For Bordon (retained) fire station fronts a wide road with little traffic, which means the firefighters can make a quick exit when they get a “shout” (a 999 call) to anything from a cat stuck up a tree or heathland fire, to a multi-vehicle crash on the A3 or a family trapped in a burning house.
They are responsible for one of the largest areas of Hampshire, as well as being on call to help fellow firefighters, whether in Petersfield or Rushmoor for example, and it seems that they are always mentally on duty, aware that if there is a major incident they can be called out, even on rest days.
The crews at Bordon are retained firefighters which means most have civilian jobs, such as a mechanic, an engineer or a delivery driver.
Watch manager Simon Morford has 11 years with the service, while Daniel Todd and Chris Clinnick are full-time firefighters as they divide their duties between Bordon and stations in Havant, Blackbushe and Aldermaston (Berkshire).
Seated around the table in their station community room, which they also allow to be used by the public for meetings and talks, Simon, Daniel and Chris were joined by Joe Jones, who is also a landscape gardener.
At all times they carry small radios which gives an alert when the fire alarm goes, which sends them rushing to the fire station.
“We have to get the engine on the road within five minutes of getting the call,” said watch manager Simon, describing how the firefighters have to first get into their uniforms - the last piece of which they are sometimes putting on as they head out of the door.
“I lay my trousers on the carpet when I’m at home so that I can just slip into them,” said Daniel.
“But somehow I always forget my shoes and end up at the station in my socks,” he laughed.
Humour is an important part of a firefighter’s job. Creating a bond of camaraderie with mates helps because good team work is vital when, in dangerous situations, they depend on their trust in each other.
There are 15 firefighters at Bordon - the other watch manager is Phil Moban - and there must always be four of them at the station to man the engine, but in the event of a large fire or a serious road accident they will alert their off-duty colleagues or ask for help from a neighbouring station.
Bordon firefighters are supposed to work in a shift pattern of four days on followed by four days of rest but, of course, it does not work out like that if more hands are needed in the event of a large incident.
For instance, the hot summer has meant the Bordon (retained) firefighters were repeatedly called out to heathland fires - seven times on one particular day - and the risk factor was high, not just from burning undergrowth but also from dense smoke, making it difficult to see or breathe.
All the firefighters have partners, but maybe falling in love with a firefighter should come with a warning - the job comes first and all four firefighters spoke of family events - even just the planning of a simple night out at a restaurant with their partner - which had to be cancelled at the last minute to answer a 999 call.
Joe said that only recently he was “all dressed up and ready to go out with my girlfriend when my alarm went off and I had to say ‘sorry’ before rushing to the fire station”.
Agreeing, Simon said: “What I mind most of all is not always being there to put the children to bed and read to them.”
Bordon Fire Station was built in 1987, a year after the closure of the town’s former Edwardian fire station (now called the Eco Station) at the Lindford Road and Camp Road crossroads. The Conde Way building is a far cry from the Edwardian building which, when it opened, had a fire engine pulled by horses and water which had to be hand pumped.
The new fire station, which is managed by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, is spacious with good lighting and heating, a kitchen, showers (the station’s one female firefighter has her own shower and toilet), a comfortable room in which to sit and relax and plenty of storage space. Outside, there is a large area used for exercises, complete with a training tower.
The station also has a water carrier, one of only five in the county, which it loans to fire services over the border in Surrey and West Sussex.
The fire service has come a long way in its attitude to sexual diversity, as Simon pointed out: “There are no barriers to joining the service. It doesn’t matter whether a person is homosexual, bisexual or transgender, or what their skin colour or religion is.”
Although their main role is often considered to be firefighting, for some time road accidents, especially along the A3 and the A325 through Bordon and Whitehill, have been a significant part of the Bordon firefighters’ work because traffic is on the increase. So when the fire engine goes out, the co-respondent team follow in the ambulance car, which is kept at the station. For difficult terrains or snow and ice, the station also has its rescue Land Rover.
Chris admitted that when dealing with crashes, the team often come across distressing scenes.
“But we are all trauma trained and work with the police, paramedics and ambulance crews to quickly get the badly injured to hospital,” he added.
All admit to the “blue-light” adrenaline rush they get as they race to the scene, and the daily excitement of not knowing, each day, what job they will be called out to and the satisfaction that their training and skills mean they can handle any situation.
They gain a sense of pride if they save a family from a burning house, rescue an injured person out of a tangled car wreck or protect the environment by controlling heath fires, which must be a reward for the dangerous job they do. One of the criteria for the job is that the firefighters must be fit and in good health and to ensure this they undergo periodic fitness tests.
The fire service, like the police and the military, is also facing cuts.
Pathway 2020 is a consultation process to see how Hampshire Fire Service will go forward in the future, but with a need to make cost savings of £12million. But Hampshire Fire Station has launched a new recruiting programme, aimed at getting more women to join because, at present, 95 per cent of firefighters are men.
At Bordon, the firefighters say they would like more interaction with the community so people know who and where they are as they admit: “We can feel a bit isolated here.”
They go out into the community to talk to people at schools and groups about fire prevention, advising on the siting of smoke alarms and stressing that households should be like businesses and have their own escape plans for a quick exit.
Also, when they can, the firefighters attend fetes and fairs to talk about their work and fire prevention, and a highlight for children is when they are invited to climb aboard the fire engine to sit in the driver’s seat and learn about the controls.
One hazard firefighters often encounter is, while trying to make their way to a fire, finding their route blocked by cars parked on either side of narrow roads.
Daniel said: “We often have to walk quite a way to get to an incident because we can’t get our vehicle any nearer.”
The firefighters admit that sometimes, when called out a fire, they feel a sense of failure because, according to Daniel: “Our job is fire prevention and so it shouldn’t have happened.”
As part of their winter campaign, the firefighters are reminding people to get their chimneys swept, which should be done twice a year, before lighting their first fire.
On October 20, the firefighters held a charity car wash at which they laid on refreshments and cleaned as many vehicles as they could to raise money for the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund, which looks after the families of firefighters killed in the line of duty.
The fun event gave Bordon’s firefighters the chance to interact with people and show what a friendly lot they are.
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