Enjoy all sports, particularly rugby. Deputy Chief Fire Officer for Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service. NFCC lead for On-Call. All views / opinions are personal
Wow! Dropped in on the crew at Kendal this morning - they'd just returned from visiting a family whose house was broken in to and presents stolen a week or so ago. They made the young boys Christmas, along with
@Cumbriapolice
delivering presents! Outstanding
We are working hard to ensure our workforce truly represents those we are proud to serve. Women have been unrepresented in our sector for way too long. Fantastic to see our Penrith crew today - all female, all proud & all professional.
#TopTeam
#TheseWomenCan
A few tears shed again last night. Young Kacper brought back to life after being underwater for 20-30 mins. My voice starts to go at the end, I can only imagine what Violetta and Marek, Kacper's parents, have gone though. So proud of all those involved in this remarkable rescue.
Appleby firefighters have been honoured for their role in saving the life of a teenage boy.
They were presented with a certificate of commendation this week by Chief Fire Officer
@stevejhealey
, for their quick thinking, courage and professionalism
No fire should behave like that in 20 minutes. Firefighters will always risk their lives to save others and
@manchesterfire
have done an amazing job to get this under control so quickly & professionally. But regulations need to change.....and quickly!
Well, it has been a ball. 24 years
@CumbriaFire
and final day today; so excited about joining
@LancashireFRS
tomorrow. Time to put 2020 firmly to bed and look forward to a brighter future. Happy New Year to everyone!
Had a look round the first of 2 new command units on Friday. Amazing technology and fantastic work by the team. The 360 stem camera is brilliant. New command software being installed. Starlink Tesla satellite. Top spec workstations. JESIP briefing room. You name it, its got it!
Firefighters all over the country risk their lives in selfless acts of heroism in an attempt to save others. Going the extra mile and giving all they can. Sadly, often we can’t make the difference we would like. It’s hard, very hard.
Miracles do happen! Today Kasper walked in to
@appleby_fire
station to thank the firefighters that helped save his life. So emotional. He was underwater for at least 20 mins before
#firefighters
found him, dived under and pulled him to the riverbank.
Spent 3 hrs today helping at a vaccination centre.
@LancashireFRS
staff are doing incredible work to support this national effort. Just sitting talking to the elderly / vulnerable is so moving. They are all so grateful. Words don’t do it justice, pls consider getting involved.
Today we finished the rollout of flame pro wildfire PPE to every firefighter in Lancashire. Specialist teams also get additional PPE. Risk is changing, we are changing with it. You don’t fight wildfires in structural PPE for long!
Emotional visit to see some of our on-call crews from Morecambe,
@lancaster_fire
&
@HornbyFire
tonight. Listened intently of their efforts to try to save little George from the horrific explosion. Risked their lives in a valiant effort. So proud but such a tragic loss
#RIP
#😭
A very emotion morning today as we sadly said goodbye to a hugely popular & respected Firefighter, Chris Brown, who tragically lost his life whilst climbing Scafell Pike last week. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sam, Grace and all of Chris' family, friends & colleagues.😥👨🏼🚒
Well, words truly do fail me. Early hours of this morning some idiot(s) - so tempted to use other words - decided to use petrol & set fire to a number of our
@firefighters999
Charity clothes banks in Egremont. At times when all charities are struggling for income. Why? Just why?
So heartening to pick up a number of messages from recently retired
#firefighters
offering their services again. We are working through it all & will be in touch. Currently we are coping well, but are planning our long game. Guess once a Firefighter, always a Firefighter! 👨🏼🚒👩🚒
Can’t deny, I had a tear rolling down my cheek and a lump in my throat. Remember this incident so well & met Kasper and his amazing family with Steve & the incredible crew
@appleby_fire
once he was discharged from hospital. An amazing multi agency team effort & all life savers
Really welcome the improved pay offer for firefighters, they do incredible work keeping communities safe. Pleased to see that the NJC has also committed to a review of the RDS pay and rewards package. RDS firefighters cover 90% of the UK landmass & are vital for emergency cover.
Congratulations to Area Manager Nathaniel Hooton receiving his 20 year prestigious long service and good conduct medal today. A great officer who just wanted a low profile, socially distanced presentation. Well done, Nat and here's to the next 20! 👏👏
In attendance at a serious fire at Jaguar Landrover in Preston. Please avoid the area. Our crews have done an incredible job in preventing serious fire spread.
@LancashireFRS
🚒
Just sent 3 of our swift water rescue teams over the border in to Cheshire to help our colleagues
@CheshireFire
deal with some horrendous flooding. As always, we will do everything we can to keep our communities safe 🚒
Huge shout out for a
@CumbriaCC
colleague this week, Stephen Hall. Been leading the county response to coordinating PPE for our frontline health & care colleagues. Working almost 24/7 to ensure those than need it, have it. Top effort, mate. And all others supporting.
#TeamCumbria
Still felt the adrenaline rush when the pager activated! So glad another 4 on-call firefighters arrived on station quickly. They dedicate so much of their lives to serving their community. I'm on call for 24 hours with them, let's hope for a quiet night!
#NeedMore
Back doing the job I joined many moons ago! Crewing the on-call pump during on-call awareness week! On-call Firefighters from Kendal and Windermere, plus Kendal wholetime working seamlessly to extinguish a boat on fire at Windermere Marina Village. Great work all 🚒
Back doing the job I joined many moons ago! Crewing the on-call pump during on-call awareness week! On-call Firefighters from Kendal and Windermere, plus Kendal wholetime working seamlessly to extinguish a boat on fire at Windermere Marina Village. Great work all 🚒
Crews & officers
@LancashireFRS
have been working so hard in recent weeks dealing with significant, protracted incidents. Now offering up support to other services struggling with wildfires; we’ve been there - Winterhill 2018. 2% [TWO PERCENT] pay offer! 💩
#FairPayForFirefighters
We are supporting our colleagues
@Cumbriapolice
in rural areas. To save on their travel & ensure they can spend more time in the community you'll see Police Officers using our rural community on-call fire stations as a base. Never been as important to join together
#TeamCumbria
We are putting dozens of extra officers and staff into communities to provide reassurance to those making essential journeys visiting hospitals and supermarkets.
Please keep following the advice to stop unnecessary socialising - it will reduce deaths.
#StayHomeSaveLives
First of
@CumbriaFire
Rapid Response Vehicles arrives. New technology is incredible. Piloting in
#Arnside
&
#Staveley
from April. Superb resource for rural counties like
#cumbria
and AWD will allow this to go places our large fire engines can't; matching our resources to risk.
Great day spent with some of our amazing USAR & Rope Rescue teams
@LFRS_USAR
; incredible kit operated by committed, professional & highly skilled firefighters. Not forgetting the demo by our search dogs - outstanding & world class capability.
#TopTeam
@FireResilience
Back at the sharp end today with a day on Red Watch
@blackpool_fire
- great time spent talking, listening and watching such positive, passionate and dedicated professionals. Excellent training using line rescue and the ALP and even got a turnout too!
#TopTeam
Great day spent riding on the pump with the team from Fleetwood today. So important to keep grounded and in touch with the frontline. Busy day of training and community safety, with a small “job” thrown in for good measure. Very engaging and a top team 🚒
Thoughts with our brilliant team
@NW_Fire_Control
today. Undoubtedly they'll be busy. They are the first line in our response and do an amazing job keeping over 7.5m people safe across the north west. Quick, efficient & professional
#OneTeam
Firefighters risk their lives everyday to save others. They go forward as others try to run the other way. In my career I’ve seen selfless acts of heroism, sometimes armed with nothing other than the firekit on their back. Sometimes time is too precious, as every second counts...
Delighted to present Firefighter Abbie O'Brien the prestigious 'Silver Axe' today. A traditional award in the Fire Service for the top recruit. Outstanding performance throughout the course and a fantastic attitude. Well done, Abbie 👍👩🚒
Our crews & multi-agency partners are working so hard to suppress this difficult waste fire. If you can think of a hazard, it’s probably there, yet we push on to try and resolve it as quickly as possible for all those affected in the area.
#TeamLFRS
#JESIP
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service congratulated for excellent performance - HMICFRS 🥳 So proud of everyone in our great fire and rescue service. Brilliant team
#TeamLFRS
@LancashireFRS
Back riding the pump again today, this time with
@lancaster_fire
- it’s great to keep grounded and engaged with the frontline. Just returned from an RTC on the M6. Very professional response, thankfully no serious injuries.
Our new on-call recruitment vehicle almost ready. Designed by our comms team &
@danila_deedee
Allows candidates to undertake some of the physical tests, like ladder lift simulation. A wide range of other uses too. When you see us out & about, come and have a chat.
#ONCALL
🚒🥳
On behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, I was honoured to present
@OwenMcCarney
his prestigious long service & good conduct medal earlier. A top officer & such a lovely guy. Well done, Owen. Amazing service to communities across the UK. 👏👏
Just received this from
@firefighters999
- so proud of the whole team
@CumbriaFire
for raising so much money for our charity. I think it is the highest total I've seen for a few years & has never been more needed than now! Thanks all & keep on with the great fundraising. 👍🚒
Visibility is vital - we can’t lead teams behind emails and phone calls - there’s a place for digital but it cannot replace that physical interaction and presence in order to “feel” the passion and emotion of human interaction.
It’s not even a vocation, it’s a way of life. So many on-call firefighters across the UK devoting unbelievable amounts of hours to keep fire engines on the run in rural parts of the country. The word “dedication” doesn’t really do it justice 👏👏🚒
Had the honour to attend Training Centre today to watch the journey of our latest wholetime recruits. Such a professional pasout parade. Huge congratulations to everyone. Welcome to the best job in the world
@Lancs_FireDCFO
&
@tompowell_91
speaking with such passion
#outstanding
Incredibly challenging multi agency incident dealt with so professionally by all involved. Thoughts go out to the man’s family & friends at this difficult time. Sincere thanks to all responders who tried valiantly to save life, you did your best in the most extreme circumstances
Thank you to the people of Carlisle, for their patience and understanding, whilst our crews were working as part of an extremely complex and challenging incident at Dixon’s Chimney, Carlisle.
Our thoughts are with the gentleman’s family and friends at this sad time.
A huge shout out to
@LFRS_Tim
& his team; coordinating our response to the National vaccination effort; flexing/moving resources around to maintain our outstanding 999 frontline response. Rolling out lateral flow tests across all
@LancashireFRS
sites to keep our people safe 👏👏
Most people would say January is a drag & such a long month. I disagree (well this year at least!) it has gone in a flash. I’ve had an amazing time getting to know
@LancashireFRS
& more importantly, the brilliant staff that deliver amazing services! Honoured to be part of it 🚒😊
Proud to stand with colleagues in Kendal today, to pay our respects for all those who gave so much. Thanks to all
@CumbriaFire
colleagues paying their respects right across the county.
#LestWeForget
Great short clip to demonstrate how our firefighters deal with fires in buildings. Observing the behaviour of hot gasses (smoke!), cooling using various water spray techniques to ensure they don't ignite - often complex & carried out under extreme heat and pressure. Professional!
CM Steve Omar; 29 years service & still as keen today as the day he joined. Such a positive & passionate leader. 100% confidence in his skills when part of his crew today. What a pleasure
@blackpool_fire
- “oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh a do like to be beside the sea”
Our new Water Bowser / driver training vehicle. Will be out and about all over
#cumbria
and will hopefully attract lots of attention and, more importantly, lots of applications to become on-call
#firefighters
Tragic. Cannot believe how quickly this awful disease has affected Rob. Rugby League legend. Definitely going to be heartbreaking to watch. I filled up watching the 1 minute clip. 😢
A
@BBC
documentary following
@Rob7Burrow
, former
@leedsrhinos
star, as he battles with MND, is scheduled to air on
@BBCTwo
on Monday at 7pm.
Rob Burrow: My Year with MND - follows Rob who has helped raise lots of awareness and money towards our fight.
🗓️ Save the date
#MND
Annual fitness test smashed this week. 42.3 VO2 max - it would be a bad day at the office if ever I had to go in and fight a fire. Mental health is as important, make sure you look after both.
@LFRS_HlthFitWel
@LancashireFRS
#Firefit
Shocked to the core that some in society have dropped to such low levels; Last night Fire & Police crews attacked in parts of Lancashire with fireworks, bricks, and eggs. Thankfully everyone safe but damage to vehicles - Emergency Services are here to HELP! Yes, a minority but…
Attended this incident earlier. Incredible efforts by crews from
@LancashireFRS
&
@manchesterfire
- challenging incident with difficult access. Fire is under control but we will be in attendance throughout the night. Well done to all who attended, including multi agency partners.
A busy day for us today. Starting with a 5 pump + Aerial Ladder Platform farm building fire at 02:30hrs then around 35 calls throughout the day to RTCs and flood related incidents. Great work by our
@CumbriaFire
crews, keeping communities safe. Well done all on the front line.
Fantastic work by the team here. These are top notch Command Units and have the very latest technology and innovations, to assist us in managing incidents in the safest and most professional way. Brilliant!
#TeamLFRS
We’ve taken delivery of the first new Command Unit! Final few fixes plus training before going ‘on the run’, with the second not far behind. An impressive vehicle & equally impressive work behind the scenes from multiple teams to deliver 👏
@LancashireFRS
Was an honour to say a few words on John's final day. He will be sadly missed and has done so much for
@CumbriaFire
over such a long period of time. A hard working and dedicated officer. All the very best,
@CumbriaAM
and thanks for all you've done and for your friendship.
@LfrsDrone
giving us an aerial view and supporting operations. Incredible resource and so invaluable for scene assessment. Well done all involved in the ongoing incident at Jaguar Landrover, Preston 🚒👏👏
Today we wave goodbye to an
@LancashireFRS
stalwart. Doing so much in the last few years in the multi agency arena, working tirelessly with colleagues across
@LancsResilience
. Best wishes, Martin, you’ll be a huge loss. A great 30 years, enjoy the next chapter
@MBall72
🥳🚒
So proud of one of our recently retired WMs has been awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in the
#NYHonours
Clive completed 50 years service earlier this year before his retirement in Spring. A fantastic public servant and an amazing achievement
@CumbriaFire
Great day back on the pump again today. Thanks to our great crew
@LFRSNelsonFire
- some SRT tethering training followed by Year 2 and 6 schools education. Dedicated and professional team and very impressive. 🚒👏👏
#TeamLFRS
#RoadSafety
#FireSafety
Another day, another retirement of a
@Fire_Kendal
stalwart. CM Phil Collinson says goodbye after 35 years service to
#Cumbria
communities. A highly professional & dedicated officer who will be greatly missed. Good luck for the next chapter, Phil. 👏👏🍾
Fantastic high rise evacuation exercise this aft
@Blackburn_Fire
- 8 pumps, 2 command units & officers. Great application of new procedures. Well done to all involved 🚒👏👏
Incredible turn out and such a moving service. Rest In Peace, Nick. A man who went to work one day and paid the ultimate price, in such tragic circumstances. Thoughts with family, friends and colleagues.
#999Family
Colleagues and friends formed a guard of honour today as they said their heartfelt goodbyes to Police Constable 1724 Nick Dumphreys at Carlisle Crematorium.
#1724
Like many colleagues it feels like I haven't slept for weeks! It is so important to rest & pace ourselves as this is an incident that will sadly go on & on for weeks. So proud of everyone
@CumbriaFire
@NW_Fire_Control
@CumbriaCC
doing all we can to keep our communities safe.
A quick shout out to all the great staff
@CumbriaFire
@NW_Fire_Control
that are working hard to deliver our services. We are here if you needs us, available on the usual number - call 999 in an emergency & we will be there quickly, with committed & dedicated
#firefighters
👩🚒👨🏼🚒🚒
Quietly reflecting on my first week with
@LancashireFRS
. Met so many passionate, professional colleagues & have been made to feel so welcome. An amazing Service & feel privileged to be part of the team. Attended a vaccination centre 2day where our staff are doing such outstanding
How amazing is this?
#Firefighter
Felicity Robson made this cake for our wholetime recruits 'passout' parade. Amazing. Personalised for every Firefighter, including showing the flags of Wales & Australia - promise I didn't mention the rugby in my speech 🤷🏼♂️🚒
Great work, everyone. We have some amazing wildfire kit but, more importantly, superb professional & well trained firefighters who can use it safely to help fight these protracted fires, alongside colleagues from other services.
Yesterday, Blue Watch
@CarlisleEast
were out delivering food parcels to our most vulnerable. This one going to a family with 5 young children. Nobody should be going hungry in the UK in 2020. So proud of the team.
#notjustfires
Annual fitness test today, smashed it….well, more 🥵. 42.3 VO2 max; test completed followed by a 5km warm-down. Healthy body, healthy mind!
#firefit
#opsresponse
Today I said goodbye to another amazing officer, retiring after 27 dedicated years service. Unassuming, passionate & the 'go to' person who has done so much to develop our incident command training over many years. You'll be a huge loss, Steve
@CumbriaFire
@CFRSTraining
Good luck
....finished with a visit to the mass vaccination site at Blackburn Cathedral. They’ll still be there now, doing their work to vaccinate as many as possible; great to see all of
@LancashireFRS
volunteers in action, inc.
@Straycat753
@
@1chrisjowett
delivering the jabs! 🚒💉
No RTC is easy, this must have been devastating to attend. I know you all and
@nwamb_Cumbria
will have done everything possible to save our Blue Light brother. Extremely sad day for everyone involved. Thoughts & prayers to family, friends & colleagues
#RIP
So proud to be able to read out the biographies of so many of our great staff who have received either their prestigious long service, good conduct medal, or other long, distinguished service
@LancashireFRS
pin badges. “A celebration of our people” 🥳🚒🏅
Our amazing team in Carlisle have just received a lovely message from a mum whose Son was in Carlisle Infirmary when our fire engines arrived to spead some Christmas cheer. Sometimes the small things can make such an impact and such a different. Well done all!
This morning crews from Carlisle East and Carlisle West met all their targets for the year, so decided to visit the Children’s Ward at the Cumberland Infirmary, to show some of the patients around the fire engine, and let them squirt some water.
Delighted to have
@HMICFRS
in Cumbria this week, albeit virtually. We're being inspected on how well we've responded to the Covid pandemic. Couldn't be prouder of the whole team
@CumbriaFire
who have all continued to deliver amazing services to our communities
#readywillingable
Brilliant, Chris. All pumps to have the demountable rear MDT within the next month or two. Also, about to pilot full digitalisation of 2 pumps with 5G bubbles, additional iPads and mobile keyboards so that we can maximise productive time of our crews whilst out and about 🚒🥳
Had a great evening celebrating Eid al-Fitr with
@FazPatel_MBE
and his family. Learnt so much about Muslim culture with such a lovely family, thanks Faz.
#EidMubarak
On Friday we waved goodbye to an absolute stalwart and incredible leader of
@PrincesTrust
across the UK.
@georgeorsteve
George, very best wishes for the next chapter and thank you for 45 years of incredible service to our communities, and, in particular young people. Outstanding
Well, it has probably been the longest week ever! So proud of the response from staff
@CumbriaFire
&
@NW_Fire_Control
to ensure we are still able and ready to respond to all 999 calls. Great team effort which will serve us well over the challenging weeks & months ahead
#OneTeam
Said goodbye to another
@CumbriaFire
stalwart earlier today. GM Justin Robinson - a great character, brilliant inter-personal skills and an all round "good un". His knowledge of fire safety is incredible and he'll be missed by all. Happy "retirement" mate!
Went to visit Red Watch
@lancaster_fire
today, their 1st shift back since their heroic actions in the early hours of Saturday morning. Worked under such extreme danger to dig away rubble & beams to help free 4 casualties, undoubtedly saving their lives. Needs no more words.
Emotional visit to see some of our on-call crews from Morecambe,
@lancaster_fire
&
@HornbyFire
tonight. Listened intently of their efforts to try to save little George from the horrific explosion. Risked their lives in a valiant effort. So proud but such a tragic loss
#RIP
#😭
Hope all those emergency service workers that are on duty today get some down time to try and enjoy the festive period. Thank you for keeping our communities safe 🚒🚓🚑 🏥- many other critical workers also not able to spend the day with loved ones 🙏
Just reviewing the last 24hr activity
@LancashireFRS
- crews & officers busy responding; house fires, two separate 6 pump (& specials) commercial building fires, water rescue, gas leak - a number of rescues carried out across these incidents - saving lives is what we do
#TeamLFRS
1/2 I’m aware in recent weeks two of our staff
@LancashireFRS
have carried out CPR / used Defibs to save lives. One off duty, one a community safety advisor (also a community first responder who we support to respond whilst at work)….
Wow! Incredible what you stumble across. Memo from a retired Cumbria CFO on challenges facing the retained service 20 years ago. Not much has changed! "A 21st Century Fire Service can no longer continue on conditions of service set in the mid 20th Century"