www.mawwfire.gov.uk
Youth Firefighter Association
Thursday 6th September 2007
Tonight 10 new young fire fighters recruits joined at Morriston and we had an introduction night.
Thursday 13th September 2007
Tonight we met up in the mess room and introduced ourselves to the new young fire fighters. We talking about the BANG (be a nice guy) for bomb fire night campaign. We got kitted up and done some hose running outside. We finished at 8.30 and were excited for the next week for more fun.
Thursday 20th September 2007
Tonight we had a new recruit join us Sam Jones we paid out subs and went to have our photos taken for the evening post. The new recruits were shown how to run out and make up hose; we split into two teams and had a competition.
Thursday 27th September 2007
We all got kitted up in the cabin and went out to do a basic ladder drill. At break Dai gave us a quiz in the cabin it was good fun. After that we got back out onto the yard to do more drills.
Thursday 4th October 2007
Tonight we had our new fire kit issued we looked the part and went out into the yard to test it out. We had a group photograph in the mess room, some people made funny faces. On the yard we learnt five different knots using lines of rope from the appliance. We built a dam using 3 piece ladders, a line and a salvage sheet. We had a new young fire fighter join us called Jordan Williams.
Thursday 11th October 2007
Tonight was the fifth week at young fire fighters this evening we were practicing our ladder work for the BBC children in need charity event. We will be climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest over an 8 hour period.
Thursday 18th October 2007
Tonight the new yff’s took a trip to Swansea airport to have a tour around to see the airport, air ambulances and the planes. The two guides gave us a look at their fire fighting appliances. Stu and John gave us a demo of what they do in an emergency. Back at the fire station while the new ones were away the older yff’s were doing B/A training as planned. We did some refresher training and search and rescue techniques.
Thursday 25th October 2007
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 has a chat to us about BANG which stands for Be A Nice Guy. He also discussed about us working with trading standards and the police to test out local Swansea retailers to see if they sell fire works alcohol and tobacco to under age customers. Tonight Joshua Greaney finished he had been coming to yff for two years but he has to leave because he has got an apprenticeship and has to work when yff is running.
Thursday 1st November 2007
Tonight we split up into two groups and went out onto the yard to squirt water. Dobsy showed us how to climb the drill tower properly.
Thursday 8th November 2007
Tonight we got into groups and practiced our knots and lines and the other group learnt how to pitch a ladder in a confined space which was very awkward and hard due to the wind.
Thursday 30th November 2007
This evening we split into groups and practiced our ladder pitching, after break we went into the “rat run” this was the best part of the night because it was a challenge to get through the tunnels, holes, ramps and stairs…all in the dark.
Thursday 20th December 2007
Tonight we went to the winter wonderland it was good we went ice skating and then onto the big wheel. We all enjoyed the ice skating, Dai fell about 100 times he was battered and bruised.
Tuesday 26th February 2008
Chris Garden won a poster competition and won £500 for the YFF and £100 for himself.
Thursday 28th February 2008
Spent most of the night on the drill yard practising basic hose running and ladder drills.
Thursday 6th March 2008
Today we went to the second floor on the TTL, it was excellent and we finished the night going through the rat run.
Thursday 13th March 2008
We were introduced to fire extinguishers, the different types and what extinguisher to use on what then we went into the fire house and then practised putting the fire out with the extinguishers.
Thursday 27th March 2008
Today we had a visit from the Chinese community in Swansea. They came to see what YFF was all about.
Thursday 24th April 2008
Most of the night was on the yard doing drills, Toby broke the double outlet standpipe and soaked Dai.
Thursday 8th May 2008
We had a new YFF fire engine tonight and it was dirty so we washed and cleaned it. We climbed to the third floor of the drill tower and shot water onto the yard and soaked each other.
Thursday 15th May 2008
Dai gave us incidents like what the Fire service attended the first one was a lorry fire. The incident officer gave us commands on how to tackle the fire.
Thursday 29th May 2008
We all left Swansea at 9 o click to go to Oakwood park 25 young fire fighters and some instructors. We had a brilliant time the park is really big and it is loads of visitors. They split us into groups and we went round going on the entire rides ad least once. The weather was great and there was no rain but we all got socked watch the hydro ride.
Thursday 26th June 2008
Tonight was wet and cold but that did not stop us! After Dai said kit on we looked out the window and we knew we was going to get socked but we new we had to practice for our pas out parade. After break we had a quiz to get more stars.
Thursday 17th July 2008
Tonight we practiced our drills for our pass out parade we was on the yard for most of the night. We were split into groups. New YFF’s and older YFF’s.
Saturday 26th July
Most of the older YFF’s came in today to do BA training for the pass out parade next week.
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
Bronze Star Awards:
• Thomas Denham
• Christopher Garden
• Mathew Hayward
• Sean Rix
Silver Star Awards:
• Benjamin Davies
Gold Star Awards:
• Dale Phillips
It was a really good evening and everyone worked well. Nothing went wrong and no mistakes were made. We were a team! We had a round of applause after every drill we did. People were taking photos of us and the whole thing was videoed by an ITN cameraman.
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.”
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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© Gwasanaeth Tân Ac Achub Canolbarth a Gorllewin Cymru | © Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service