FUNKEE MUNKEE - Hotline

Did you know that Bedfordshire and Luton Fire & Rescue Service will provide and install smoke detectors in your home completely free?

If you don’t have a smoke alarm, get your parent or carer to call us free on
0800 043 5042
click here to read about what Thomas, a Home Fire Safety Advisor does for a
Home Safety Fire Check.

Field and grass fires in the dry, summer months could cost lives. Fanned by wind, flames which start in a hedgerow or on a patch of grass can spread faster than a person can run.

A change in wind direction can send flames sweeping across the escape path of people on public footpaths - or trap children playing in a quiet field.

What’s more these fires can kill wildlife or destroy their environment.

Firefighters from Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service spent hours last summer putting out and damping down fires which started in the countryside. These fires also destroy thousands of pounds of crops and farm equipment. A whole year’s work by a farmer can be ruined by a carelessly discarded cigarette.

Now firefighters are appealing to young people who are out and about to be alert for field, hedge and rubbish fires. If you see a fire dial 999 and ask for the Fire Service - we will be glad to be alerted as soon as possible before a small blaze turns into an inferno.

Helping to clear away rubbish and broken bottles is one of the aims of projects like the Environmental Action Days and Pride of Place campaigns. Specific areas are targeted by teams of firefighters, police and local authority workers who turn up together on one day and “clean up” an area which has become neglected or overgrown. The results are good - less fires being just one of them.

In South Bedfordshire Pride of Place campaigns have been held in Meadow Way, Leighton Buzzard and Westminster Gardens, Houghton Regis and most recently in Stopsley.

Says Cassandra Swan of Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service: “Nationally every year fire destroys thousands of acres of countryside and wildlife habitats - most are due to carelessness and sometimes they are started deliberately.

“We want anyone who is out and about in the country this summer to be alert to these dangers. Discarded cigarettes and broken glass, through which the sun can shine and cause an ignition, are the main causes.

“Be careful and if you see a fire call 999 straight away with details of the location - the nearest road for instance is important to allow fire vehicles to gain easy access.”

PUSH THE BUTTON! NOT YOUR LUCK! TEST YOUR SMOKE ALARM
For advice on smoke alarms visit: www.fire.gov.uk

...every year the UK fire service attends 60,000 house fires which cause 9000 injuries and 500 deaths

The most common place for an accidental house fire to start is
the kitchen

Most house fires occur between the hours of 10pm and 4am, when most people are asleep

Without a smoke alarm you are twice as likely to die in a house fire as someone with a smoke alarm.

Smoke detectors will wake you up and warn you that there is a fire

Most people who die in house fires suffer smoke inhalation rather than burns. This is because smoke travels faster and further than fire

A room which is on fire can reach a temperature of 600 C and can heat other rooms to 150 C which is hot enough to melt plastic and to kill people in those rooms

Firefighters wear special clothing which protects them from this heat, breathing apparatus which stops them inhaling smoke and helmets which protects them from falling debris. Without this equipment they could not survive inside a fire

If your smoke alarm sounds, you and your family should get out as quickly as possible. To make this easier, you should have an escape plan which everyone in the family knows about. You should practice this escape so that in the event of a fire you know what to do

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Action is being taken in Sandy following the first meeting of the Community Safety Forum on 24th September, where complaints were raised by residents about anti-social behaviour on the recreation ground and other parts of the town.
The Forum brings together Police, Fire, Aragon Housing and Mid Beds District Council, pooling ideas, solutions and funding. It gives local people a powerful voice, working with them to look at safety issues that affect their lives and to come up with solutions.

Residents were told about top of the range CCTV cameras at locations in the town and how they can help reduce crime.
There were also a number of young people who joined the meeting from Sandy's Big Mouth youth group, which is organized by local agencies and Aragon Housing to work with young people and get their positive involvement in the community.

Community Safety Forums are held every three months, giving local people along with Police, Fire, Aragon Housing and Mid Beds District Council the chance to take a snapshot of issues and set up groups to look at problems and solve them.
The problem solving group will report back at the next meeting of the Sandy and Beeston Community Safety Forum to be held on 10th December at 7.30 pm at a venue to be arranged.

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Neville Williams"
please click here
To read "A day in the life of
Haydon Littlewood"
please click on the picure above

Arson is when someone deliberately sets fire to a building or property with the intent to cause damage or harm.

It is though that young people start fires through boredom or peer-pressure. Fires are also started to seek attention or as a cry for help.

Other types of arson include setting light to piles of rubbish, dustbins, grass, trees, and cars.

School Arson
There are hundreds of arson attacks on schools each year and incredibly a third of these happen during normal school hours. Believe it or not, the fires are usually carried out by either a pupil or ex-pupils who live in the local area. You may even now of someone that sets fires in or outside school.

It can be really expensive to rebuild schools that have been burnt down, even the small fires cause costly damage. Most importantly for you, these type of fires can severely effect your lives as people can get badly burnt or even killed. Arson attacks on schools can endanger lives, upset pupils and staff and interrupt your education.

In some cases pupils' valuable coursework has gone up in smoke, putting extra pressure on those who are about to take exams.

Arson attacks on schools can also lead to pupils losing teaching aids, classrooms or other facilities.

Some schools have been so badly damaged that pupils have had to move schools while their old one is being rebuilt, which can cause lots of difficulties.

What is the penalty?
If a person is found guilty of arson they can be sent to prison.

Arson carries a life sentence, which means the offender could go to prison for years.

If you see a fire you should immediately raise the alarm by calling 999 and ask for the fire brigade.

Firefighters from Biggleswade and Kempston joined an event aimed at youngsters organised by the Rights And Wrongs (RAW) group.

Station Commander Chris Adams of Biggleswade Station congratulated the firefighters on entering into the spirit of the event - including sitting in the stocks to get soaked with wet sponges.

"We like to show we are game for a laugh - although we were there to get some serious messages across to young people about fire and road safety. We don't want to be meeting them again when they are trapped in a crashed car. We hope they will think carefully about road safety when they are old enough to drive", said GC Adams.

Crew Commander Paul Webb from Biggleswade explained how the Specialist Rescue Unit equips firefighters to save lives in fires and road traffic accidents. Meanwhile colleagues allowed youngsters to sit in a fire engine driving seat.

Activities included a band, circus skills display, disco & karaoke, wheelchair basketball and stands by agencies like NACRO, the National Youth Advocacy Service, the Youth Service and RAW's own 16 plus team...and of course FunkeeMunkee!

WE HAVE 10 CREW AVAILABLE AT VARIOUS TIMES OF THE DAY. THE CREW HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF SKILLS INCLUDING ENGINEERS, PAINTERS, PLUMBERS, TAXI DRIVERS, TYRE FITTERS, BAR STAFF, COOKS, SALESMEN, ARTISTS AND LORRY DRIVERS

THE STATION HAS TWO VEHICLES,
A FRONT LINE RESCUE PUMP (SCANIA 94 SERIES) WHICH CARRIES EQUIPMENT TO DEAL WITH ALL TYPES OF FIRES (INCLUDING THOSE REQUIRING BREATHING APPARATUS), ROAD TRAFFIC COLLISIONS, HAZARDOUS MATERIAL INCIDENTS, WATER RESCUES. THE OTHER IS A SPECIALIST VEHICLE WHICH IS A FOUR WHEEL DRIVE LANDROVER (110 SERIES) USED TO TACKLE OFF-ROAD INCIDENTS WHERE RESCUE PUMPS CANNOT GET TO, SUCH AS FIRES IN FIELDS AND WOODED AREAS

THE STATION IS MOBILISED ON AVERAGE ABOUT 250 TIMES A YEAR AND THE BUSIEST PERIOD IS IN THE SUMMER MONTHS WHERE WE ATTEND A LARGE NUMBER OF FIELD FIRES.

MOST COMMON INCIDENTS ATTENDED ARE CAR FIRES, ROAD TRAFFIC COLLISIONS AND FIELD FIRES

THE STATION WAS BUILT IN 1998 AND ON LAND DONATED BY THE THEN MARQUESS OF BEDFORD AND SITUATED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF WOBURN VILLAGE

THE AREA COVERED BY WOBURN STATION INCLUDES THE M1 FROM TODDINGTON (JCT.12) TO MILTON KEYNES (JCT.14) AND THE A5 FROM MILTON KEYNES TO HOCKLIFFE AND ALL THE AREA INBETWEEN

THE HIGHEST RISK CATEGORY OTHER THAN THE M1 IS WOBURN ABBEY WHICH IS A MAJOR HERITAGE BUILDING

WE ATTEND ON AVERAGE FOUR JOINT EXERCISES EVERY YEAR WITH NEIGHBOURING STATIONS

LARGEST INCIDENT LAST YEAR –
A THATCH ROOF FIRE AT THE ROYAL OAK PUB NEXT DOOR TO THE FIRE STATION!

Click here to visit the
Fire Kills website for more information and tips on
fire prevention

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