arson with intent 

to endanger life and was later 

detained under the Mental Health 

Act. 

City centre bakery blaze 

A NUMBER of residents were led 

to safety as firefighters tackled a 

blaze in Manchester City Centre. 

Crews were called to St James 

Street near to its junction with 

Princess Street at 7.30am on 

Friday, November 2, after a 

woman reported that smoke was 

coming into her flat. 

The woman said that she was in a 

flat above the bakery with a fivemonth-old 

baby. 

Crews from Manchester Central, 

Salford, Philips Park and Hyde 

went out to the incident in the 

China Town area of the city. 

Teams of firefighters in breathing 

apparatus tackled the fire with jets 

and hose reels. 

Firefighters remained on scene for 

some time as they were working 

FIREFIGHtERSAtBAKERyFIRE 

to strip out the area where the fire 

started and ensure there were no 

remaining pockets of fire. 

Due to its location in the city 

centre, there was traffic disruption 

CItyCENtREBAKERyBLAZE 

during rush hour which 

heightened the profile of the 

incident and there was 

widespread media interest and 

media liaison support was 


5

Operational Incidents of Interest 

provided by Corporate 

Communications. 

The fire was started deliberately 

and police are looking for the 

person responsible. 

Harpurhey tree rescue 

A MAN was rescued from 

underneath a fallen tree in 

Harpurhey. 

GMFRS’ Control Room received a 

call at around 10.40am on 


They found a 23-year-old man 

trapped underneath a tree and 

released him using specialist 

rescue equipment. 

Watch Manager Ian Hughes, from 

Blackley Fire Station, said: “It took 

us a while to find the man 

because he was trapped under 

the 30 foot tree between an 

allotment and on a steep banking 

with lots of undergrowth. 

“When we got there a paramedic 

was with him and he was bent 

“We cut a more logical access 

point through the allotment 

fencing for responders to get the 

man out and into the ambulance 

and, working with the Ambulance 

Service’s Hazardous Area 

Response Team, we got him 

safely into the ambulance.” 

Trafford Park acid leak 

AN ACID leak at a chemical plant 

in Trafford Park sparked a major 

incident for GMFRS on the 

evening of Friday, November 16. 

Two crews with an Operational 

Support Unit were sent to an 

incident involving hazardous 

substances at the Chemtura 

Manufacturing site on Tenax Road 

shortly after 6pm. 

Within minutes, GMFRS had 

declared a major incident and 10 

fire engines were called to the site 

immediately, along with an aerial 

platform and a further five fire 

engines on standby at the nearest 

fire station – Stretford. 

EMERGENCySERvICESWORKtOGEtHERDURINGtREERESCUE 

Green Watch firefighters from double, the tree had almost 

Manchester Central and Blackley folded him in half and he’d 

fire stations attended the incident crawled out and was lying on a 

at the junction of Cypress Street branch with his head between his 

and Harpurhey Road. 

legs. 

Group Manager Steve Thomas, 

Hazmats Officer, said: “Because 

the gas cloud had the potential to 

drift across Trafford Park, our 

main aim was to dissipate the 

vapour and ensure that it didn’t 

spread beyond the site. To do this 

we used a ground monitor to get 

a fine spray of water on from one 

side of the site and an aerial 

platform to get water spray on 

from the other side. 


“The vapour is absorbed into the 

water and it falls to the ground as 

water droplets. It then goes into a 

water catchment area on the site 

to ensure that it doesn’t 

contaminate any other areas or 

water in the environment.” 

The incident was under control 

within a couple of hours and 

crews and hazmats officers 

remained on the scene to monitor 

the situation. 

Mill fire crews praised for 

saving Ashton business 

THE manager of a firm has 

thanked crews for their 

professionalism in tackling a fire 

and said they are still operating 

because of the actions of 

firefighters on that day. 

A heartfelt letter was written to all 

the crews who dealt with a blaze 

at a pharmaceutical company in 

Ashton to show appreciation to all 

those who helped on the day. 

The fire at Recipharm’s mill on 

Oldham Road in Ashton saw 

crews work at the scene for 

nearly 24 hours on Sunday, 

November 25. 

Steve Dimmock, General 

Manager of Recipharm, penned 

his thanks to the crews, stating: 

“Although an amount of internal 

damage was done, we are certain 

that without the fire service’s 

efforts on the day, Recipharm 

might not still be operating. 

“We would like to pay a special 

thanks to your White Watch crew 

from Ashton Station and Watch 

Manager Martin Cain. This crew 

were first to the scene and very 

quickly assessed the site and fire 

area and mobilised the service to 

respond in a very controlled and 

professional manner.” 

Steve acknowledged the 

difficulties firefighters would have 

faced while trying to get the blaze 

under control: “The fire was in one 

of the most inaccessible areas of 

the site and, as such, required all 

the professionalism and expertise 

of your service to deal with the 

incident.” 

Post-incident work was also 

praised. “The follow up work and 

advice from Ashton Station has 

been invaluable,” said Steve. “It 

has helped ensure we continue to 

protect the site and our most 

valuable assets, our staff.” 

Miles Platting candle fire 

A THREE-month-old baby was 

taken to hospital after a fire, 

caused by a candle on a window 

ledge set light to curtains. 

Two fire engines from 

Manchester Central and Philips 

Park fire stations were called to 

the house on Broxton Street in 

Miles Platting at 1.23pm on 

Sunday, December 2. 

Thankfully, a working smoke 

alarm had alerted the family to the 

fire and the baby boy and his 

parents had already escaped the 

house before firefighters arrived. 

The fire was already out but crews 

used a fan to disperse the smoke. 

Watch Manager Paul Fearnhead 

said: “The fire started when 

numerous candles located on a 

window ledge accidently set the 

curtains on fire. 

CANDLEFIRE 

“Fortunately two smoke alarms 

had been fitted to the house back 

in August by GMFRS firefighters 

and it was these alarms sounding 

that alerted the occupants to the 

fire. 

“We carried out another Home 

Safety Check after the fire, talking 

to the family about the importance 

of being vigilant when using 

candles around the house, and 

hopefully this will serve as a 

reminder to families who can be 

distracted by young babies not to 

leave candles or cooking 

unattended.” 


7


Bolton 

Bolton Central, Bolton North, Horwich and Farnworth 

Statistics Year to date Target to date Quarter 3 

Prev. year to 

date 

Number of accidental dwelling fires 159 165 54 172 

Total deliberate fires 682 831 210 931 

- Primary fires (dwellings) 155 186 41 218 

- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc) 527 645 169 713 

The number of incidents involving 

hostilities towards firefighters 

3 0 2 4 

Fatalities 2 0 0 1 

Injuries 29 30 5 34 

Building fires 401 462 131 511 

Number of people rescued from fires 11 0 1 22 

Total number of calls to road traffic 

collisions 

60 0 20 50 

Volunteers 

Volunteers Activity 

Oct 


Nov 


Dec 

Completed volunteers 

hours 

160.5 


hours 

164.1 


hours 

61.2 

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 

287 

Completed 6,306 

Enforcement Notices 5 

Prohibitions 0 


Borough Manager 

Contact Details 

Ian Bailey 

Ian Bailey 

Borough Manager Bolton 

 

01204 905 127 

baileyi@manchesterfire.gov.uk 

W52 HORWICH 

W51 BOLTON NORTH 

W50 BOLTON CENTRAL 

W53 FARNWORTH 

Authority Members 

Mohammed Ayub 

Labour 

Lynda Byrne 

Labour 

Hilary Fairclough 

Conservative 

Borough News 

Farnworth firefighters 

awarded for outstanding 

performance 

FIREFIGHTERS were recognised 

for their actions following an 

incident when an acetylene 

cylinder exploded injuring four of 

them. 

White Watch were presented with 

a certificate of Outstanding 

Performance by County Fire 

Officer (CFO) Steve McGuirk on 

November 9, at an event at 

Farnworth Fire Station organised 

by the Corporate 

Communications team. 

The firefighters were called to deal 

with a fire in the yard of a 

commercial property on Cross 

Street in the early hours of May 12. 

Crews began tackling the blaze, 

which was initially thought to 

involve a pile of rubbish. However, 

not long after they arrived an 

explosion knocked four of them 

off their feet. It turned out that the 

rubbish contained a number of 

acetylene cylinders. 

The injured crew members 

suffered temporary hearing loss 

and shock and were examined by 


9


Bolton 

Bolton Central, Bolton North, Horwich and Farnworth 

GMFRS for giving them the 

opportunity to do the course. 

Making an area of the station yard 

a home for the insects has helped 

the station be more sustainable, 

as well as helping to stop bees 

from going extinct. 

The hives were officially opened 

on Thursday, November 1, by 

Regional Bee Inspector for the 

North of England, Ian Molyneux, 

who cut a ribbon to mark the 

occasion. 

FARNWORtHWHItEWAtCHWItHCFOStEvEMCGUIRK 

paramedics at the scene before 

attending hospital. 

The remaining crew members of 

White Watch from Farnworth 

continued operations at the scene 

until relief crews arrived. 

CFO Steve McGuirk said: “This 

Certificate of Outstanding 

Performance recognises the 

character and attitude shown by 

all Farnworth’s White Watch 

crews at Cross Street that night. 

“From the injured colleagues who 

remained on duty and returned to 

the station, attending other 

incidents during the remainder of 

the night shift, to everyone who 

continued to report for duty in the 

days and weeks following – 

actions that I believe are a clear 

demonstration of the best 

traditions and integrity of 

GMFRS.” 

It’s all about the bees in 

Bolton! 

BOLTON Central Fire Station is 

buzzing after getting two bee 

hives. 

Around 20,000 bees have joined 

GMFRS thanks to Bolton Prince's 

Trust Team 30. 

The team started their 12-week 

personal development 

programme at the end of 

September and worked on the 

bee hive project to say thanks to 

BOROUGHMANAGERIANBAILEy,tEAMLEADERANGELA 

SANDSANDASSIStANttEAMLEADERJOHNSHERLOCK 

WItHBOLtONtEAM30 

Ian said: “The team have done a 

fantastic job in making a home for 

the bees in such a short time and 

in poor weather. 

“I will look after the bees for a 

while and then the plan is to hand 

them over to individuals at 

GMFRS who are willing to look 

after the bees for me.” 


Firefighter who caught wouldbe 

robber praised 

A WOULD-BE post office robber 

who was apprehended by a 

firefighter has been jailed. 

The actions of brave Dan Winters 

from Bolton North Fire Station 

were commended by the judge as 

he jailed the man for five years. 

Kris Whittaker of Bradshaw 

Mews, Bradshaw, Bolton, was 

jailed at Bolton Crown Court on 

October 12. 

Firefighter Dan Winters said: “A 

woman with a baby in a pram and 

another woman came running 

out, all the alarms went off and 

then a man came out wearing a 

gorilla mask. 

“He looked around, I think looking 

for his getaway car but I assume 

FIREFIGHtERDANWINtERS 

we’d scared them off with the fire 

engine. 

“Our driver put the blue lights and 

sirens on and I jumped off the 

engine and chased him. 

“I caught up with him at the same 

time as a van driver who’d got 

involved – we pinned him down 

and took his mask and what we 

thought was a gun off him.” 

Dan was presented with the Chief 

Constable’s High Commendation 

by Sir Peter Fahy on November 

12 for his actions. 

yasmin Qureshi visits 

Farnworth 

MP YASMIN Qureshi spent an 

action-packed afternoon with 

firefighters at Farnworth. 

The Bolton South East MP called 

into the Fire Station on October 5, 

meeting a range of people 

including firefighters, fire officers 

and 10 young people who had 

recently completed a Firefly 

course run by GMFRS. 

Among those she met were 

Bolton’s Borough Manager, Ian 

Bailey, Station Manager Phil Hall, 

Area Manager Geoff Harris, Head 

of Protection, and Fire Authority 

member Councillor Mohammed 

Ayub. 

She was given information about 

Farnworth Fire Station and a 

number of GMFRS initiatives and 

plans. The MP was very 

supportive of GMFRS’ vision to 

make domestic properties even 

safer through the installation of 

sprinkler systems. 

MPyASMINQURESHIWItHFIREFIGHtER 

JACKWILLIAMSAtAHOMESAFEtyCHECK 

During her visit, the MP was able 

to present certificates to 10 boys 

who had completed Firefly - a 

personal development course for 

young people that educates them 

on issues such as antisocial 

behaviour and provides them 

lifesaving skills, such as 

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation 

(CPR). 

She also rode out with Blue 

Watch firefighters, joining them at 

Home Safety Checks where they 

gave occupiers advice on fire 

safety and fitted new smoke 

alarms. 


11


Bury 

Bury, Ramsbottom and Whitefield 



date 







2 0 1 2 






collisions 

53 0 29 42 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

116.0 


hours 

112.3 


hours 

10.0 












Home Safety 

Checks 



122 





Pete Riley 



Pete Riley 

Borough Manager Bury 

 

0161 909 0327 

rileyp@manchesterfire.gov.uk 

E38 RAMSBOTTOM 

E36 BURY 

E37 WHITEFIELD 


Alan Matthews 

Labour 

Sandra Walmsley 

Labour 

Borough News 

Be Safe Be Cool scheme in 

Bury 

DRUGS, teenage pregnancy, 

cyber-bulling and antisocial 

behaviour were just some of the 

issues debated at Bury high 

schools as part of a joint scheme 

aimed at teenagers. 

GMFRS teamed up with Bury 

Council, Greater Manchester 

Police and various partner 

agencies including local drugs 

and health workers, for the Be 

Safe Be Cool scheme. 

The project – which runs every 

October – was initially set up as a 

GMFRS initiative five years ago to 

reduce the number of nuisance 

fires and antisocial behaviourrelated 

incidents in Ramsbottom, 

but has grown to become a 

borough-wide project that 

reaches more than 2,000 

teenagers each year. 

Representatives from the different 

organisations visited 13 high 

schools in Bury over a two-week 

period to talk to Year 9 pupils 

about some of the issues they 

may be facing and provide them 

with the relevant information and 

advice to make the right choices. 


13


Bury 

Bury, Ramsbottom and Whitefield 

Drama students from Bury 

College gave a stage 

performance about issues 

experienced through 

adolescence, including drugs, 

domestic violence, bullying, 

alcohol and social media abuse. 

Bury Borough Manager Pete Riley 

said: “This year’s performance by 

Bury College was fantastic and 

the key thing about this element is 

that the pupils are learning from 

their peers – we believe the 

students can influence pupils’ 

behaviour in a different way to 

parents, teachers and 

professionals.” 

LOCALSCHOOLCHILDRENAtOFFICIALOPENINGOFNEWBURyCOMMUNItyFIREStAtION 

BURyCOLLEGEDRAMAStUDENtS 

New fire station opens in Bury 

SCHOOLCHILDREN made history 

when they officially opened Bury 

Community Fire Station on Friday, 

November 23. 

Pupils from three primary schools 

were invited as VIP guests to the 

event after entering an art 

competition to mark the building 

of the new station on Magdalene 

Road. 

One special pupil, seven-year-old 

Ellie McArthur from Old Hall 

Primary School, was asked to 

unveil a banner officially opening 

the building after winning the top 

prize. 

She was joined by CFO Steve 

McGuirk, Chairman Councillor 

David Acton, Mayor of Bury 

Councillor Joan Grimshaw, 

Mayor’s Consort Mr Paul 

Grimshaw, and High Sheriff of 

Greater Manchester George 

Almond, CBE. 

Throughout the morning, 

schoolchildren and guests 

gathered in the engine house 

where they were entertained by 

GMFRS mascot, Cracker the fire 

dog. 

Green Watch firefighters 

demonstrated the kitchen fire 

safety unit – showing how quickly 


a chip pan can catch fire. Crews 

then showed how they cut up a 

car following a road traffic collision 

and later Community Fire Cadets 

from Ramsbottom showed off 

their skills in a drill. 

Children from Old Hall, Our Lady 

of Lourdes RC and St Luke’s CE 

primary schools were given a tour 

of the station, and tested the 

computers at the newly opened 

internet café in the reception area, 

and had a chance to squirt water 

from the hoses. 

Ramsbottom Community Spirit 

event 

CRACKER the GMFRS mascot 

brought fun and entertainment to 

a community event at Peel Brow 

Park in Ramsbottom. 

engine from Ramsbottom Fire 

Station. 

Staff and volunteers from 

Groundwork were there to help 

residents create hanging baskets, 

while Police Community Support 

Officers from Ramsbottom were 

on hand to give advice. 

Katie Swierczynski, Community 

Safety Advisor for Bury Borough, 

said: “All in all it was a great day 

and we engaged with lots of 

different people from the 

community, mainly children who 

we talked to about Hallowe’en 

and Bonfire safety.” 

Firefighters join Father 

Christmas at Bury lights 

switch-on 

FIREFIGHTERS from Bury 

Community Fire Station brought 

festive cheer to hundreds of 

people when they took the 

GMFRS parade vehicle to the 

town’s official Christmas lights 

switch-on. 

Followed by a standard fire 

engine, the parade vehicle was 

driven from the new fire station at 

Chamberhall Business Park 

through the town centre to The 

Rock for the event on Thursday, 

November 1. 

Hundreds of people gathered to 

see Father Christmas who was on 

the top of the vehicle while 

Christmas music boomed out, 

disco lights flashed and fake 

snow poured from the roof of the 

engine. 

The parade vehicle has been 

developed by staff at GMFRS 

workshops with support from 

Corporate Communications and 

is now a popular resource 

available to the Prevention and 

Protection Department. 

RAMSBOttOMCOMMUNItySPIRItEvENt 

In October, community safety staff 

and volunteers from Bury 

Borough attended the Streets of 

Community Spirit event with the 

caged football unit and a fire 

GMFRSPARADEvEHICLEAttHEBURyLIGHtSSWItCH-ON 


15


Manchester 

Moss Side, Withington, Wythenshawe, Manchester Central, 

Blackley, Gorton and Philips Park 



date 


Total deliberate fires 1,299 1,659 460 1,870 


- Secondary fires (rubbish, etc) 967 1,308 348 1,460 



18 0 15 15 


Injuries 45 72 11 76 

Building fires 909 972 301 1,076 



collisions 

117 0 34 119 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

1,432.5 


hours 

438.3 


hours 

399.3 












Home Safety 

Checks 



560 





S17 BLACKLEY 



S16 MCR CENTRAL 

S18 PHILIPS PARK 

S19 GORTON 

S13 MOSS SIDE 

Andy Heywood 

Andy Heywood 

Borough Manager Manchester 

 

0161 608 5327 

heywooda@manchesterfire.gov.uk 

S14 WITHINGTON 

S15 WYTHENSHAWE 


Basil Curley 

Labour 

Grace Fletcher-Hackwood 

Labour 

James Hennigan 

Lib Dem 

Tommy Judge 

Labour 

Sheila Newman 

Labour 


17


Manchester 



Borough News 

Moss Side transformed into 

boxing arena 

MOSS Side Community Fire 

Station became a boxing arena 

for one night only, hosting bouts 

between fighters from across the 

North West. 

The event raised vital funds for 

Moss Side Fire Station Boxing 

Gym - a valuable resource for 

young people in South 

Manchester. 

The fight card included three 

North West School Champions 

from the gym - Malakai Dixon, 

Junaid Mohammed and Conor 

Tudsbury. 

Moss Side Boxing Gym’s school 

boy heavyweight, Hamza Kahalie, 

also made a winning debut. 

The quality of the coaching at the 

gym was underlined by the 

performance of their fighters on 

the night. 

Moss Side boxers coached by 

firefighters Matt Dillon, Nigel Travis 

and Haroon Headley won nine out 

of the 11 bouts. 

Watch Manager and boxing 

coach, Nigel Travis, said: “We had 

a fantastic night of boxing at our 

show and I’d like to thank 

everyone who attended and the 

gyms that came. It was great to 

see so many friendly faces. 

“There were some brilliant 

contests and no easy wins for any 

of our boxers. Two or three of the 

bouts could have gone either way 

– it’s what amateur boxing is all 

about.” 

Gorton Reds stage dramatic 

scenarios for students 

THE daunting prospect of giving 

first aid to someone involved in an 

incident is one that firefighters 

face every day – so crews helped 

students from a local college gain 

an understanding of such huge 

responsibilities by getting them to 

face the same the same thing. 

Crews staged a number of 

scenarios for college students 

during a recent visit to Gorton Fire 

Station. 

Gorton Red Watch firefighters 

threw open the doors for students 

from the Public Service Course at 

The Manchester College so they 

could find out how local crews 

serve the community. 

The firefighters put on an 

extensive amount of activities to 

ensure the students understood 

not just what goes on at a station 

but some of the wider issues in 

the county, and even nationally. 

Watch Manager Ken Booth said: 

"The visit was intended to give the 

students an insight into the 

everyday life of a firefighter. 

StAtIONMANAGERPHILNELSONANDWAtCHMANAGER/BOXINGCOACHNIGELtRAvIS 

WItHMEMBERSOFtHEBOXINGGyM 

"We discussed entry and 

recruitment requirements, the 


part of a partnership based 

approach aimed at preventing, 

tackling and protecting against 

antisocial behaviour, criminal 

damage and reducing incidents 

and injuries during the Hallowe’en 

and Bonfire period. 

ROC Café opens in North 

Manchester 

AN INNOVATIVE approach to help 

improve a community in North 

Manchester is continuing with the 

opening of a café for young 

people. 

impact of funding cuts in the 

public services, basic and 

probationary training, the watch 

structure, promotion, station life, 

community work, the fire engines 

and equipment, breathing 

apparatus, first aid and the role of 

trauma technicians.” 

Monsall and Collyhurst’s extra 

patrols over Bonfire period 

EXTRA patrols were in place in 

the Monsall and Collyhurst area 

running up to the Hallowe’en and 

Bonfire period following a spate of 

bonfires. 

The bonfires involved rubbish, 

wood and bins being set on fire 

FIREFIGHtERStUBROWN 

on wasteland near homes in the 

area. 

Station Manager Tony Bryan said: 

“As Bonfire Night approached we 

wanted everyone to have a safe 

and enjoyable time and working 

with partner agencies we helped 

everyone to do this. 

“After a number of instances of 

antisocial behaviour we carried 

out Home Safety Checks in the 

Ridgewood Avenue area, which 

sometimes includes the fitting of a 

smoke alarm and letterbox 

covers, as well as general fire 

safety advice.” 

Operation Treacle hubs were set 

up across Greater Manchester as 

Firefighters and community safety 

staff are part of a team that has 

set up a weekly gathering for the 

youngsters of Monsall and 

Collyhurst. 

The weekly ROC Café takes place 

at the TLM Centre on Jocelyn 

Street and follows on from work 

GMFRS did in the communities 

during the summer and in the 

lead up to Bonfire Night. 

ROCCAFEOPENSINBLACKLEy 


19


Manchester 



Firefighters from Blackley Green 

Watch were at the first of the 

events and challenged local 

teenagers to games of pool – 

even kindly providing the 20p 

game fee! 

Crews from Blackley and Philips 

Park fire stations will be at the 

sessions each week to offer 

support. 

Rose McCarton, from the TLM 

Centre, said: “It was great to see 

how many kids turned up and the 

support from the fire service has 

been fantastic.” 

GMFRS Community Safety 

Manager Bob Barr said: “ROC 

cafes are working well across the 

UK and have already made a 

significant and positive impact on 

communities in Greater 

Manchester. This was a great 

opportunity to develop the 

relationship between the fire and 

rescue service and the 

communities we serve in 

Manchester.” 

Manchester Central hosts 400 

at panto – oh yes it does! 

AROUND 370 firefighters, staff 

and their friends and family 

enjoyed a panto at Manchester 

Central Fire Station on Sunday, 

December 2. 

Station Manager Ian Hanley, who 

organised the Sports and Welfare 

event, said: “It was absolutely 

fantastic. 

“All the firefighters at Manchester 

Central worked liked trojans on 

the day - and throughout the 

weekend as they’d had the Burns 

Camp Christmas party there the 

day before. 

“I can’t thank everyone enough. 

The support from the firefighters 

on the station, the Manchester 

Borough staff and other people 

across the organisation was 

fantastic. 

“The kids all had a great time.” 

The performance was Christmas 

panto classic Dick Whittington 

and there was a special 

appearance by Father Christmas. 

The man in red got his directions 

a little muddled and found himself 

stranded in the drill tower. 

Thankfully, the quick-thinking 

Christmas-spirited firefighters 

rescued Father Christmas and 

brought him safely down to meet 

the children. 

Wythenshawe firefighters 

deliver Christmas cheer! 

WYTHENSHAWE firefighters 

delivered presents to the 

Children’s Ward of Wythenshawe 

Hospital on Christmas Day. 

Firefighters from Green Watch 

teamed up with local company 

Easi-Drive to raise cash for the 

gifts. 

Watch Manager Pete Tomlinson, 

said: “Every year is different – 

sometimes there are 12 children 

there, some years there are two. 

“What doesn’t change though is 

how happy they are to see us, 

and how grateful they are for the 

gifts they receive. 

“There are always left over 

presents for those who come 

back to the ward later on in the 

day or on Boxing Day - nobody 

gets left out. 

“Being in hospital over Christmas 

must be tough for anyone, but 

especially for a child. 

“We’re really grateful to Easi-Drive 

for helping us collect so many 

gifts and for the extra money. We 

used it to buy baby-grows for 

those born over the festive period, 

and the remaining money has 

gone directly to the children’s 

ward.” 

WytHENSHAWEFIREFIGHtERSWItHHOSPItALStAFF 


MOSSSIDEBOXINGEvENt 


21


Oldham 

Oldham, Hollins and Chadderton 



date 







6 0 3 5 


Injuries 38 27 13 30 




collisions 

38 0 15 47 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

123.0 


hours 

104.3 


hours 

29.0 












Home Safety 

Checks 



99 







Kev Talbot 

Borough Manager Oldham 

E35 CHADDERTON 

E34 HOLLINS 

E33 OLDHAM 

Kev Talbot 

 

0161 909 8627 

talbotkj@manchesterfire.gov.uk 


Derek Heffernan 

Lib Dem 

Bernard Judge 

Labour 

Steve Williams 

Labour 

Borough News 

Oldham’s young drivers safer 

thanks to firefighters 

COLLEGE students were shown 

the dramatic consequences of 

careless driving by GMFRS as 

part of a day designed to keep 

young drivers safe. 

As part of the Drive 2 Live Day 

students at Oldham College were 

treated to a dramatic workshop 

by theatre company The Riot Act, 

which told the story of a new 

driver, his girlfriend and younger 

brother who had a few drinks 

before getting behind the wheel. 

Green Watch from Oldham Fire 

Station cut the actors out of the 

car after they staged a collision. 

Watch Manager Jon Nolan said: 

“After the actors played out their 

OLDHAMDRIvE2LIvEWORKSHOP 


23


Oldham 

Oldham, Hollins and Chadderton 

parts in the classroom, there was 

a short break when they were 

made up to look like they had real 

injuries and then we then went 

outside for the road traffic collision 

demonstration, where we had an 

smashed up old car. 

“About 30 of the students 

watched us rescuing the three 

friends and it seemed to really hit 

home with them about actions 

and consequences. 

“In the play, the driver was 

walking wounded, we had to cut 

the other two passengers out of 

the car – but one of them was 

dead. When the students saw the 

body bag after we brought her 

out on a stretcher – that’s when it 

hit them.” 

Chadderton Reds take on road 

race to raise readies 

FIRE boots were swapped for 

running shoes when a kindhearted 

crew took to the road and 

raced to raise money for a local 

school. 

Chadderton Fire Station's Red 

Watch ran 10k for Kingfisher 

Community Special School and, 

as a result, took their current 

fundraising total to £1,300. 

The crews were even joined by 

one of the school's staff - Michael 

Unsworth - with all runners 

completing the challenge in 

Southport in under an hour. 

Watch Manager Pete Marshall 

said: "The day at Southport was 

CHADDERtONREDWAtCH 

fantastic, really nice weather, a bit 

too hot really for running. 

"Everyone in the team got round 

well under the hour which was a 

fantastic achievement - and Lee 

Richardson whizzed round in just 

under 44 minutes!" 

Not satisfied with completing the 

Southport 10k in October, Red 

Watch firefighters already have 

their sights set on the next charity 

sporting event for the school and 

are aiming to do a 10-mile run in 

March. 

Hollins firefighters get down to 

Grassroots 

CHRISTMAS celebrations at a 

community allotment in Failsworth 

were brightened up when White 

Watch at Hollins Fire Station 

turned up in a fire engine, only to 

be joined by a few Father 

Christmas’ and an elf. 

Members of Oldham Council’s 

Grassroots community project 

along with carers and friends were 

HOLLINSFIREFIGHtERSPARtOFGRASSROOtS 

PROJECt 


joined by the firefighters on 

Wednesday, December 12. 

Station Manager Glyn O’Reilly 

said: “The allotment is open to the 

wider community and it’s a place 

for people with learning difficulties 

or a disability to enjoy a spot of 

gardening in a relaxed and secure 

environment where they can learn 

and socialise. 

“With carers and friends there too 

it was a great opportunity to take 

the fire engine so people could 

have a look inside and hear the 

sirens but also so that the crews 

could offer some winter and fire 

safety advice about having a 

working smoke alarm and the 

importance of having an escape 

route planned.” 

Organic vegetables, bee hives 

producing honey, fruit trees, hens 

and ducks are among the 

attractions at the Grassroots 

project, which provides an 

alternative day care facility for 

users. 

Watch Manager Paul Anderson 

said: “It was a really nice day and 

very Christmassy for everyone 

and the fire engine proved very 

popular. 

“We talked about fire safety and 

gave people information about the 

Home Safety Checks that GMFRS 

offer.” 

FIREFIGHtERStEvEBROADHURStWItHHISCHICKENS 

Oldham firefighter is a good 

egg! 

FORGET burning buildings and 

heroic rescues - an Oldham 

Firefighter has shown he’s a good 

egg by re-homing more than 50 

battery hens. 

Firefighter Steve Broadhurst, who 

is based at Oldham Fire Station, 

got involved with the British Hen 

Welfare Trust (BHWT) after 

hearing about it from a friend and 

today he keeps 28 of the birds on 

land next to his house. 

He said: “I’ve always liked animals 

and when I heard that you could 

re-home and give a new life to 

former battery hens, I thought it 

was a great idea. 

“I’ve been doing it for a number of 

years and it’s great, when they 

arrive some of them have nearly 

all of their feathers missing but 

before too long when you give 

them a bit of space to move 

around and some food and water 

they start to grow back. 

“They lay some great eggs too so 

everyone’s a winner!” 

The BHWT rescue the chickens 

from farms across the UK and 

Steve provides a happy ending for 

the birds when he re-homes 

some of them, meaning they live 

out the rest of their lives - around 

another seven or eight years – in 

relative ease. 


25


Rochdale 

Rochdale, Littleborough and Heywood 



date 







5 0 1 5 


Injuries 31 26 19 29 




collisions 

55 0 19 54 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

385.0 


hours 

247.3 


hours 

16.3 












Home Safety 

Checks 



108 







Tony Lander 

Borough Manager Rochdale 

E32 HEYWOOD 

E30 ROCHDALE 

E31 LITTLEBOROUGH 

Tony Lander 

 

01706 900127 

landert@manchesterfire.gov.uk 


Amna Mir 

Labour 

Shaun O’Neill 

Labour 

Borough News 

Heywood fire engine under 

attack 

LOCAL media gave prime-time 

coverage to the story of a 

firefighter attack in Heywood 

which left a fire engine off the run 

on one of the busiest nights of the 

year. 

Granada TV used the incident as 

their top story on Bonfire Night to 

raise awareness of the impact of 

antisocial behaviour on fire service 

resources. 

The press interest came after 

GMFRS released CCTV footage 

showing the moment a brick was 

launched at a fire engine from 

Heywood Fire Station on the 

evening of Sunday, November 4. 

Firefighters were called out to a 

fire on Deeplish Road where they 

found two wheelie bins on fire – 

set alight by youths. 

Crews put out the blaze but as 

they left the scene, the youths 

threw bricks at the fire engine, 

one of which smashed the 

windscreen. 

None of the firefighters were 

injured but they were extremely 

shaken by the incident. 


27


Rochdale 

Rochdale, Littleborough and Heywood 

As part of the Treacle campaign, 

the Corporate Communications 

team arranged a media facility at 

the station and interviews with the 

crew members who came under 

attack. 

The story was covered by local TV 

news programmes along with 

BBC Radio Manchester, the 

Manchester Evening News and 

Heywood Advertiser newspapers, 

amongst others. 

HEyWOODFIREENGINEDAMAGED 

Firefighters visit mosque 

members 

GMFRS visited around 1,000 

mosque members in the 

Wardleworth area of Rochdale for 

a series of action days. 

Community Safety Advisors 

(CSAs) used Friday Prayers to 

highlight to the community the 

importance of working smoke 

alarms and Home Safety Checks 

(HSCs). 

The campaign concluded in 

December when more than 150 

HSCs had been completed, with 

many more arranged, as a direct 

result of the initiative. 

Staff also visited homes in the 

streets surrounding the mosques 

offering HSCs to residents and 

encouraging people to swap their 

chip pans for deep fat fryers – 

and 35 chip pan exchanges were 

carried out. 

During the scheme, community 

safety officers were given an 

insight into Muslim beliefs, culture 

and traditions to help develop a 

greater two-way understanding of 

the local community and the fire 

service. 

Staff were invited to a guided tour 

of the new Golden Mosque in 

Rochdale by Chairperson of the 

Rochdale BME Fire and Safety 

Education Association Ghulam 

Rasul Shahzad OBE, followed by 

some basic Urdu lessons. 

Borough Manager Tony Lander 

said: “By breaking down language 

and cultural barriers together with 

our community safety advisors, 

we are able to carry out Home 

Safety Checks in various 

languages such as Urdu and 

Bengali as well as English.” 

Heywood Bloom success for 

firefighters 

HEYWOOD Fire Station’s efforts 

to spruce up the town proved to 

HEyWOODFIREStAtIONANDPAN-BOt 

be a blooming success when 

crews picked up an award. 

The station took part in the 2012 

Heywood in Bloom event, and 

was awarded a Silver Medal in the 

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) 

North West in Bloom competition. 

Firefighters from Heywood Fire 

Station’s Red Watch attended an 

awards ceremony and buffet on 

behalf of GMFRS and the station 

on Thursday, December 6, at 

TOPS Business Centre. 

Supported by Corporate 

Communications, the fire station 

got into the spirit of North West in 

Bloom by introducing hanging 

baskets and a new flower bed 

which incorporated a kitchen fire 

safety message that encouraged 

people to ditch their chip pans. 

They also welcomed a special 

guest to the station – in the form 

of a tin man with a pan. 

The sculpture was originally 

created by a friend of the watch 


for the Olympic torch relay and it 

was adapted to hold a pan. 

Station Manager Ian Tracey said: 

“GMFRS is encouraging people to 

ban the pan and use safer 

alternatives such as deep fat 

fryers or oven chips – as we’re on 

one of the main routes into 

Heywood we thought we could 

use our entry to spread the 

message and ensure it was seen 

as many people as possible.” 

Rochdale chip pan demo 

PARENTS at a Rochdale school 

were shown the devastating 

consequences of using chip pans 

in October – after an incident left 

a woman with serious burns. 

Firefighters and community safety 

staff from Rochdale Fire Station 

visited Hamer Primary School to 

advise people how to keep 

themselves and their families safe. 

It was a chance to raise 

awareness about general kitchen 

safety and road safety, such as 

CHIPPANDEMO 

the importance of wearing 

seatbelts and ensuring children 

have the appropriate child seats. 

Watch Manager Ian Read said: 

“We wanted to give local people 

vital fire safety advice on cookingrelated 

fires in particular after a 

serious incident we attended 

where an Asian lady was involved 

in a fire with a pan of oil. 

“The pan caught fire and she tried 

to move it to put water on, but the 

oil spilled all over her arm giving 

her serious burns. 

“On top of this, I’ve always had 

concerns about children travelling 

in the rear of vehicles without the 

correct child seats and restraints, 

so I thought it would be a great 

opportunity to tackle both issues 

at the same time. 

“We demonstrated the chip pan 

unit in the school yard to parents 

and children, and parents were 

also given advice on road safety 

thanks to the Rochdale Road 

Safety Unit. Everyone seemed to 

really take the advice on board.” 

Cookers cleaned to help 

reduce fires 

DIRTY grills and pans can easily 

start fires and lead to firefighters 

being called out – especially when 

hobs or cookers are accidentally 

switched on or someone is 

distracted. 

In a bid to bring down the number 

of incidents at sheltered housing 

accommodation schemes in the 

borough, GMFRS teamed up with 

Rochdale Borough Housing to 

deliver a new initiative. 

Throughout October Community 

Action Team volunteers worked 

with the council and sheltered 

housing scheme wardens to clean 

grills and cookers where residual 

fat can build up and set off smoke 

alarms, or even start serious fires. 

Equipped with cleaning kits, 

teams of volunteers targeted 

sheltered housing schemes in 

Rochdale that have had repeated 

incidents or automatic fire alarm 

call-outs over the past three 

years. 

Residents were also given safety 

advice and shown how to cook 

without causing fumes. 

Rochdale Borough Manager Tony 

Lander said: “The first venue was 

Clough Court which the fire 

service has attended more than 

40 times in the past three years – 

this has included a couple of 

cooking fires, but the majority of 

these call-out have been false 

alarms due to cooking fumes 

causing automatic fire alarms to 

sound. 

“We hope that by working in 

partnership with Rochdale 

Borough Housing we can help to 

reduce the number of call-outs – 

freeing up our crews to carry out 

vital training and prevention work, 

and ensure they’re available for 

more serious incidents.” 


29


Salford 

Salford, Broughton, Agecroft, Eccles and Irlam 



date 







5 0 2 17 






collisions 

63 0 25 67 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

154.0 


hours 

24.3 


hours 

144.2 












Home Safety 

Checks 



169 





Paul Petrykowski 



Paul Petrykowski 

Borough Manager Salford 

 

0161 609 0220 

petrokop@manchesterfire.gov.uk 

W62 IRLAM 

W59 BROUGHTON 

W60 AGECROFT 

W61 ECCLES 

W58 SALFORD 


Jim Dawson 

Labour 

Iain Lindley 

Conservative 

George Wilson 

Labour 

Borough News 

youth Offending Team attend 

course with Agecroft 

firefighters 

THE cost of antisocial behaviour 

and making hoax 999 calls were 

just some of the things teenagers 

from Salford Youth Offending 

Team learnt about thanks to 

firefighters from Agecroft Fire 

Station. 

The young people took part in a 

six week course recently run by 

Red Watch designed to make a 

positive change to their lives. 

Watch Manager Lee McDermott 

said: “I really enjoy working with 

young people. For a number of 

years outside of work I’ve worked 

with young offenders through the 

Home Office and what’s important 

is that it’s about looking forward 

and not back. 

“That’s what this pilot initiative 

was all about for the 12 young 

people from the Youth Offending 

Team. 

“For six weeks they came into the 

station to spend time with the 

whole watch and learnt about a 

whole host of things including the 


31


Salford 


yOUtHOFFENDINGtEAMAtAGECROFtFIREStAtION 

role of GMFRS, fire safety in the 

home, water safety and the 

consequences of making hoax 

calls. 

“We taught them a lot about 

teamwork and made them think 

about what kind of impact 

antisocial actions like setting fire 

to bins or taking part in car crime 

might have on society.” 

As part of the pilot partnership 

initiative, the young people got to 

spend time with Red Watch on 

day shifts in the hope to inspire 

them as role models and to teach 

them about being positive 

members of society. 

Mini firefighter visits Eccles 

crews every day 

RAIN or shine - every evening at 

7pm Eccles Fire Station has a 

very special visitor. 

Six-year-old Lewis Dudson arrives 

dressed in his own firefighter 

uniform and joins GMFRS crews 

at the start of a shift change. 

LEWISDUDSONWItHECCLESFIREFIGHtERS 

Lewis doesn’t just watch – he 

often takes part in the parade and 

has become a firm favourite with 

crews. 

Lewis’ granddad, Paul Guthrie 

said: “Lewis is just obsessed with 

GMFRS and every evening he 

wants to go to the station after 

school, and then go back for the 

shift change and he doesn’t like 

to go to bed until he’s seen that 

both fire engines are in the engine 

house with the doors shut - 

because he likes to make sure all 

the firefighters are safe. 

“It started a few months back and 

we now have to go to the fire 

station every day.” 

Station Manager Paul Smitham 

said: “Lewis is a smashing little 

PHOtOCOURtESyOFM.E.N.MEDIA 

lad and I have never known 

anyone so young be so 

knowledgeable and interested in 

GMFRS. 

“He’s so familiar with our fire 

engines he’s given them all 

nicknames from Fireman Sam – 

he calls our water incident unit 

Neptune.” 

Plane crash exercise in Salford 

MORE than 30 firefighters were 

called to Salford City Stadium 

after a plane crash landed into the 

turnstile area injuring scores of 

people. 

Thankfully it was just an exercise 

held on Wednesday, November 7, 

to test fire crews, airport and 

stadium staff - the casualties with 

32 

G R E A T 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 3 2 0 1 2 / 1 3

varying injuries were played by 

actors. 

Station Manager Paul Smitham 

said: “The exercise was planned 

in conjunction with staff at what 

was Barton Aerodrome so we 

used it to test GMFRS crews at 

the same time. 

“The scenario was that City 

Airport had lost contact with this 

light aircraft. The first job for the 

crews was to locate the plane 

which they found next to the 

stadium near the turnstiles. 

“It was quite feasible because the 

stadium is on the flight path so it 

was a great way to test everyone 

to prepare for any genuine 

emergency.” 

Fire engines from Eccles, Salford, 

Irlam, Atherton and Sale fire 

stations were called to the crash 

working alongside City Airport Fire 

Service and partners from North 

West Ambulance Service and 

Greater Manchester Police. 

SALFORDPLANECRASHEXERCISE 

With 40,000 aircraft taking off 

from City Airport and Heliport 

every year, the exercise also gave 

staff there as well as at Salford 

City Stadium chance to test their 

emergency procedures. 

GMFRS work with Salford 

Lads Club 

SALFORD Lads Club has always 

been iconic, but its young people 

are looking to the future and are 

turning to firefighters as role 

models. 

Since the summer of 2011, 

GMFRS crews have been 

consistently engaging with 

teenagers at the Ordsall club 

which celebrates its 110th 

anniversary soon. 

Watch Manager Matt Keogh said: 

“For the first time, Green Watch 

recently invited a Salford Lads 

Club group down to the start of a 

night shift at Salford Fire Station 

and they really seemed to enjoy 

being on station with us after 

we’d joined them at the club so 

many times. 

“They joined us for the parade at 

the start of the shift and were 

involved in checking the fire 

engines and we also did a couple 

of hose drills with them. 

“We also got them playing the 

parts of casualties and cut them 

out of a car on the station-yard in 

a bid to teach them about road 

safety.” 

SALFORDLADSCLUB 

Since 2011 all four watches at 

Salford Fire Station have been 

involved in building relationships 

with the young people from the 

club. 

Niall Armsden, a volunteer at 

Salford Lads Club said: “It’s been 

great having the firefighters come 

down and work with our young 

people. 

“The visit made them think of their 

futures and some of them were 

speaking to the firefighters about 

career advice. They’ve all learnt 

new things about fire and road 

safety and what GMFRS 

firefighters and staff do other than 

put out fires. 

Coffee morning raises money 

at Irlam Fire Station 

A MORNING coffee at Irlam Fire 

Station was all for a good cause 

recently as members of the 

community dropped in for a break 

while raising money for charity. 

A C T I V I T y R E P O R T Q 3 2 0 1 2 / 1 3 G R E A T 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


Salford 


Firefighters were joined by around 

50 people including partners from 

Irlam and Cadishead Health 

Improvement Service to have a 

brew and a snack as part of the 

World’s Biggest Coffee Morning – 

organised by Macmillan Cancer 

Support. 

Firefighter Dave Pike said: “So 

many people came, we had 

mums and toddlers through to 

some more experienced 

members of our community – it 

was really nice. 

“Irlam Fire Station is now used 

every day by different community 

groups and the coffee morning 

was an opportunity for members 

of the public who wouldn’t 

normally come into the station to 

meet the crews and see how 

much the station has become an 

integral part of the community. 

“It was great to work with 

partners from the Health 

Improvement Service to raise 

money for such a great cause. 

“Altogether we got £92.78 and 

the coffee morning also gave us 

the opportunity to offer fire safety 

advice and book a number of 

Home Safety Checks and we 

hope it’ll become an annual 

event.” 

IRLAMCOFFEEMORNING 


SALFORDPLANECRASHEXERCISE 


35


Stockport 

Whitehill, Stockport, Cheadle, Offerton and Marple 



date 







0 0 0 3 


Injuries 30 24 11 28 




collisions 

62 0 14 59 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

226.0 


hours 

307.0 


hours 

53.0 












Home Safety 

Checks 



196 







Stuart Millington 

Borough Manager Stockport 

S20 WHITEHILL 

S21 STOCKPORT S24 MARPLE 

S23 OFFERTON 

S22 CHEADLE 

Stuart Millington 

 

0161 608 5420 

millingtons@manchesterfire.gov.uk 


Walter Brett 

Labour 

Wendy Meikle 

Lib Dem 

Lisa Walker 

Conservative 

Borough News 

Marple prepared for winter at 

Fire and Flu Day 

MARPLE Fire Station is a hub of 

community activities but recently 

the crews put themselves at the 

heart of an important event 

elsewhere to help the town’s 

residents. 

Firefighters took part in the annual 

Fire and Flu Day at the Cottage 

Surgery in Marple where more 

than 600 people turned up to 

have their annual flu jab. 

Watch Manager Simon Dowling 

said: “More than 600 ‘at risk’ 

residents attended their local 

clinic to receive their annual flu 

jabs. 

“Along with a hot cup of tea, all 

residents were invited to have a 

look at a wide variety of services 

on offer to them including NHS 

Patient Forum, Stockport Age UK, 

Sign Post and Solutions SK 

delivery of Meals on Wheels. 

“A number of Home Safety 

Checks were generated and a 

variety of fire safety advice also 

given to residents who attended.” 

The event was also an 

opportunity for the different 


37


Stockport 

Whitehill, Stockport, Cheadle, Offerton and Marple 

agencies to get an insight into 

each other’s work and find out 

how they work to help the same 

people. 

Simon added: “The Marple crew 

were also able to taste the new 

food menu provided by Meals on 

Wheels and a two-course lunch 

was warmly received on what was 

a chilly day!” 

Stockport team in Drive 2 Live 

drama for students 

THE moment someone loses 

control of a car can be the same 

moment that someone loses their 

life. 

Stockport students were asked to 

imagine how they would feel as a 

driver in that split second during a 

day of activities to make them 

think differently about driving. 

GMFRS played a huge role in 

making a real impact on sixth 

formers at Aquinas College on the 

Drive 2 Live day in December. 

The day started with a play about 

a group of young people who are 

involved in a collision and was 

followed by a shocking 

demonstration from Whitehill and 

Offerton’s Blue Watch firefighters 

that showed the full horror of what 

it’s like to be trapped in a car after 

a collision. 

DRIvE2LIvEWORKSHOPINStOCKPORt 

GMFRS Community Safety 

Advisor Oliver Harrison said: “The 

day was a great success and the 

students engaged with us and the 

subject really well.” 

Stockport wild garden tamed 

by young offenders 

A WILD and overgrown area of 

Stockport Fire Station has been 

transformed by a group of young 

offenders and it is hoped it will 

open doors to other projects. 

Five young people and their 

Restorative Justice officer spent 

three consecutive Saturdays 

making the thorny overgrown 

former vegetable patch ready for 

planting next spring. 

Station Manager Chris Mycock 

said: “About six years ago the 

crews at Stockport created their 

own green space at the side of 

the station which incorporated a 

greenhouse, patio area, chicken 

run and vegetable garden, partly 

for their own enjoyment and partly 

to engage with local primary 

schools as part of the Stockport 

Schools Healthy Eating 

Programme.” 

“The garden had become 

overgrown with bushes, weeds 

and a particularly prolific 

Japanese Wine Berry bush - nice 

fruit but deadly thorns - which 

appeared to be intent on taking 

over every part of the area.” 


The area came to the attention of 

local Restorative Justice Officer 

Brian Pendlebury, from the 

Stockport Youth Offending Team 

(YOT), when he looked at the 

community room as a possible 

place to run a scheme and asked 

if there was any space outside to 

use as a break out area. 

“Brian’s eyes lit up as he saw the 

area,” said Chris. “He thought 

they could really do something 

about it.” 

yOUNGOFFENDERStAMEGARDEN 

Stockport firefighters help 

make Lapland wishes come 

true for children 

A YEAR of fundraising came to a 

magical conclusion for Stockport 

firefighters when they waved off a 

group of children flying out to 

spend a day in Lapland. 

Crews members from Stockport 

stations spend countless hours 

each year raising money for When 

You Wish Upon A Star. 

They always go and wave the 

youngsters off – but this year was 

extra special as one of the 

firefighters, Kev Downey, was 

offered the opportunity to go 

along on the trip to support the 

group. 

Kev said: “If we are going to raise 

any money, we do it for Wish 

Upon a Star and that goes 

towards taking them to Lapland. 

“We normally go to the airport 

and wave them off with the Corrie 

stars and all sorts of other people 

– but this time I got invited to go 

with them as a helper and it was 

brilliant!” 

At 5am on Wednesday, 

December 12, 102 children 

arrived at Manchester Airport to 

the beautiful voices of the airport’s 

very own choir. 

Waving off the group were Huw 

Crosby, also from Stockport Fire 

Station, and Simon Harrison and 

Steve Wood, from Whitehill Fire 

Station, Community Safety 

Advisor Wendy Hall and GMFRS 

Mascot Cracker. 

CRACKERANDStOCKPORtFIREFIGHtERSWAvE 

CHILDRENOFFONtHEIRLAPLANDADvENtURE 


39


Tameside 

Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Mossley and Hyde 



date 







1 0 0 2 


Injuries 27 27 10 31 




collisions 

45 0 18 42 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

138.0 


hours 

97.0 


hours 

20.3 












Home Safety 

Checks 



241 







Jon Heydon 

Borough Manager Tameside 

E41 MOSSLEY 

E39 ASHTON 

E40 STALYBRIDGE 

E42 HYDE 

Jon Heydon 

 

0161 609 1627 

heydonj@manchesterfire.gov.uk 


John Bell 

Conservative 

Barrie Holland 

Labour 

Michael Smith 

Labour 

Borough News 

Mossley becomes a Fairtrade 

station 

THE town of Mossley might be 

thousands of miles away from the 

developing countries of the world 

– but local firefighters are doing 

their bit to help improve 

conditions overseas. 

The station now only uses 

Fairtrade products where possible 

and is actively encouraging 

residents to do the same. 

Crews have been recognised by 

the town council for joining the 

town’s Fairtrade campaign and 

have been awarded a certificate 

for their efforts. 

Firefighter Nuala Bardsley, from 

the station’s Blue Watch, said: 

“Mossley, as a community station, 

now actively encourages Fairtrade 

products and issues into events 

which regularly take place here. 

“We will also participate and 

support Fairtrade events in the 

Mossley community and, through 

our regular contact with the 

councillors, Marie Milne and Val 

Carter, will be able to keep up-todate 

with such events. 


41


Tameside 

Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Mossley and Hyde 

So crews from all Tameside 

stations tested themselves when 

they got young people from 

GMFRS-run programmes to act 

as casualties in a realistic training 

exercise. 

(LtoR)FIREFIGHtERSBARDSLEy,COUNCILLOR 

vALCARtER,COUNCILLORMARIEMILNEAND 

StAtIONMANAGERMICKROtHWELL 

“Of course there is something else 

in this for us - such involvement 

direct with the public will also 

allow the station to talk to people 

about safety, offer them advice 

and support to reduce the risk of 

fires and offer them Home Safety 

Checks. 

“February is a recognised 

designated National Fairtrade 

Month and we’ll be getting 

involved in various events that are 

due to take place. 

“Fairtrade also recognises 

GMFRS’ need as an organisation 

to encourage sustainability and 

eco-friendly issues.” 

Tameside firefighters’ 

decontamination training 

THE terror of putting frightened 

members of the public through 

decontamination is something 

that firefighters have to be 

prepared for. 

Firefighters from Mossley, 

Stalybridge, Ashton and Hyde fire 

stations took part in the training 

which allowed them to use stateof-the-art 

mass decontamination 

equipment. 

Watch Manager Alan Hall, from 

Mossley Fire Station's Blue 

Watch, said: "It's really difficult for 

these type of exercises to be 

realistic if people know what’s 

coming so we got young people 

from our Prince's Trust course to 

help. 

"Whether we're looking at the 

potential of dealing with a weapon 

of mass destruction or a chemical 

spill, there’s a process we have to 

put people through and they can 

react in unexpected ways." 

The young people underwent full 

Wet Decontamination - where 

those thought to have been 

contaminated have to disrobe, 

enter decontamination unit to 

shower and be cleaned off by 

firefighters and are moved on to a 

robing area. 

Special packs containing a 

tracksuit and trainers are then 

given to those who have been 

affected because their clothes 

would have been contaminated. 

DECONtAMINAtIONtRAINING 

Ashton Greens tackle Everest 

for charity 

ASHTON Green Watch took on a 

mammoth task at the end of 

November by scaling Mount 

Everest. 

Not literally - but instead tackling 

almost thirty thousand feet 

running up and down their 

ladders outside Ashton Town Hall. 

Kind-hearted firefighters from 

Tameside tackled the distance of 

Mount Everest to raise money for 

Tameside Hospital’s children’s 

ASHtONFIREFIGHtERS’CHARItyCLIMB 


ward and The Fire Fighters 

Charity. 

The crews scaled 29,029ft – the 

height world’s highest mountain 

stands at - by climbing the tallest 

ladder on their fire engine in 

relays. 

Firefighter Lee Underwood, one of 

the members of the watch who 

organised the event, said: “I was 

thinking about all the kids in 

hospital over Christmas and the 

idea was to do something to 

make sure that each child had a 

present – however, when we 

looked into it, we realised that the 

hospital needs more permanent 

things to make the stay in hospital 

better. 

“We wanted to raise money they 

can use for equipment and 

improving the facilities as well as 

getting local businesses to donate 

things for the children.” 

Training exercise at Ashton 

SPECIALIST skills were brought 

together when Ashton’s Blue 

Watch hosted a training exercise 

on the station. 

Crews were faced with a dramatic 

scenario where a car had plunged 

into a working trench, pinning a 

worker underneath the car and 

trapping the driver inside. 

The two regular crews and 

Enhanced Rescue Unit (ERU) 

were joined by 13 members of the 

ASHtONtRAININGEXERCISE 

USAR team, including four 

colleagues from Lancashire Fire 

and Rescue Service, and four 

members of the North West 

Ambulance Service Hazardous 

Area Response Team (HART). 

Watch Manager Mick Bloomfield 

said: “The objectives were to use 

the correct trench collapse 

procedures and familiarise crews 

with the USAR team and their 

specialist equipment. 

“We stabilised the car, made a 

safe cell – which is the correct 

procedure to deal with a trench 

collapse – and, from that point, 

accessed the casualties. 

“I’m in the USAR team and 

wanted to incorporate them into 

something we were doing on 

station and this was an 

opportunity to combine that with 

the HART team and their skills as 

well.” 


43


Trafford 

Stretford, Sale and Altrincham 



date 







3 0 2 3 






collisions 

54 0 19 45 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

482.0 


hours 

131.5 


hours 

48.5 












Home Safety 

Checks 



285 







Andy Dugdale 

Borough Manager Trafford 

S11 SALE 

S12 ALTRINCHAM 

S10 STRETFORD 

Andy Dugdale 

 

0161 608 9227 

dugdalea@manchesterfire.gov.uk 


David Acton 

Labour 

Dylan Butt 

Conservative 

David Higgins 

Conservative 

Borough News 

Stretford Open Day 

SNOW fell in Stretford in 

December thanks to GMFRS. 

Hundreds of people attended 

Stretford Fire Station’s Open Day 

on Sunday, December 16, where 

the station yard was transformed 

into a magical winter wonderland. 

The event, organised by Blue 

Watch Crew Manager Damian 

Keenaghan, featured the GMFRS 

parade engine which pumped out 

fake snow and Christmas songs, 

as well as specialist units from 

with the Service and other 

emergency response services. 

Cracker the GMFRS mascot 

entertained children and 

Christmas fire safety messages 

created by the 2nd Urmston 

Scouts were put on display. 

Stretford Station Manager Ben 

Levy said: “Although in recent 

years our annual station Open 

Day has grown into the 

Emergency Services Open Day at 

The Trafford Centre, we still 

wanted to hold a smaller scale, 

locally-themed community event 

here at Stretford.” 


45


Trafford 

Stretford, Sale and Altrincham 

Dunham Massey salvage 

exercise 

GMFRS joined forces with staff 

and volunteers of the National 

Trust to take part in a salvage 

exercise at Dunham Massey Hall, 

Altrincham. 

Dunham Hall is a stately home 

which was built in 1616 and is of 

significant historical importance. 

The two organisations teamed up 

to learn how to work together in 

the event of a large incident. 

Training exercises take place 

annually to ensure that all National 

Trust staff and volunteers who 

operate at Dunham Hall know 

exactly which of their many 

valuable, and in some cases 

priceless, artefacts need to be 

EXERCISEAtDUNHAMMASSEy 

protected in the event of an 

emergency situation such as a 

fire. 

Crew Manager Andy Graham, 

from Blue Watch Altrincham, 

organised GMFRS’ involvement in 

the exercise and drafted in 

support from crews at Sale, 

Wythenshawe and Salford fire 

stations. 

Crews had to deal with a 

simulated fire in the kitchens of 

the hall. 

Operation Stay Safe 

VOLUNTEERS got right into the 

heart of the community when they 

took part in a multi-agency 

operation aimed at young people 

in Trafford. 

Four members of the GMFRS 

Community Action Team (CAT) 

joined police officers and staff 

from Trafford Youth Offending 

Team when they visited four 

different areas of the borough for 

Operation Stay Safe. 

The aim of the operation was to 

engage with as many young 

people as possible, giving them 

advice on how to stay safe and 

out of trouble and, in particular, 

how to protect themselves and 

avoid antisocial behaviour in the 

run-up to Hallowe’en and Bonfire 

Night. 

Armed with multi-media gadgets 

such as iPads, the teams went 

out into the community to chat to 


Altrincham Blue Watch raised 

more than £140 for the cause 

which aims to raise awareness 

and funds for male cancers. 

On Friday, November 30, barber 

Tekin Dogruk visited Altrincham 

Fire Station with his cut-throat 

razor and shaving kit. 

The hairdresser set up shop in the 

engine house and shaved off the 

moustaches of Altrincham Crew 

Manager Andy Graham, from Blue 

Watch, and Stretford Firefighter 

Jon Carter, from Red Watch, free 

of charge as his contribution to 

the campaign. 

Movember is a national craze 

which sees men grow their 

moustaches throughout the 

month of November to raise 

awareness of cancers that solely 

affect men, and raise funds for 

cancer charities. 

vOLUNtEERMARKLOWEDURINGOPERAtIONStAySAFE 

young people and show them 

hard-hitting presentations. 

The large people-carriers with 

blacked-out windows the teams 

were travelling in also attracted 

curious youths who wanted to 

see what was going on. 

CAT Volunteer Mark Lowe said: 

“It’s the first time that we’ve used 

digital media in this way and the 

first time the fire service has taken 

a lead in the operation and the 

youngsters were a lot more 

engaged.” 

Movember 

FIREFIGHTERS who took part in 

Movember said goodbye to their 

moustaches when a local barber 

visited the fire station for a 

ceremonious shave-off. 

MOvEMBER 


47


Wigan 

Wigan, Hindley, Atherton and Leigh 



date 


Total deliberate fires 648 954 193 1,057 





4 0 1 5 






collisions 

69 0 22 55 

Volunteers 


Oct 


Nov 


Dec 


hours 

519.0 


hours 

357.0 


hours 

306.1 












Home Safety 

Checks 



183 







Steve Sheridan 

Borough Manager Wigan 

W54 WIGAN 

W55 HINDLEY 

W57 LEIGH 

W56 ATHERTON 

Steve Sheridan 

 

01942 650 127 

sheridas@manchesterfire.gov.uk 


Jim Ellis 

Independent 

John O’Brien 

Labour 

Fred Walker 

Labour 

Borough News 

Kickz project in Atherton 

YOUNG people learning football 

skills with Wigan Athletic got a 

kick out of gaining a unique 

insight into GMFRS when they 

paid a visit to Atherton Fire 

Station. 

Six young people aged between 

10 and 13 were given a guided 

tour by members of Blue Watch 

before being given a chance to 

wear breathing apparatus and 

search for people inside the 

station. 

Crew Manager Mark Anderson 

said: “We’ve been working with 

Wigan Athletic’s Kickz scheme for 

more than 12 months so we 

thought we’d give the young 

people a chance to experience a 

day in the life of a firefighter, 

because like footballers, 

firefighters can be seen as good 

role models. 

“The whole watch engaged with 

them on the station and chatted 

to them about fire safety, water 

safety and other dangers to 

young people in today’s society 

like drink driving and antisocial 

behaviour. 


49


Wigan 

Wigan, Hindley, Atherton and Leigh 

KICKZPROJECt 

“But we also gave them a number 

of practical scenarios. Wearing 

breathing apparatus like we do in 

house fires and black out goggles 

to reduce their sight, they had to 

search for casualties in the same 

way we do. They really seemed to 

enjoy it and at the end they all got 

a certificate.” 

GMFRS’ Children and Young 

People Manager Katie Davis said: 

“Fire stations are at the heart of 

communities in Greater 

Manchester and by engaging with 

young people in this way they 

become our advocates. 

“At GMFRS we want to increase 

the employability of young people 

and in the last 12 months more 

than 2,000 young people have 

gained accreditation from our 

schemes. We’re now looking at 

working with Kickz projects in 

other areas of Greater 

Manchester.” 

Wheelie bin poster 

competition 

AN ELEVEN-year-old boy’s art 

skills are to highlight the dangers 

of deliberate wheelie bin fires to 

the people of Wigan thanks to a 

partnership between GMFRS and 

a community art project. 

Kayle Brennan won a competition 

to design a poster that has been 

made into a huge banner 

designed to help reduce antisocial 

behaviour. It comes after White 

Watch firefighters from Wigan Fire 

Station attended Art2Art, a 

creative art youth club at 

Sunshine House Community 

Centre in the Scholes, Wigan. 

Kayle, a Year 7 pupil at Rose 

Bridge High School in Ince, said: 

“It was a real surprise to have my 

poster made into a massive big 

thing - I’ve been going to Art2Art 

for a year because I really like art 

at school and when the 

firefighters came down it got me 

thinking. 

“I’ve seen a bin fire, with all the 

plastic melted down and I know 

some kids think setting fire to bins 

is cool but it’s really not - because 

it can be really dangerous.” 

Watch Manager Martyn Smith 

said: “As a watch we wanted to 

work with the young people at 

Art2Art and we were able to talk 

to them about fire safety and 

some of the problems we can 

have when people deliberately set 

fire to wheelie bins. 

“Kayle’s poster was really clever – 

all of White Watch loved his 

slogan: ‘Setting fire to bins is 

wheelie dumb’ – it’s really catchy 

and will hopefully hit home with 

his peers, so that we can get on 

with doing our job – being there to 

protect people and prevent and 

respond to fires.” 

WHEELIEBINPOStERCOMPEtItION 

Drink Drive Campaign 

launched in Wigan 

A DRINK driver trying to flee the 

scene of a car crash was arrested 

and breathalysed during the 

Winter Drink Drive Campaign 

launch in Wigan. 

But thankfully, it was all part of a 

multi-agency drama presentation 

involving all 999 partners in Wigan 

town centre on Saturday, 

December 1. 

Wigan MP Lisa Nandy was there 

to see actors from Wigan and 

Leigh College playing the parts of 

a young drink driver and her friends. 


Green Watch firefighters cut 

casualties from the wreckage 

during a presentation narrated by 

Crew Manager Simon Connor. 

Borough Manager Steve Sheridan 

said: “Wigan’s Drink Drive launch 

was a great example of 

partnership working. 

“Wigan and Leigh College 

performing arts students put a 

script together and our drink 

driver fled the scene but was 

breathalysed and arrested by 

local police. 

“The Community Safety Team did 

a fantastic job of organising 

GMFRS’ involvement and the 

Community Action Team of 

volunteers were there to support 

on the day along with Fire 

Authority Councillors. 

“The event ran for several hours 

and thousands of shoppers 

passed by with hundreds of them 

stopping to watch – some of 

them even thought it was real, 

which is great because it means 

the drink drive message is getting 

through.” 

Champion athlete supports 

Treacle campaign with X Zone 

launch 

WORLD Champion athlete Jenny 

Meadows supported GMFRS’ 

bonfire and firework safety 

campaign by helping to launch a 

new weekly sports club for 

teenagers at Hindley Fire Station. 

The station yard is to become a 

hub of activity every Friday 

following the launch of a new X 

Zone club in conjunction with 

Hindley Leisure Centre 

and Wigan Leisure 

and Culture Trust. 

(WLCT) 

Station Manager Paul 

Sumner said: 

“Working with Wigan 

Council and WLCT we 

want to provide lots of 

fun physical things for 

the young people of 

Hindley to do on a 

Friday night. 

great to have Jenny down for the 

launch.” 

The X Zone activities are funded 

by national charity StreetGames 

and the launch coincided with the 

Treacle campaign designed to 

promote a happy and safe bonfire 

period by educating young people 

on staying safe and offering 

diversionary activities so they are 

not tempted to get involved in 

antisocial behaviour. 

Jenny, who was born in Wigan 

and is 800 metre champion, said: 

“Any young people we see here at 

AtHLEtEJENNyMEADOWSSUPPORtSCAMPAIGN 

DRINKDRIvECAMPAIGNLAUNCHED 

“As part of the 

partnership between our 

community fire station and the 

leisure centre round the corner 

they’ll be able to take part in 

activities including football, 

climbing, boxing, dance and other 

sports every week. 

“At the launch firefighters chatted 

to the young people about bonfire 

and firework safety and it was 

Hindley Fire Station with real 

talent will be referred on to Wigan 

Harriers. 

"This is how I got into running, by 

getting involved with events like 

this and doing running at school, 

so it's a pleasure to come along 

support a new generation of 

young people who could be our 

next athletics stars." 


51


Treacle launch 

A DEDICATED task force 

designed to keep people safe 

during the Hallowe’en and bonfire 

season was launched on Monday, 

October 15 - the day fireworks 

legally went on sale. 

Treacle hubs were set up in 10 

areas as part of a partnership to 

prevent, tackle and protect 

against antisocial behaviour, 

criminal damage and reducing 

incidents and injuries during the 

period. 

Area Manager Dave Keelan, 

GMFRS’ Head of Prevention, 

said: “As Bonfire Night 

approached we wanted everyone 

to enjoy it safely and we worked 

with partners to make that 

happen - so there were Treacle 

task forces in every area of 

Greater Manchester, consisting of 

firefighters, police officers and 

Trading Standards. 

“From October 15 it was legal to 

sell fireworks with the correct 

LAUNCHOFtREACLE 

licence or registration until 

November 13, and GMFRS’ fire 

protection officers visited 

premises storing them to check 

people were complying with 

regulations. 

“Our firefighters and community 

safety teams visited schools to 

talk to children about the dangers 

of fireworks and encouraged 

them and their parents to go to 

organised Bonfire events. 

“Each Treacle hub consisted of 

GMFRS fire protection officers 

and firefighters alongside 

antisocial behaviour teams, police 

officers and Trading Standards - 

all helping the people of Greater 

Manchester to have a safe and 

enjoyable bonfire season.” 

The partnership hubs - based in 

each borough of Greater 

Manchester - formed the 

dedicated Treacle task force. 

People were able to follow Treacle 

news on Twitter #OpTreacle. 

Recycling company fined 

thousands 

A RECYCLING firm in Bolton was 

fined thousands of pounds for 

unlawfully storing large amounts 

of flammable materials. 

Armstrong’s Environmental 

Services in Horwich was fined 

£5,658.20 after pleading guilty at 

Bolton Magistrates’ Court to four 

charges of having excessive sized 

stacks of wood and woodchip at 

its site in Chorley New Road. 

Magistrates imposed fines of 

£475 for each offence plus 

£3743.20 costs and a £15 victim 

surcharge on Wednesday, 

October 24. 

In October 2010, following an 

application, the company was 

granted consent to increase the 

size of stacks of wood, such as 

chippings, in stacks no bigger 

than 20 metres in any direction, 

seven metres high and 2,500 

cubic metres in volume. 

The vast quantities of wood are 

highly flammable and the Greater 

Manchester Act 1981 states that 

the company must obtain consent 

from GMFRA to store the 

materials. 

Following an inspection of the site 

by GMFRS in January 2012, 

Armstrong’s was given a deadline 

to reduce the size of its stacks. A 

few months later GMFRS 

inspectors discovered that there 

were still four stacks exceeding 

the permitted size. 

Some were in excess of 40 

metres in length and all were 

approximately 10 metres high 

with volumes varying from 

4,000m3 to 25,000m3 with no 

adequate breaks between the 

stacks. 

The company has been 

prosecuted under the 1981 Act 


twice before, most recently in 

2008 after a fire occurred. 

Chair of the Bench, Edith Conn, 

told Armstrong’s: “There was a 

great deal of risk to the 

community, a great deal of risk to 

the fire service and a great deal of 

risk to the environment.” 

Apprenticeship launch 

ALAN Sugar has nothing on 

GMFRS – as the Service aims to 

give hope to jobless young people 

when it launched a new 

apprenticeship scheme in 

October. 

(LtoR)COMMUNItySAFEtyADvISORAPPRENtICES 

CHRIStOON,GARyMANvILLE,FRANCESCA 

MARtINELLAANDGREGBRUNt 

An enthusiastic 12-strong group 

took their first steps on the career 

ladder as they started with 

GMFRS in the first apprenticeship 

scheme offered by the Service in 

conjunction with Salford City 

College and the National 

Apprentice Service. 

The apprentices are young people 

who have already had some 

contact with GMFRS, for example 

through the Prince's Trust 

courses, cadets and Firefly 

following a targeted recruitment 

campaign. 

To support them through the 

application process, GMFRS even 

put on a 10-day pre-recruitment 

course to give them an 

understanding and learn about 

working with people in the 

communities they would serve as 

well as meeting a Community 

Safety Advisor already in the job, 

so they knew exactly what the 

role entails. 

Caitlin Alcock who is just 16- 

years-old, is one of the 12 young 

people who have started their first 

steps on the career ladder in the 

apprenticeship scheme. 

Having been a Community Fire 

Cadet with GMFRS in Farnworth 

for three years, Caitlin’s 

involvement with the Service is 

particularly poignant after her 19- 

year-old cousin Daniel was 

tragically killed in an accident. 

She said: “Ever since I’ve wanted 

to work for the Fire Service, so 

getting this apprenticeship just 

after leaving school has been 

great.” 

In her first week working with the 

Community Fire Safety team, 

Caitlin helped colleagues deliver 

bonfire and firework safety talks to 

school children and at the 

Deanery High School she helped 

deliver a drama workshop about 

the risks of starting bin fires. 

She also attended an event aimed 

at women at a Bolton Community 

Centre. Caitlin said: “The women’s 

event was an eye-opener for me, 

it was aimed at the Asian 

community and it was all about 

giving the ladies fire safety advice 

CAItLINWItHCOMMUNItySAFEtyADvISOR 

JAREDBLACK 

to take home and information 

about how their loose clothing 

can catch fire.” 

Fireworks seized in Oldham as 

part of Treacle 

A QUANTITY of fireworks were 

seized from a hardware shop in 

Oldham for being stored illegally. 

The haul came on Thursday, 

October 18 - just three days after 

fireworks went on legal sale. 

A GMFRS officer was called to 

Shaw during joint firework 

inspections carried out by Trading 

Standards and Greater 


53


Manchester Police (GMP) as part 

of the Treacle campaign. 

Area Manager Geoff Harris, Head 

of Protection Services said: 

“Around 100kg of fireworks were 

taken away for being illegally 

packed and stored in the shop. 

“Some were out on top of a 

cabinet near to combustible 

materials and more fireworks were 

stored upstairs in a similar way 

with incorrect signage. 

“As Bonfire Night approached 

GMFRS worked in partnership 

with GMP and Trading Standards 

to ensure that anyone applying or 

registering for a licence was 

complying with regulations.” 

vOLUNtEERSRICKLEICEStERANDDALEMURRAy 

Under the Manufacture and 

Storage of Explosives Regulations 

2005, anyone storing fireworks 

must hold a licence or registration 

and store them in a safe manner. 

Volunteers praised for quickthinking 

that helped collision 

victim 

TWO GMFRS volunteers have 

been praised for their quickthinking 

that helped a man 

trapped in a car at the scene of a 

collision in Salford. 

The GMFRS Post Incident Team 

(PIT) members were on their way 

back from helping out clean-up at 

the home of someone who had 

suffered a fire when they came 

across the collision. 

Showing the can-do attitude of 

regular staff and firefighters, Rick 

Leicester and Dale Murray 

stopped to see if there was 

anything they could do when they 

spotted two cars had collided on 

Belverdere Road, Salford. 

Rick and Dale provided invaluable 

support to the police officer 

helping out with the injured 

people and protecting the scene 

until more help arrived. 

Watch Manager Neil Mercer from 

Salford Fire Station was part of 

the crew that went out shortly 

after to help free the man trapped 

in the car and was impressed with 

what Rick and Dale did before 

firefighters arrived. 

He said: "I can't praise their initial 

actions enough. Their 

professionalism was excellent and 

they proved to be a great help to 

me. 

"Their willingness to help and their 

enthusiasm were second to none. 

"One of them maintained c-spine 

control of the driver while the 

other helped the police and 

paramedics and me when I 

arrived. He gathered all the 

relevant information and helped 

set up outer cordons amongst 

other things.” 

Both crews from Salford Fire 

Station went out to the collision 

on Thursday, October 18 at 5pm 

and got the 42-year-old man out 

of the car. 


Volunteers to give GMFRS a 

hand 

OCTOBER saw the launch of a 

new campaign to recruit more 

volunteers at GMFRS. 

The volunteer section of the 

Service’s website was rebranded 

and refreshed to showcase the 

work that volunteers carry out 

with specific strands of 

volunteering work available 

outlined. 

Just one area on the site is ‘meet 

our volunteers’ where current 

volunteer profiles are displayed. 

Potential volunteers can find lots 

of useful information about the 

role and plenty of reasons to jump 

on board. 

‘Hands On’ is featured throughout 

the campaign with a distinctive 

giant hand – that was designed to 

encourage people to ‘give us a 

hand’ by applying to become a 

GMFRS volunteer. 

The various areas of volunteering 

work on offer means that many 

experienced community members 

with a whole range of skills have 

been attracted. 

GMFRS now has a record 

number of volunteers of more 

than 500 - meaning that the 

Service is well ahead of targets. 

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Peter 

O’Reilly, said: “GMFRS’ team of 

volunteers is designed to enhance 

the work carried out by firefighters 

and staff, and also provides 

people from across Greater 

Manchester the opportunity to 

enhance their CVs and build up 

skills and attributes that would be 

attractive to future employers.” 

Alcohol Awareness at the 

GMFRS bar 

DOZENS of staff from across 

GMFRS were on the guest list for 

an alcohol free bar at FSHQ as 

part of Alcohol Awareness Week. 

It was part of an awareness 

session held in the Phoenix Room 

on Friday, November 23 between 

9.30am and 12.30pm. 

GMFRS’ Substance Use Coordinator 

Sarah Hardman said: 

“We had red and white wine, 

cider and beer – all alcohol free - 

and the session proved really 

popular with staff from different 

boroughs from across GMFRS. 

“It wasn’t just about drinks tasting 

– there was lots of information 

given about units, calories and 

risk and it was the perfect 

opportunity to talk about drinking. 

“Alcohol Awareness Week started 

on Monday, November 19 and 

was led by Alcohol Concern but 

because alcohol is a contributory 

factor at 40 per cent of accidental 

fire deaths it was great to use the 

week as an opportunity to make 

staff aware of issues and we got a 

really nice mixture of people with 

a range of interests and views on 

alcohol.” 

ALCOHOLAWARENESSWEEK-SUBStANCEUSE 

COORDINAtORPOURSDRINKSFORCOLLEAGUES 

Among those present and trying 

some alcohol free cider was 

GMFRS apprentice Community 

Safety Advisor Peter Ashton, who 

is based in Stockport and 

Tameside. 

Sampling some alcohol free cider, 

he said: “It’s actually quite nice it 

tastes like actual cider. 

“It was a really informative 

morning and it was quite 

shocking to find out how many 

units are in some drinks and how 

those units and calories really add 

up.” 

ALCOHOLAWARENESSWEEK-SESSIONAtFSHQ 


55

Children and Young People 

Prince’s Trust artwork unveiled 

A PIECE of art designed by more 

than 70 young people on Prince’s 

Trust teams has been unveiled to 

celebrate 10 years of the 

schemes being run by GMFRS. 

The artwork came together for the 

first time on Tuesday, December 

4, at GMFRS’ Training and 

Development Centre as the young 

people gathered for the unveiling. 

Organiser of the project, 

Stockport Prince’s Trust Team 

Leader Charlie Brown said: “After 

many months of planning and 

Greater Manchester, celebrating 

everything that the Prince’s Trust 

and GMFRS embody -things like 

instilling community pride and 

creating opportunities and 

motivated young people. 

“All the young people got creative 

with their boards at the same time 

as carrying out their community 

projects.” 

Derby High School pupils win 

radio project 

GOING onto frozen water is just 

as dangerous as walking into a 

burning building – that was the 

message from pupils at a Bury 

high school who featured on radio 

in December. 

The children, from Derby High 

School, were chosen as the 

winners of a project which saw 

them take to the airwaves to 

record a winter safety advert for 

GMFRS. 

and the two groups with the best 

adverts were invited into the 

studios to create an advert based 

on the theme of staying safe on 

the ice. 

The final two adverts were played 

to the whole school and pupils 

voted for their favourite – with the 

winning group being announced 

at a school assembly on 

Thursday, December 13. 

Children and Young People Coordinator 

Sarah Draper said: “The 

winning advert featured a bit of a 

role play which involved a girl 

trapped under the ice. The 

message was simple and effective 

– you wouldn’t go into a burning 

building so why go onto the ice? 

It’s just as dangerous.” 

Year 8 teacher Ruth Chadwick 

said: “They’ve all learned about 

the dangers of ice and all the 

adverts were really good. The 

ARtWORKUNvEILED 

weeks of creativity, it was fantastic 

to get the teams together as the 

artwork was joined up for the first 

time. 

“The idea was to create a piece of 

art to celebrate 10 years of 

Prince’s Trust programmes run by 

GMFRS. 

“Each of our seven teams 

designed their own board specific 

to their team in their area of 

The group had their 

advert played on 

Key 103 and Magic 

1152 for a week 

over the Christmas 

period so that as 

many people as 

possible could listen 

to the advice. 

A total of 48 children 

from Year 8 

recorded 12 different 

safety adverts when 

the Key 103 media 

bus visited their 

school in November, 

DERByHIGHSCHOOLPUPILS 


children have been showing their 

friends who didn’t take part and 

they’ve all been playing the 

adverts on their phones so the 

message has been spread 

throughout the school.” 

Beer goggles for Manchester 

Prince's Trust 

YOUNG people were given an 

insight into the effects of binge 

drinking with the help of some 

beer goggles at Manchester 

Central Fire Station as part of 

Alcohol Awareness week. 

MANCHEStERPRINCE’StRUSttEAMAtALCOHOL 

AWARENESSWORKSHOP 

The eight members of 

Manchester Prince’s Trust Team 

were treated to an Alcohol 

Awareness workshop by GMFRS. 

GMFRS’ Substance Abuse Coordinator, 

Sarah Hardman said: 

“Alcohol Awareness Week is led 

by Alcohol Concern and with 

alcohol a contributory factor in 40 

per cent of accidental fire deaths 

it’s the perfect opportunity to talk 

about drinking. 

“Often firefighters are called to 

fires caused by people having had 

a drink and then deciding to cook 

and leaving it unattended. 

“So Alcohol Awareness Week was 

the ideal time to educate the 

young people from GMFRS’ 

Prince’s Trust teams about 

alcohol and some of the risks it 

can pose.” 

Community Safety Advisor Janine 

Donbavand said: “We played the 

unit game and the young people 

were fascinated to find out how 

many units were in their preferred 

drinks, sometimes vastly under or 

over estimating it. 

“Many of them didn’t realise what 

the NHS constitutes as binge 

drinking and how risky it could be. 

“They enjoyed wearing the beer 

goggles, which made the wearer 

have blurry vision tinged with a 

fogginess that changed as they 

moved and tried to walk in a 

straight line. As they were 

completely sober, they found it 

really enlightening.” 

Leigh Cadets join forces with 

Real Radio 

LEIGH Community Fire Cadets 

got their hands dirty when 

GMFRS joined forces with Real 

Radio to make a difference to 

young families. 

As part of the Real Radio 

Breakfast Blag - run by breakfast 

LEIGHCADEtS 

show DJs Sam Walker and Lorna 

Bancroft – eight cadets took part 

in helping to renovate the 

community area and children’s 

playground of the Tots Plot in 

Astley on Saturday, November 24. 

GMFRS Cadet Instructor John 

Burns said: “It was an early start 

but we were one of the first 

groups to arrive at the Tots Plot. 

“Eight cadets and four of us 

instructors headed down and got 

started weeding and clearing out 

the raised beds that had become 

completely overgrown so that a 

garden centre could then replant 

the whole area. 

“They also painted the storage 

cabin and spent several hours 

improving things. Together with 

volunteers from businesses and 

the local community they 

completely improved the Tots Plot 

community centre. It was a really 

rewarding day for everyone 

involved and being part of the 

community is what GMFRS and 

our cadets are all about.” 


57

Training and Resilience 

Online driver courses for 

GMFRS staff 

AN ONLINE assessment has 

been developed for staff taking 

driving courses. 

The new Emergency Fire 

Appliance Driver (EFAD) and 

Mobile Officer Driver (MOD) 

courses will introduce a seven 

module pre-learning course. 

This will allow candidates to 

develop a theoretical 

understanding of response driving 

before they start the practical side 

of their courses. 

The modules consist of various 

interactions to aid learning 

including images where the user 

identifies the hazards, video clips 

and question and answer 

sections throughout. 

Online assessments will give 

feedback to help candidates 

identify their own development 

needs. 

GMFRS has enlisted the help of 

two experienced experts in 

developing this resource. 

Doctor Lisa Dorn, who teaches 

and researches the human 

aspects of driving at Cranfield 

University, provides the voiceover 

while Peter Rodgers, Chief 

Examiner for the Institute of 

Advance Motorists and previously 

a trainer for the Metropolitan 

Police, introduces each module. 

Anyone starting EFAD or MOD 

courses from February this year 

can expect to be using the new e- 

learning package. 

Technical Response Unit 

events 

TWO successful open evenings 

took place at the Training and 

Development Centre (TDC) for 

staff interested in applying for a 

role in GMFRS’ new Technical 

Response Unit (TRU). 

A total of 120 people attended 

the events which took place over 

two evenings in November that 

gave them a chance to find out 

more about the project and ask 

questions. 

The TRU scheme is being 

developed to bridge capability 

gaps that are currently not fully 

addressed by frontline fire 

appliances, such as collapsed 

structures, confined space 

incidents, line rescue, rescue of 

bariatric casualties, trench rescue, 

structural stability and trapped 

people. 

As part of this project, GMFRS will 

be introducing the TRU at two 

stations to improve the safety of 

both the public and operational 

crews. 

Research project with 

Huddersfield University 

GMFRS’ Training and 

Development Centre (TDC) began 

recruiting volunteers in November 

for a joint research project with 

Huddersfield University. 

The research is looking at training 

within GMFRS with the aim of 

identifying a link between training 

frequency and knowledge 

retention, progression and 

regression. 

The outcomes of the project will 

then assist in modelling future 

training within the Service. 

Operational staff, including those 

in specialist roles, were asked to 

volunteer to take part in the 

research project, which will 

comply with BERA (British 

Educational Research 

Association) guidelines. 

The first phase will involve an 

online knowledge check that will 

take a maximum of 30 minutes to 

complete, after which some 

candidates will be invited to take 

part in a focus group at TDC. 

Others may be asked to take part 

in a phone interview. 

Fire Authority members visit 

Leigh Technical 

FIRE Authority members got their 

hands dirty when they had a tour 

of the new Operational Training 

Academy and workshops at Leigh 

Technical Services Centre. 

Nine councillors from around 

Greater Manchester donned 

breathing apparatus and had a 


guided tour of the £1.4 million 

facilities on Thursday, October 11. 

Director of Finance, Ged Murphy 

said: “It was a fantastic 

opportunity for Greater 

Manchester Fire and Rescue 

Authority (GMFRA) councillors, 

both new and old, to see how the 

new facilities they approved 

benefit GMFRS and how the 

money has been spent.” 

The members examined the new 

bespoke training site, which 

includes a five-lane motorway 

simulation, a petrol tanker, 

chemical containers, a singledecker 

bus tipped on its side, a 

road traffic collision area, an 

animal rescue area and a 

bespoke area for sewer and 

trench rescues. 

As well as having a go at an RTC 

demonstration the members were 

also shown how BA sets are 

serviced and tested. 

During the visit the nine 

councillors also got a tour of 

workshops and learnt about how 

old appliances can be sustainably 

disposed of built and adapted. 

Head of Engineering and 

Technical Services John Collier 

said: “I explained that here at 

Leigh we have a one stop shop 

facility and we manage all 

appliances and equipment across 

GMFRS on site - from cradle to 

grave and is a flagship resource 

among fire services in the UK. 

“That includes 123 appliances, 

460 BA sets, 230 support 

vehicles, 170 chemical protection 

suits and much more, and all 

workshop staff are fully trained 

and accredited, and many of us 

started off as apprentices.” 

COUNCILLORSSHAUNO’NEILL,tOMMyJUDGE(vICE-CHAIR)ANDWALtERBREtt 


59

Corporate Communications 

Bonfire Live 

A 96-HOUR live Bonfire stream 

exposed the real work of 

firefighters and control room 

operators on their busiest night of 

the year. 

GMFRS’ Corporate 

Communications team launched 

Bonfire Live in the run up to 

November 5 to share the spike in 

workload and promote safety 

messages – and thousands 

tapped into the event via the live 

feed and social media platforms. 

There were more than 8,500 page 

views on the live feed which was 

featured on the Manchester Fire 

website and the Manchester 

Evening News – and when crew 

came under attack, followers 

vehemently supported the 

service. 

Shelley Wright, GMFRS’ Director 

of Corporate Communications, 

explained: “The team was in the 

999 control room reporting every 

incident and people first began 

engaging when youths across the 

county were being irresponsible 

with fireworks and fire. Our stream 

was hijacked with comments from 

people who were horrified by the 

behaviour of other people’s 

children – and started to issue 

safety messages of their own.” 

The team provided details of 

every incident during peak times – 

usually 4pm to 10pm but often 

later – between Friday, November 

2 and Monday, November 5, as 

well as details of the proactive 

community work being carried out 

across the service, safety advice, 

links to details of organised 

bonfire events, polls and quizzes. 

A photographer was also 

embedded with crews across 

Manchester posting photographs 

and footage of the work they were 

doing to Bonfire Live and 

Facebook. 

As a result, GMFRS received 

1,543 retweets and 1,961 

mentions over the week and on 

Facebook, 1,344 people shared 

stories, ‘liked’ the page, or 

commented on a post. 

Traditional media also played a 

huge part in publicising the 

Bonfire Live event as well as the 

more significant incidents over the 

weekend. 

Onion Bomb burns boys 

THE mother of a ten-year-old boy 

who suffered horrific burns when 

a firework exploded in his hands 

released a photograph of her son 

in hospital to spread the message 

of Bonfire safety. 

Just days before November 5, 

two boys suffered serious burns 

when the Onion Bomb – a highly 

explosive firework that is not 

legally on sale to the general 

public – exploded in Salford. 

With permission from the boys’ 

mothers, GMFRS’ Corporate 

Communications team released 

BOyBURNtByONIONBOMB 

the photo to the public and the 

media, along with an interview 

conducted with the mother of the 

other boy, 11-year-old Dale Scott. 

The two boys had been doing 

‘penny for a guy’ outside a shop 

with another boy, thought to be 

aged 14, shortly before the 

incident happened. 

Both boys were taken to the 

children’s burns unit at 

Manchester Royal Infirmary, 

suffering from serious burns to 

their face and hands. 

Later that night, the 14-year-old 

boy appeared at hospital with 

serious burns injuries and was 

transferred to Alder Hey Children’s 

Hospital. 

The story featured on local TV 

news programmes, online news 

sites, local and national 


newspapers including The Mirror 

and The Daily Mail, and also on 

ITV’s Loose Women. 

GMFRS scoops 

communications award 

GMFRS’ Corporate 

Communications department has 

won an award at the UK Public 

Sector Communications Awards 

for Crisis Communications 

Campaign of the Year. 

Following the tragic gas explosion 

in Shaw in June, GMFRS did 

comprehensive communications 

around the Service’s work during 

the emergency and afterwards as 

the community was getting back 

on its feet. 

The communications effort was 

recognised at the annual awards 

in November which highlights 

good practice among public 

sector organisations. 

Director of Corporate 

Communications, Shelley Wright, 

said: “In what was a tragic 

incident in which a young child 

died, the value of GMFRS having 

a dedicated Corporate 

Communications team was clear 

to see. 

“One of our team went to the 

scene and managed local, 

regional and national journalists, 

while the team in the Corporate 

Communications office at FSHQ 

answered hundreds of calls from 

members of the press. Another 

was in the Ops Room to feed in at 

a strategic level. 

“With the speed at which stories 

break on social media, the team 

were able to dispel inaccurate 

rumour and get factual 

information to the public on 

Twitter and Facebook. 

“Through the media, we were able 

to make the public aware of 

specialist USAR techniques and in 

the days after the blast we were 

able to assist the media with 

coverage in helping to move the 

story on by releasing 

heartwarming stories about how 

we were helping the community 

who were desperate to access 

their homes.” 

At the awards ceremony, GMFRS 

took the top award for Crisis 

Communications, with a joint 

entry between GMP and 

Manchester City Council picking 

up second place, receiving a 

Highly Commended Award for the 

Disorder in Manchester and 

Salford in August 2011. 

“They were able to use traditional 

and new media over a three day 

period to manage the reputation 

of GMFRS, portraying it as a 

public service at the heart of a 

community. 

(LtoR)DON’tPANICEvENtSREPRESENtAtIvE,KAtEHALLANDBRIDGEtAHERNEFROM 

CORPORAtECOMMUNICAtIONS,ANDCOUNCILLORGRACEFLEtCHER-HACKWOOD 


61

Corporate Communications Events 

Corporate Communications has 

organised a number of events for 

GMFRS staff and the public – 

here are just some that took place 

during the quarter... 

BME Conference success 

COMMUNITY figures came 

together for a GMFRS conference 

to find out how they can work 

with the Service to better serve all 

of those who live and work in the 

county. 

Charity groups, religious leaders 

and business people were among 

those who joined firefighters and 

staff for Keeping Our 

Communities Safe Together on 

Monday, October 15. 

Delegates heard about the work 

GMFRS does to help BME 

communities in their homes and 

at work at the conference, which 

was held at the Training and 

Development Centre in 

Manchester. 

Keynote speakers included Nazir 

Afzal OBE, Chief Crown 

Prosecutor for the North West, 

Nighat Awan OBE, entrepreneur, 

and Tan Ahmed from the Asian 

Development Association of Bury 

(ADAB). 

The event was also used to 

launch a fire safety film that 

GMFRS has commissioned in 

conjunction with ADAB aimed at 

giving the BME communities of 

Bury, and eventually all of Greater 

Manchester, fire safety advice. 

Delegates got to hear about how 

GMFRS’ Protection team works 

with businesses owners to help 

them with their responsibilities 

under fire safety legislation – the 

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) 

Order 2005. 

Nazir Afzal said: “The work of 

GMFRS is not just teaching 

people about fires but giving them 

skills they can use in the work 

place and elsewhere.” 

Remembrance Sunday events 

GMFRS staff attended a number 

of events to mark Remembrance 

Sunday. 

CFO Steve McGuirk laid a wreath 

at the Cenotaph in Manchester on 

behalf of GMFRS, mirroring 

colleagues from almost every 

borough, who took part in their 

local parades in similar ways. 

CFO McGuirk said: “We had 

some great feedback about how 

our role is appreciated by local 

people, especially about the 

HORWICHREMEMBRANCEPARADE 

cadets who took part in various 

Remembrance Sunday events 

and made a fantastic impression. 

“Thanks to everyone who took 

part – it was a really grand job.” 

Staff awarded for their service 

GMFRS hosted its latest Long 

Service and Good Conduct Medal 

Awards when 22 operational staff 

received their 20 years’ service 

medals 

On the evening of Wednesday, 

November 21 they were joined at 

a special ceremony by the Lord 

Lieutenant of Greater Manchester 

Warren Smith, CFO Steve 

McGuirk, and Chairman of the 

Fire Authority Councillor David 

Acton. 

Staff members walked up the red 

carpet to collect their medals in 

front of proud family and friends 

as brief potted histories of their 

careers were shared. 


Many of the abstracts featured 

tales of bravery and courage as 

well as details of the fantastic 

voluntary and community work of 

staff, while other humorous 

memories brought laughter to the 

room. 

One such story was that of a 

firefighter who took part in a 

charity triathlon completing the 

swim dressed as a mermaid, the 

bike ride on a tandem and the 

marathon dressed as Bernie 

Clifton and his ostrich. 

Carol Service 

AN ECLECTIC mix of performers 

contributed to making this year’s 

carol concert a success. 

LONGSERvICEAWARDS 

A real stir was created ahead of 

the concert as the new parade 

vehicle – an old adapted fire 

engine – created a festive 

atmosphere in St Ann’s Square 

outside the church, pumping out 

festive tunes, bubbles and even 

snow. 

The concert took place on 

Tuesday, December 4, and this 

year’s programme was packed 

with fantastic performers. 

Withington Girl’s School choir 

wowed the congregation with a 

variety of carols. 

Guitarist and singer Joe Doogan 

gave some unique renditions of 

old Christmas favourites and the 

Salvation Army Band and 

GMFRS’ Pipe Band also 

performed at the event. 

Readings were given by staff and 

firefighters from right across the 

organisation. 

Once again, the GMFRS carol 

concert took place at St Ann’s 

Church in Manchester. 

PIPEBANDOUtSIDEStANN’SCHURCHWItHCRACKER 


63

Other news of interest 

Greater Manchester is safer 

than ever! 

COMMUNITIES in Greater 

Manchester are safer than ever 

before, statistics have revealed. 

Over the last seven years at 

GMFRS, the number of fire related 

deaths and injuries have fallen, as 

have property fires, deliberate 

fires, malicious calls and attacks 

on crews. 

CFO Steve McGuirk said: “We 

have all been working hard to 

make Greater Manchester a safer 

place and this work is now paying 

off. These are not one off results, 

but a downward trend over a 

number of years. 

“We mustn’t forget that this has 

all been done with fewer and 

fewer resources, as we have also 

delivered over £160m in 

efficiencies and reduced staff 

numbers both operationally and in 

support functions. 

“GMFRS has almost 300 fewer 

staff members than it did seven 

years ago.” 

The statistics were presented as 

part of an independent 

assessment recently undertaken 

against the Recognised for 

Excellence award scheme 

maintained by the European 

Foundation for Quality 

Management (EFQM). The 

scheme is designed to help 

organisations to improve 

continuously. 

Some of the key achievements 

from the past seven year include 

GMFRS carrying out more than 

21,000 rescues, fires falling by 42 

per cent since 2005, and 40 per 

cent of homes in Greater 

Manchester receiving a Home 

Safety Check. 

Fire service joins forces with 

university to further help its 

communities 

GMFRS hopes to gain more 

insight into why people have fires, 

through a new initiative. 

Community Safety Advisors 

(CSAs) from the Service will speak 

to householders who have had a 

fire to find out what might have 

led to the incident. The 

information will help GMFRS with 

prevention initiatives. 

To help, the CSAs have received 

interview training at the University 

of Salford. 

This Post Incident Research 

Programme will help GMFRS with 

a range of future work, and 

ultimately help towards preventing 

fires, injuries and deaths. 

Chairman of Greater Manchester 

Fire and Rescue Authority, David 

Acton, said: “It’s clear that in the 

future, the most successful fire 

and rescue services with the 

safest communities will be those 

that have a good understanding 

of human behaviour and know 

how to influence people to 

change away from risky 

behaviours. 

“How we influence people will be 

different for different groups. This 

research will give us some of the 

answers.” 

The project is being run between 

GMFRS and the University of 

Salford, and is just one of a 

number of projects currently 

underway as part of a wider 

Partnership Agreement between 

the two organisations. 

Control Operator reunited with 

caller 

A WOMAN who was rescued 

from a fire at her home has visited 

GMFRS control room to meet and 

personally thank the call handler 

who answered her 999 call. 

Claire Lowe, 34, a mother-of-one 

from Middleton rang 999 at 

6.25am on Monday, November 

12, when her barking dog woke 

her up to a house full of smoke. 

Her call was answered by Control 

Operator Karen Flanagan. 

Claire said: “I really wanted to 

personally meet and thank Karen. 

She was really calm and kept me 

reassured and it was great to be 

able to say thank you from the 

bottom of my heart.” 


Three fire engines from Blackley 

and Chadderton fire stations were 

called to her house on 

Barrowfields, and as they set off, 

Karen kept her talking. 

Karen said: “It was lovely to meet 

Claire, because I’ve been working 

in control with GMFRS for 32 

years and most callers are just a 

voice so it’s nice that she’s taken 

the time to come and see us here. 

“Usually in the 999 control room 

we never get to see the end 

result, we always start the 

process off so it really is lovely to 

meet Claire and see she is OK.” 

During the visit, Claire presented 

Karen with a bunch of flowers and 

was given a tour of GMFRS’ 999 

control room. 

CLAIRELOWEANDCONtROLOPERAtORKARENFLANAGAN 


65

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