Fire Station Open Day
To celebrate the fortieth Birthday
of the village's own
Fire Station
24th June at 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Come and support the local people who risk life and limb on a regular basis for us all
Tour the station, meet the crew
and see the equipment.
Including the turntable ladder.
Raffle and Barbecue.
The AIR-AMBULANCE will be in attendance
unless of course someone has greater need of it.
Monies raised will be shared by the Fire Service Charities and the Air-Ambulance
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Visit Suffolk Firefighters Website
to see a map of the Suffolk Stations and more information about Wickhambrook
Fire Station
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Wickhambrook Fire Station
Photo by Mike Pettitt |
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What is a Retained
Firefighter?
Retained firefighters are members of the local community, who have
been trained as firefighters, but have full time jobs; they could
be builders, decorators, vehicle technicians, ambulance paramedics,
prison officers, farm workers, carpenters, office workers, factory
workers etc and live and work within a short distance of the fire
station.
In a nutshell, subject to being physically fit anyone can be a Retained
Firefighter
Do we get paid?
Retained firefighters get a monthly salary which is the retainer fee,
we get paid for the weekly training sessions and also for the calls
that we attend.
Part Time?
Retained firefighters are sometimes referred to as 'part time',
but they are in fact 'on call' 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
We do not exist to back up full time firefighters; we are the front
line professional firefighters, responding to any incident in our
area, saving lives, property and protecting the environment. |
How do we get called
out?
We carry personal pagers which alert us to a call, When a 999
call is received, fire control at Ipswich Fire HQ operates our
pagers, and we drop what we are doing to respond to the fire
station. Once we are alerted the Fire Appliance is on the road
and making its way to the incident within 5-6 minutes of the
999 call. |
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What we do
The Fire and Rescue Service gets called to a number of emergencies
and these include, Fires in properties, farms and business premises,
Fires in vehicles and farming equipment, Chimney fires, Road Traffic
Accidents, persons trapped in machinery, calls resulting from adverse
weather conditions, Chemical Spillages, Humanitarian assistance and
Liaising with other emergency services |
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Training and Fitness
We attend a 2 hour training session each week, sometimes this extends
to 3 hours and are normally called upon 5 times a week for emergency
calls. You need to be physically fit, and have good eyesight in both
eyes.
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There is a huge shortage of retained firefighters
nation-wide. Have you ever considered a career as a retained firefighter?
We have vacancies at the station for people who can provide cover
mon-fri during the day.
For information on recruitment click on the link to the Suffolk Fire
and Rescue website
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Wickhambrook Firestation, organising an event you would like us to
attend or are interested in joining the Fire Service either at Wickhambrook
or elsewhere, then we would be pleased to hear from you |
Paul Jolland |
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01440 820254
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Graham Crouch |
Assistant Divisional Officer |
01473 588888
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You can find out what to do in emergency situations in the home
and find out useful safety tips by visiting the below websites
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The History of Wickhambrook Firestation
It could be said that Wickhambrook owes its fire Service to Adolph
Hitler! As before 1939 there was no fire fighting unit in the village.
The Officer responsible for the organisation at that time was Don
Thompson, Captain of R.D.C. Fire Brigade and under his direction an
Auxiliary Fire Service Unit was formed, based at Clopton Hall comprising
mainly of personnel employed by Justin
Brooke Ltd. This unit served through the war years and
progressed to the National Fire Service and from converted milk van
to NFS personnel tender and trailer pump. On the 1st April 1948 it
passed to the control of the Suffolk and Ipswich fire Authority, and
became a retained station in B Division with Headquarters at Bury
St Edmunds.
Modernisation was gradual and in the 1950’s the station was
supplied with its first water tender, a Dodge with front mounted pump
carrying 400 gallons of water for initial use at incidents. An appliance
bay had been constructed in a farm building, and a nearby small office
equipped as a watch-room. Call out was still by telephone, call bells
installed in members homes, a day siren operated from Headquarters
was the next improvement, also a running call facility which meant
the Brigade could be alerted by a member of the public. These measures
however were still very much of the ad hoc nature, and much more ambitious
plans were being prepared. A plot of land nearby at Clopton Hall was
acquired and in 1966/67 building of a new modern fire station began,
completed in 1967.
The new station and all the then latest improvements: an appliance
room, kitchen and utility room, a drill yard and a tubular steel drill
tower. At last Wickhambrook had a new and well equipped station and
a modern fire engine. The new station was officially opened on 1st
July 1967 by Mrs Edith Brooke of Clopton Hall who recalled that in
the early days of the 1939/45 war she had been the telephone girl.
The ceremony was attended by various dignitaries, including the Vice
Chairman of the Suffolk and Ipswich Fire Authority and the Chief Fire
Officer who presented Mrs Brooke with a plaque bearing the badge and
Coat of Arms of the Fire Service. The station was open for the rest
of the day for viewing by the general public. The combination of a
modern station and up-dated appliance was a great boost to the personnel
and as radio and two sets of breathing apparatus had been installed,
the capabilities of the station had been much enhanced. The upgrading
however was not finished, if in the Fire Service it ever is. In 1973/74
the system of calling by siren and call bells was phased out. In its
place the Multitone system was installed, relying on radio and personal
pocket alerter. As time went on this was improved, by now the station
has the Phillips PAX system so that the first fireman to arrive answering
a call has a printout from the watch room printer giving the type
of emergency, location, map reference and any other relevant details.
The station now has a modern fire appliance, fully equipped to deal
with all kinds of incidents, fires, road accidents, rescue, both human
and animal, first aid, with portable resuscitation sets, and many
other essential tools.
All this is operated and maintained by a small band of retained fire
fighters who leave their homes or places of employment to answer the
call day or night, besides the obligatory two hours drill and training
per week. Wickhambrook is certainly fortunate to have this kind of
service in the village.
Plucking two incidents out of hundreds attended in its history we
find the disastrous floods of September 1968, 3.5 inches of rain in
24 hours and the fire appliance engaged for 26 hours, and more recently
the disastrous fire at Badmondisfield in 1995, when so much of the
historic mansion was saved by the efforts of fire fighters over two
days. An outstanding feature in the history of the station is the
fact that the late Sidney Bishop was officer in charge of the Station
from its inception until his retirement in 1970, a remarkable record!
Carrying on the tradition of service, the present office in charge
is Sub-Officer John Barton of Bunters Road, who is always glad to
hear of potential recruits. |
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