www.mawwfire.gov.uk
Youth Firefighter Association
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Thursday 6th September 2007
Hello. We are 10 new Young Fire Fighter recruits and we’ve just joined the scheme based at Morriston.
Our names are:
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We’ll be attending every Thursday evening between 6.00pm and 8.30pm and each week we’ll be writing an article about what we’ve learnt so you can follow us during our training up to our pass out parade next July (2008). We’ll be taking it in turns to write the articles so if there are any questions you’d like us to answer, please e-mail the Brigade and they’ll send your questions onto us to respond to.
Tonight was our first training night. It was basically an ‘administration’ evening. We’ve introduced ourselves, chatted to each other and met most of our instructors. We went for a visit to Morriston fire station which is across the drill-yard from our class-room and had a look at some of the appliances. We’ve been measured up for our uniform and issued with Training Portfolios so we can record our progress for our Star awards. We won’t get our own uniforms for a while as they have to be ordered. We’ve all had our photographs taken for the classroom plus a group shot for this internet site. We’ve been told about our training, ‘subs’, attendance and about the rules of the YFF scheme... the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’. We also did a bit of basic training, nothing too much. We did a little hose-running and practiced tying a few knots. We were given a leaflet on smoke alarms to take home and read and next week we’ll be joined by the older YFF’s who have been with the scheme for a few years.
Thursday 13th September 2007
We started at 6pm and met in the mess-room (canteen) because there were too many of us to fit into our cabin. There were 17 of us in total because the older YFF's had returned after the summer break. One by one we stood up and introduced ourselves. Once we had done that our instructors took us to lecture room-3 for a talk on Halloween, bonfire night, smoke alarms and the BANG campaign (Be A Nice Guy). After the lecture we all made our way to our cabin and were kitted up in fire-kit. We formed a line on the drill yard and Tina (one of the instructors) took us for a warm-up work-out. At about 8pm we had a break for 10-15 minutes and after that we all got kitted up again and did some hose-running. First we did it in pairs and then in groups of four. That's all we did this evening but we'll be having more fun next week.
Zara-Letitia Evans
Thursday 20th September 2007
We all arrived at 6 o'clock, the new recruits and the old. We met a new young fire-fighter called Sam who was joining us tonight. Then we all paid our subs and were given our first stars for our folders. We all got changed and had our photos taken for the 'Evening Post'. We were all shown how to run out hose and how to make it up. We then worked in two teams to run out hose in a competition. After that we were all shown how to climb a ladder. We all had a turn climbing ready for our sponsored ladder climb for the 2007 BBC- Children in Need Appeal (see below). We finished the evening with some basic squad drill and marching.
Jordan Gardener.
Thursday 27th September 2007
Hiya, my name is Leanne Marie Rees. Tonight we all met at 6pm in the mess room to pay our subs. Then after that we all went over to the cabin and we all got kitted up. All the old and new YFF's went off into groups the new ones (us) did basic ladder work. It was really good. I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. We stopped at 7:30pm for a break then we went to the cabin and David gave us a quick quiz. The new ones beat the old ones; score was 5-3 then after that we all got back to work doing drills. After that we all did the 'rat run'; it was so funny as there were so many in there at once. Tonight we were joined by a new boy who came to see if he could join YFF's. He'll be starting next week. His name is Jordan Williams. We will continue our fun next week.
Thursday 4th October 2007
Hiya… I'm Charlotte Dalling. It was really good tonight! We had some of our new fire-kit issued so we look the part and christened it out on the drill-yard. We had a group photograph taken in the mess-room (which you can see in the photo-gallery at the bottom of this page). Some people made some funny faces! On the yard I learned five different knots and how to build a dam. When the dam was built we filled it up with water using a length of hose from the hydrant. We built the dam using lines of rope, ladders and a salvage sheet. The older fire-fighters went to practice confined-space ladder pitching which was something new for most of them. We also did hose running but we didn't run around the yard tonight. We had a new fire-fighter start tonight. His name is Jordan Williams and he had his photo taken for our photo-board. I really enjoyed and can't wait for next week.
Thursday 11th October 2007
Tonight was the fifth week at Young Firefighters. I missed the first two weeks as I went to the Belguim Grand Prix then I was filming as an extra in BBC's 'Casualty'. However, I have caught up with my team mates and I have made lots of new friends. I am really enjoying the experience and I'm suprised how much we've been able to do so quickly. This evening, we've been practising our ladder work ready for our BBC- Children in Need charity event. We will be climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest over an 8 hour period - I hope I'm not responsible for counting! We spent time exercising as we'll need to be fit for the challenge. We did a lot of warm up exercises and went for a long run around the yard in our full kit. Setting up the ladders involved team work and we had to ensure it was done safely.
Once they were against the practice tower, we had to see how quickly we could climb up them. I managed 15 seconds from the ground to the inside of the first flloor of the tower. We then had to climb back down. We were in need of our breaktime when it arrived! Tonight we received more kit which was a pair of steel toe-capped shoes. The kit we are given is amazing. Next week we are going on a trip to Swansea airport to see the fire equipment there.
Sam Jones
Thursday 18th October 2007
Hi my names Jordan Williams. Tonight in YFF's the newer people went to Swansea airport to see the airport, air ambulances and the planes. There was two guides with the tour who also gave us a display of fire-fighting and their appliances Stu and John they were telling us where Catherine Zeta-Jones fly's from and where she fly's to. They were also telling us that Michael Owen flew to Swansea airport as well.
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I'm Tom Denham one of the older YFF's. Tonight whilst the new YFF's were away at Swansea airport, us older ones, instead of doing breathing apparatus (BA) training as planned, did some refresher training on search and rescue techniques using covered up goggles and our "famous" fire-house. One of our instructors told us some brief stories about when he used to teach search and rescue to adult trainee fire-fighters which made me feel a little worried about using BA. But ahh well... that's life... its all the thrill... bring it on! For our last activity we had to wear our blanked out goggles and search and escape from the 3rd floor of the fire-house which we are unfamiliar with, right to the bottom and out to safety within a certain amount of time. It was enjoyable but the stories shook me up a bit.
Thursday 25th October 2007
Hello, My name is Toby Williams. Tonight we all met up in the mess room at 6pm to pay our subs and get our files signed and dated. After that David Phillips had a chat to us about operation BANG which stands for Be A Nice Guy. He also discussed what operation BANG involves, It may involve us working closely with Trading Standards and the Police to test our local Swansea retailers to see if they are selling fire works, tobacco and alcohol to under age customers. We then went to the cabin to get kitted up and after we did that we got split into two groups. Older young fire fighters and the newer young fire fighter (us). The newer young fire fighters then went onto the drill ground and Tina one of the instructors talked to us about search and rescue techniques, then they gave us flash-hoods and goggles so that we could try and test our ability to see if we could find our way around the whole drill tower with the techniques that was shown to us. Then we spilt of into pairs and we had to guide our partner around some posts to the other end to see if they had a good hearing ability so it would give us a good communication between us. After doing that we had a break and during this break a couple of people had to say their surname using the phonetic alphabet. After that we went back out on to the drill ground and we went over to the BA pod which is stowed behind that fire station. Tina showed us what BA equipment is carried and after doing that we went back on to the drill ground and the older fire fighters had a ladder set up. We climb up the ladder in practice for the Children in Need appeal which is on the 16th November 2007. We climbed the ladder for approximately 15 minutes and then after doing that we went back to the cabin and got changed.
One of our the older YFF's- Joshua Greaney finished today. He'd been coming to YFF's for about two years but has had to leave because he has got an apprenticeship and has to work when YFF's is running. He will be missed by us all and we wish him all the best for his future career. Having to leave YFF's comes to us all in the end!
Thursday 1st November 2007
Hi my name is Dean Evans and on the 1st of November 2007 I went to young fire fighters. We met at the mess room at 6pm where we paid our subs and got our files out to be signed. After Dai Phillips told us what is happening we all went over to the cabin to get on our fire-kit on. When we were ready Dai split us into two groups. Team-1 went with Andy and team-2 went with Dai. I was in team-1. We were running out hoses and then squirted water through them. After that Andy and Dobsy showed us how to climb the drill-tower properly. I have been going to young fire fighters for about two and a half months now and I really enjoy it. I would advise any one to join because they will have a laugh and you will make really good mates with the other young fire fighters.
Thursday 8th November 2007
Hello and my name is James Hatton and I am member of the Thursday branch of the YFFs. First thing we did is meet in the mess room and paid our subs and to get our files signed. After that we went to the cabin to get into our fire-fighter kit. Once we did that we went on to the drill and got split into groups and one group would practice knots and lines while the other group learned how to pitch a ladder in a confined space which was a little bit awkward and hard to keep still due to the wind. After that was complete we would swap around. Later then we practiced climbing ladders for about 15 mins and then we packed up in the cabin and went home.
There will be no fire-fighters next week because we will be saving our energy for the Children in need appeal on the Friday when we will be climbing the height of Mt Everest using ladders when we will be joined by the Gorseinon and Monday groups.
Thursday 30th November 2007
Hello my name is Michael Francis. Tonight was my second week with young fire-fighters. We all met up in the mess-room at 6pm to pay our subs and then went over to the cabin to get changed into our kit. Then we were split into groups. Our group went to do ladder pitching and it was quite hard because it was my first time doing it. After this we went into the cabin for break for about 15 minutes. After break we went back out onto the drill yard and did confined space ladder pitching. It was hard at first but got easier as we practiced more. At 8.15 we put the ladders back on the appliance and went through the 'rat-run'. This was the best part of this week because it was fun and it was a challenge to get through the tunnels, holes, ramps and stairs... all in the dark! At 8.30 we all went back to the cabin to change and then went home. Tonight was fun and I'm looking forward to next week.
Thursday 20th December 2007
Hello my name is Michael Francis. Tonight was my second week with young fire-fighters. We all met up in the mess-room at 6pm to pay our subs and then went over to the cabin to get changed into our kit. Then we were split into groups. Our group went to do ladder pitching and it was quite hard because it was my first time doing it. After this we went into the cabin for break for about 15 minutes. After break we went back out onto the drill yard and did confined space ladder pitching. It was hard at first but got easier as we practiced more. At 8.15 we put the ladders back on the appliance and went through the 'rat-run'. This was the best part of this week because it was fun and it was a challenge to get through the tunnels, holes, ramps and stairs... all in the dark! At 8.30 we all went back to the cabin to change and then went home. Tonight was fun and I'm looking forward to next week.
| Hello, Sam C Jones here again! For our Christmas night out on 20th December 2007 we all went on an ice skating trip to Waterfront Winterland Swansea. |  |
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When we arrived at 4.45 pm, we headed down to the ice rink to try on our ice skates. On the ice was quite fun. I wasn't the best but I think I did O.K as I only fell twice! | |
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Swansea should have its own permanent ice rink and then I could become superb at it! After skating, we went on the big wheel where we rode in two separate cages. |  |
| This was great as we could see over the whole of Swansea which was now lit up. Next we we went to the fun house which most of us had a turn of. I enjoyed this as I was able to do full turn on the wooden wheels they had. | ||
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| Now that we were hungry, we stopped for a bite to eat before going to the rock climbing wall for a couple of races. After this everyone's hands were numb as it was quite a chilly evening. At 8 o'clock we all headed home after a great evening out. | ||
Thursday 7th February 2008
Good and bad news this week! The good news is that our new training room inside Morriston Headquarters is nearly complete. The builders and decorators have virtually finished and the furniture will be arriving over the next couple of days. We hope to move in by 1st March and we can then say 'goodbye' to our old cabin. The bad news is that our fire-engine has virtually packed up. It's an old 'D'-reg machine and the bodywork and engine have given up the ghost so at present we are limited in our training. Fortunately West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service have designed and built a smaller fire engine for their YFF's so our instructors are now trying to raise funding so we can have a similar machine.
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Dale Phillips
Thursday 14th February 2008
Tonight we got split up! The new YFF's went out on the drill yard with Andy and Dai while the older ones; me, Chris, Dale, Tom and Craig did a youth course with Dobsy and Tina. We all got handed a sheet of paper and a marker pen. Tina and Dobsy asked us a few questions about our area and we wrote what we thought was good and bad. We had a choice of keeping it confidential if we pleased. Then after we finished answering questions it was time for break. Dai went into the kitchen and made everyone a cup of tea or coffee if they wanted one.
After break we went out onto the drill yard. We did a bit of ladder work. There was me, Chris, Tom and Dale versus the newer ones and we had to see who could give the best orders and put their ladder up the smartest. We did it the quickest but missed one or two of the orders such as "clear behind number 3?" and "Clear!". Then we repeated the drill but we had to change positions.
Finally we were put in groups and went into the 'rat run'. The aim of the exercise was to rescue a dummy while making sure that the dummy's head was secure and protected at all times. We started at one end of the rat run while the other team started at the other end. It wasn't meant to be a race but we treated it as one. Our team got out first with the dummy and made sure it's head was secure. We then all got changed and went home.
Shaun Rix
Thursday 21st February 2008
We all arrived at 6 o’clock sat in the mess room and paid our subs and then Dai talked to us about uniform and saying what our date is for our pass out parade which is the 31st of July 2008. Then Dai noticed I had dyed my hair... blonde to brown. He thought I had a twin with blond hair. We all got kitted up in our uniform to go out on the drill yard. We all had different things to do but all swapped around so everyone had a go. First we done hydrant assessment then it was hose running. I could not do that as I had a bad back from playing Rugby for Swansea District.
After we had done the hydrant we all went for break in the mess room. I have never seen some-one put salt, pepper and vinegar in crisps and dipped in tomato & HP brown sauce. Break was over so we kitted back up and went to do hose running but I went over and watched Dale show Tom, Nathan and Chris how to tie knots and lines for they assessment, then I got assessed on the hydrant. Every one got assessed on something! To finish off the night they all done hose running apart from me, Jordan Williams and Jordan Gardener. We cheered them all on. I was winding up Shaun saying if he hurries up he gets a kiss. It was so funny! Jordan just laughed! Then after that we whent and got changed and went home. We will carry on next week when someone else will up date you on our fun !!
Leanne Marie Rees
Tuesday 26th February 2008
Hi, I'm Chris Garden. Last year Dai told us all about a grass fire prevention poster competition the Brigade was running. He said the 1st place winner will get a cheque for £100 and the youth group/school would get £500! So one night I got bored and thought I would give it a go. I got my colouring pencil's and started to draw a picture of two fire fighters dealing with a large grass fire. I added a catchy slogan "It only takes a SPARK", on the Thursday when I went to young fire fighters I gave Dai my poster and asked him to enter it.
Earlier this month Dai told me the good news that I had came 1st in the youth group section of the competition. I couldn't believe it! I was so chuffed. Last week Dai gave me my invitation that was inviting me and two guests to the Towers hotel for the awards presentation. I received my picture in a frame, £100 and a further £500 for my YFF group. We are now trying to decide where to go on a trip. So far we think Oakwood park. I really enjoyed my day at the awards presentation and I had a day off school! The three winning posters are being used by the Fire Service in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot as part of their 2008 Grass Fire reduction initiative and have been turned into banners and posters that will be displayed throughout the area.
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Thursday 28th February 2008
Hi, My name is Toby Williams. I arrived at 6 o’clock and we sat in the mess room and paid our subs and got our training books signed. Dai talked to us about our pass out parade and we also found out that the older young fire fighters are going to instruct us in doing our pass out parade. Dai also spoke to us about Chinese people that are going to come and see us soon doing set work on the drill yard.
We got kitted up and then went out on to the drill yard and some of the old fire fighters stayed in the mess room and thought of some ideas on what they were going to do for the pass out parade. Meanwhile the new fire fighters went out and done basic hose running and ladders drills. Afterwards we all joined together and we spilt up in to two groups and we had a challenge on hose running where you had to run out a hose each and then join it up by the couplings. We then had to run down to the end of the yard and stand there until the instructors said "go" and the would all run back to the hose they run out and then the had to disconnect it and under-run it and make it back up and stand at the starting position. Then we went in the community room, got changed and went home.
Thursday 6th March 2008
Tonight I had a brilliant time, we all did! Except when I was told we were going up to the second floor on the turn table ladder, TTL for short. Anyway, when it was time to climb I was scared! I even went last but one. I did it though and I even looked down. Boy was it high!! It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was great actually. We then went to have break in our cool new mess room. In there, its fun! Then it was time to go back out, we were going in the rat run. In there, we used our right foot and hand to get to the other end, to enter the rat run. Not many people were there, but it was still a lot of fun.
Charlotte Dalling
Thursday 13th March 2008
Tonight we were taught the correct way of using fire extinguishers. Before we went out to the fire-house we were given a lecture on different types of fire extinguishers and after the lecture we were all put into a small room in the fire-house whilst out instructors’ lit bits of cardboard and paper in a corner of the room. We didn’t have breathing apparatus and had to stay in the burning room until the ‘neutral plane’ was just above our heads then we escaped out of the room. Once we were all out our instructor used different extinguishers to put out the fire whilst teaching us what were the right and wrong ones to use on different fires. Once the room fire was out we had saw a fire being lit in a bin full of water and kerosene and we all had to try and knock out the fire. (I had fun scaring people with a C02 extinguisher)
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Tonight was both enjoyable and very educational as using a fire extinguisher is something that EVERYONE needs to be taught.
Don’t be a fool …. playing with fire isn’t cool.
Tom Denham
Thursday 27th March 08
Tonight we had a visit from a number of people from the Chinese community in Swansea who came to see what being a young fire-fighter is all about. We showed them how to tie some knots in our new lecture room and then went out on the yard where we did some basic drills involving ladders and plenty of water squirting. The visitors had a go at holding a branch and directing water onto a make believe fire whilst we supervised. At the end of the visit we presented our visitors with a plaque to hang in their community centre as a memento of their visit and some of them may be applying to join the YFF scheme in the future.
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Nathan Messer
Thursday 11th April 2008
In YFF’s tonight at the start we watched a video of the Bradford city football club fire 23 years ago when one of the stands burned down. The fire was terrible! The commentator on the other side of the pitch said he could feel the heat of the fire in the commentary box because it was so hot. Then we watched a video of a car crash with a boy in the front of the car eyeing up a girl next to him instead of watching the road and they crashed into a lorry. After that video we saw another one of a 17-year old boy being knocked over by a stolen car which the police were chasing.
We then had a group photo out on the yard to put on the website. (Have a look below). At 7.15 we had a break I had a big cake all to myself but I shared a bit with Ben and Dai took a photo of me with it in my mouth. Then about 7.30 we went outside on the drill yard we were put in 3 groups of 5 and me Dale, Ben, Craig and Chris were on the feather-weight pump first. Then we went onto Dobsey with the ladder drill we put it up and down 5 times with us changing around positions. Then we came in about 8.30 to clear up, change and go home.
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Jordan Williams
Thursday 24th April 2008
This is my first day back after 2-months as I had injured my foot and tonight was really fun. I was happy to come back as I have missed everyone so much. We all waited for Dai, Tina and Andy as they had to attend a YFF Instructors meeting. A few of us stayed in the classroom to do some activities with Tina then we had a break at 7.30 and after break we all got kitted up and went out onto the drill yard. Toby managed to break the double-outlet standpipe, it was so funny, and we couldn’t stop laughing, there was water everywhere! Me and Zara ran through the water sprays and then we all made up our equipment and went home. Can’t wait for next week!
Leanne Marie Rees
Thursday 8th may 2008
Tonight was my second week back after a knee injury. I’ve been out of YFF for four months. It was a great night because the first task we had was to wash and clean our new fire engine. It was a great laugh and after that we had a task which involved using a ladder to climb to the 3rd floor of the drill tower and shoot out water onto the drill yard and over each other! The people on the ground had to run out 5 lengths of hose and carry lines up the tower. We also did some drills on the yard.
Mathew Hayward
Thursday 15th May 2008
Tonight we arrived a bit early at 5.45 and practiced our knots and lines. Then we put our kit on and went out onto the yard were we split into three teams and Dai gave us some incidents the fire service attends to practice. Four of us crewed the fire engine and the fifth member of our team was the incident commander so he was in charge. Our first incident we had was a fake lorry fire. The incident officer gave us commands on how to put out the fire e.g. he sent one of us to set the hydrant up and one of us set up the branch and put the fire out we then had break and had a couple more of these incidents to do it was a great night and I learnt a lot.
Mathew Hayward
Thursday 29th May 2008
Dear All, We left Swansea at 9 o’clock and arrived in Oakwood Park at 10.30 after travelling for one and a half hours. We had a good journey, no traffic jams! There are 25 young fire-fighters plus some instructors here and we’re having a really brilliant time. The park is really big and there are loads of visitors. We split up into groups and have been on all the rides at least once; Megaphobia, Speed, The Bounce, Pirate ship, Vertigo and more. Some of us have been on the rides more than once and feel sick! Loads of us got soaked watching the Hydro ride. The weathers been great… sunny and no rain! Took loads of photos for the web-site. It’s been a really great day out!
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You can see more at the Oakwood website: www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk
See Ya!
Swansea YFF's
Thursday 26th June 2008
Tonight was my last YFF night as a 16 year old as next week I will be 17 years old! Tonight was a really wet and cold night but that didn’t stop us! We started at 6pm and Dai was telling us about his bad weekend of incidents and calls he had to attend.
After that Dai said “kit on” and at that point I looked out the window and all I could see was rain and black clouds and I knew deep down I was going to get wet. When we were on the yard we practiced for the pass out parade which is happening on 31st July. We had to get the timing right so we did one drill about three times which was great fun.
After break we had a little quiz and that was a chance to get our stars up for every question we got right and which was a great opportunity to get our amount of stars up. The other way to get our number of stars up is to do an article on some fire service related topics and which get marked from 1 to 5 stars. I am trying to get 100 stars so I can achieve my bronze award on the pass out parade night. At present I have just over 80 stars.
Mathew Hayward
Thursday 17th July 2008
We all arrived at Morriston fire station at 6 o’clock. Then we all sat around the table and had a chat with Dai who told us what we were going to do tonight. We were going to practice for our pass out parade on 31st July.
We all got kitted up in our uniforms and made our way out onto the drill yard. When on the drill yard we were all split up into two groups. New YFF’s and older YFF’s. We all practiced our drills for the pass out parade. The first drill was target practice. We had to work in pairs of two or three and each person had to run out a length of hose and connect a branch. We then had to hit atarget with a jet of water.
The next drill was for the new YFF’s to get a ladder off the back of the fire engine and pitch it to the first floor of the drill tower. The other YFF’s had to get a hose-reel to work up the ladder and into the drill tower. Other YFF’s had to run out a line of hose and get a branch to work on the drill yard.
The third drill was to put out a load of fires with extinguishers and the fourth drill involved everyone. We had to get two ladders to work into the fire house and get hose to work from the third floor of the drill tower. Four YFF’s will be wearing breathing apparatus to carry out a snatch rescue of some casualties.
I really enjoyed tonight, it was fun but very tiring.
Jordon Gardener
Saturday 26th July 2008
It’s our pass out parade next week and some of us came in today for training so we could learn to wear breathing apparatus (BA).
We did a load of theory about the different parts of a BA set and how it all works and then went on to practice ‘donning’ and ‘doffing’. Did you know for example, that “breathing apparatus is a life support system that allows a fire-fighter to enter and survive an atmosphere that would not otherwise support human life due to the presence of toxic gases and / or the lack of oxygen”???? No? Well neither did we until we did our training!
We did all of our theory training in the BA lecture room at Morriston which is where all the adult fire-fighters are trained. Afterwards we practiced searching a building for casualties and then rescuing them which was very difficult as the building was pitch black, full of obstacles, the set was heavy and we had a limited air supply. We had to learn to communicate with each other, search thoroughly and make sure we didn’t get lost or fall down any collapsed stairs.
After break we practiced climbing a 13.5m ladder to the second floor of the drill tower wearing BA which was quite frightening and finally we practiced what is called a ‘snatch’ rescue. This is where fire-fighters arrive at an incident and get into a building as quickly as possible to rescue any casualties inside. We had to practice climbing a ladder to the first floor, climbing into a window and rescuing two small children which were played by two small dummies. It was all very serious but good fun and we learnt loads.
We have to do a ‘snatch’ rescue as part of next week’s pass out parade so we hope it all goes well. At the end of our training we had individual and a group photo taken:
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| Nathan Messer, Chris Garden, Shaun Rix, Tom Denham, Craig Piontecki-Bevan |
Thursday 31st July 2008
Tonight was our pass out ceremony and what an evening it was! Nine of us who’ve been training for the last year and the eight older YFF’s put on a display for around one hundred guests such as senior fire service officers, family and friends who included the Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan- D Byron Lewis, The Lord Mayor of Swansea- Gareth Sullivan and the Chief Fire Officer- Richard Smith. Unfortunately Leanne couldn’t attend. The evening started at 6.00pm and finished around 9.00pm.
We did four big demonstrations of how we have been trained to extinguish fires in burning buildings, use various fire extinguishers correctly and enter and search a burning building to rescue trapped casualties. We actually had burning buckets of kerosene on the yard and it looked quite spectacular. We had to do the demos in torrential weather after which and while we were soaking wet, we were presented with certificates and awards which we’ve detailed as follows.
Achievement awards:
- James Hatton
- Toby Williams
- Dean Evans
- Jordan Gardener
- Sam Jones
- Leanne Rees
- Zara Evans
- Charlotte Dalling
- Jordan Brooks-Williams
- Michael Francis
- Thomas Denham
- Christopher Garden
- Mathew Hayward
- Sean Rix
- Bejamin Davies
- Dale Phillips
One of our instructors Dai Phillips issued a press release which said:
“Taking a group of young people and training them in the very challenging and demanding skills of a fire fighter is very rewarding for all concerned. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is very proud of its young fire fighter schemes which have been in existence for almost seven years. Just like their adult counterparts these particular youngsters have shown enthusiasm, dedication, discipline, teamwork and a willingness to learn which they and their families should be extremely proud of. They are a credit to themselves. In this day and age when many in society are all to ready to frown upon the exploits of young people I believe that what we have shown that given the right facilities, instruction and leadership most young people can be developed into responsible members of society.”
We hope you like the group photo we had taken at the end!
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Thursday 27th November 2008
Tonight we arrived at young fire fighters and Dai told us we were going to down Swansea West fire station for the evening. We all got our fire kit on and hopped into the mini bus. When we arrived we saw the new Arial ladder platform (ALP) that was recently bought for £650,000. This is one of two that are in Wales. The ladder can reach heights of 96feet and is a very big and expensive piece of kit. There are many lockers on the appliance, with lots of different gear. We will have a photo of it very soon. The fire fighters of Swansea West were learning how to use this new piece of equipment. The man in charge of the training showed us around the appliance, and also showed us the very high tech remote control that is used to operate the ladder. We were then given a demonstration of the kit that is on the appliance; two of the training fire fighters went up in the cage with harnesses on and showed us the different things that it could do. This was very interesting but would be very difficult to get to know how to use all this kit. We returned to Morriston at 8.30 ready for dismissal.
Thursday 11th December 2008
Tonight because it was our last evening for 2008 we went for a meal at ‘China China’ in Salubrious place and then went over to the ‘Waterfront Winterland’. All the group were there plus the all the instructors and we had a good laugh. You can eat as much as you want in China China, so we did and felt sick! Over the road and next to the Leisure Centre was ‘Waterfront Winterland’. We all went ice skating and on the rides that included a massive big- wheel. Our instructor Dai was useless at ice-skating, just like last year! The weather was wet and freezing but we all enjoyed.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
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