Firefighters' open day success

Throughout Bexhill Fire Station's open day a queue of people waited patiently at the foot of the tower.

Once safely strapped into a harness, they were led to the top of the tower and shown how to step out and put their trust a East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service's abseiling equipment.

On the way down on the end of a line they had opportunity to reflect on the work of Bexhill fire station's specialist rope rescue team.

By mid-afternoon well over 60 people - from young children upwards - had successfully abseiled.

At 1 a time, it was among the more successful fund-raising ventures of a day which raised a significant sum for the Fire Brigades Benevolent Fund and for the fund to replace the 9th Bexhill Scouts' headquarters, destroyed in the April wheelie bins arson attack.

A steady stream of people dropped in at the fire station throughout the day, where the accent was on driving home the fire safety message to young and old via a succession of dramatic demonstrations and fun activities.

Young children took keen delight in directing a fire hose at a model house. An accurately directed jet was enough to flip over a window, changing a fire image to a peaceful one till all the windows were changed and the "fire" was extinguished.

Firefighters staged - and successfully fought - a fire in the drill tower, showed how they cut road accident victims free from a wrecked vehicle and demonstrated how the formidable intensity of a chip pan fire can be quelled swiftly with a fire blanket.

The 9th Scouts had their own tombola, firefighters were kept busy manning the barbecue and bookings were taken for free home safety fire checks.

Newhaven brought along their simulator. By fixing a video camera in the crew cab of a fire appliance they had recorded a typical "shout."

A white sheet over the windscreen turned a fire appliance into an effective simulator. Parents and children queued to sit in the rear of the cab and experience what it is like to respond on "twos and blues," the14-tonne appliance threading its way at speed through heavy traffic to the scene of a serious house fire.

"Hazard house" was another popular attraction. Into every room of a large dolls house mounted on a trailer a multitude of hazards had been depicted.

They ranged from overloaded power points to power leads on the bathroom floor. Out in the "garden" the blades of a rotary mower were about to devour its own power cable.

The most heavily used piece of equipment of the day was the emergency horn on a fire appliance over which children clambered throughout the day.

Two powerful Honda Fireblade motorcycles - one belonging to East Sussex Fire and Rescue and the other to Sussex Police reflected the partnership between the two emergency services in seeking to reduce motorcycle casualty figures..

Sergeant Paul Masterson and Watch Commander David Thurston were publicising the rider safety courses operated by the partnership.

The courses cost 50 - inclusive not only of classroom instruction and ride observed by a trained officer but of lunch and a goody-bag including DVD.

The next one-day course at Bexhill fire station will be on September 16. The courses are so popular that they are fully booked to the end of the year. Details are available from police and fire station.

For co-organisers Martin Walker and Simon Richard and colleagues who worked to stage the open day, the interest shown by the public in fire safety was ample reward.