Airport Fire (2006)

This page shows photographs of the fire service at Humberside International Airport demonstrating their fire fighting capabilities on their mock airplane test rig.

The mock aircraft fuselage catches fire. The burning kerosene sends plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

R761 NFW This Boughton Barracuda arrives at the scene within seconds and begins to pump foam and water from its roof top monitor whilst two fire men prepare to attack the fire with hoses.

As the two fire men advance towards the fuselage they signal to the operator of the foam monitor to stop spraying.

The fire men lay a mix of foam and water to extinguish the fire which appears to have started in one the aircraft’s engines.

The fire is soon brought under control and the flames begin to die down.

A fireman signals to the foam monitor operator that the fire is now out and that he can stand down.

The equipment is made up and the fire crew survey the scene of the fire that they have just extinguished.

Train Crash Exercise (2006)

Photographs of the fire brigade and other emergency services reacting to a train crash exercise. The situation is that a laden train has crashed at speed into the buffers at the end of a platform at Leeds station.

S801 EUB This West Yorkshire F&RS Volvo appliance is the first to arrive at Leeds railway station. The crew don’t know what to expect as they leave their appliance and enter the station concourse.

VE02 YLG and YB05 FVD, Very soon afterwards, senior fire officers begin to arrive at the scene in marked and semi-marked vehicles. On the left here is a Vauxhall Frontera and on the right a Renault Megane.

YK03 JVV At another entrance to the station fire appliances are joined by ambulance crews in a Mercedes Sprinter – WAS in readiness for a major operation to remove casualties.

Ambulance paramedics and technicians don protective headwear as they may be working in confined spaces or amongst metal debris.

YJ04 ATF Police vehicles from the city centre also arrive to assist. The police’s main aims are to make the scene safe where ambulance and fire personnel are working, as well as controlling people movements and communication.

The rear view of the Mercedes Sprinter video van.

Transport police officers survey the train that has crashed. They attempt to gain access and get an idea of how many casualties there are.

Meanwhile the fire brigade are working at the other side of the train. They are attempting to rescue people from doors that have not been broken in the smash.

YD54 UHB More emergency vehicles continue to arrive at the scene. This fire brigade Volvo V70 is being used as a temporary control unit. It has a red flashing light as well as the usual blue lights on the roof. Fire brigade control vehicles are allowed to show a red and white checkered light to all sides.

The front view of the Volvo. This car can quickly get to a major incident and assume a command position until a dedicated command and control appliance attends. Most counties have only one such appliance and it may have to travel some distance to get to where it is needed.

WY 1 Not long afterwards the full-size control unit arrives. This Volvo unit carries blue and red flashing lights and takes over from the Volvo car above.

The rear view, showing the windowed office and briefing area. Small red flashing lights can be seen along the checkered band. The valuable personalised registration plate WY1 has been handed down from vehicle to vehicle over the years.

Back at the trackside a mix of emergency service personnel are in a short briefing to decide how best to proceed. A fire service camera man films the meeting which will later be used in the debrief.

Firefighters are then briefed by their officer in charge as to what they should do now as part of the coordinated response.

Other fire fighters lay out tarpaulins and place cutting equipment on them. The ‘jaws of life’ that are often used at road accidents can be used here to open train doors and remove mangled metal from the carriages.

Fire brigade personnel use ramps to get injured people off the train. It is quite a long way down when the train is not alongside the platform. The walking wounded are helped off the train while paramedics treat people inside the carriages.

T738 VWT and YD52 TVP, Due to the number of casualties the ambulance service have sent two control units to help coordinate the casualty treatment. Both vehicles are Mercedes Benz Sprinters but are different ages and carry different liveries.

The rear view of the T-registration ambulance ISU.

The rear view of the 52-registration ambulance ISU.

YJ05 AEB A West Yorkshire Police Vauxhall Astra is parked up a short distance from the station. Officers are assisting the transport police with accident scene management. The car is left a short distance away so fire and ambulance vehicles can park closer – giving better access to equipment and medical aid.

The rear view of the same police car.

YE03 XJV heads a row of five fire appliances near the crash site.

A closer look at the front of the engine reveals that it is equipped with cctv. This is primarily to capture images of people attacking fire fighters and vehicles.

L728 EJX arrives at the crash site. It is a West Yorkshire Volvo FL6.18 prime mover.

The rear of the same vehicle shows that it is liveried as a major rescue unit.

It is revered into place and the equipment pod demounted from the chassis.

Fire fighters wheel in additional equipment that will help get to passengers in the mangled train.

An unusual piece of equipment is this manually operated rail trolley. It is used to transport equipment to train incidents when they are not easily accessible from the road.

Once all of the casualties have been extricated, the fire brigade continue to work to make the area safer for people to work in.

BG55 ZPS Two British Transport Police carriers were the only vehicles that didn’t have to travel to the scene as they were already based at the train station!

Flat Fire (2005)

Here we look at a large fire at a modern apartment block. The fire was reported in the roof of at 5:15pm on a Friday evening. The crews had difficulties with water pressure from hydrants and accessing the fire. The situation soon escalated, and at its height 80 firefighters were tasked to this incident.

The scene at the front of the apartments as four appliances tackle the blaze, including an aerial platform.

The situation at the rear of the four-storey building. It is clear that this is a serious incident. All the residents were successfully evacuated at an early stage. There is difficulty in bringing the fire under control, so more personnel and engines are requested.

At the front, the Fire Brigade have closed the road. The wind is pushing the flames and smoke out of sight of the camera.

The seriousness of the incident prompts senior fire officers to arrive in their fire cars (shown). They plan the method of firefighting and take control of the incident.

A number of police officers have also arrived. They deal with crowd control, directing traffic and liaising with the evacuated residents, some of whom are just returning from work to find their homes on fire.

N612 WPY A police constable checks where the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Salvage & Environmental Control Unit should go as it arrives on blues and twos.

Such a large fire attracts the media. Press reporters and photographers are present, as well as local BBC and ITV television cameras and reporters. The first reporters on the scene are briefed by a UKev photographer as to what has happened before their arrival.

R513 MPY Boroughbridge’s water carriers arrives on blue lights and sirens to get more water to the scene.

YJ05 ACZ The local traffic police in a Volvo V70 T5 help control the traffic on the neighbouring main road. Water hoses have been placed across the road to get to hydrants and traffic has to slow as it drives over small ramps to get over them.

NX53 AYW Engines continue to arrive on blues and twos from outlying stations some hours after the start of the fire.

Firemen leap from their engine and don breathing apparatus kit.

P108 FEF Older engines from retained (un-manned) fire stations arrive to help with the effort. The change of shift at 6pm means that more firefighters need to be brought in before exhausted ones can leave.

YJ53 BZC This is a specialist Incident Support Unit Mercedes Sprinter. Oddly it has no livery on the front, just the blue light bar on the roof.

The side view. This is the longest version of the Sprinter that is available.

Firefighters in protective clothing and helmets remove oxygen cylinders from the shelving in the rear.

The fire is a short distance from a main river, so an engine is used to pump water from the river to where it’s needed (which can just be seen in the distance).

To stop other parts of the building catching fire, the Skylift is operated remotely to spray a wide angle of water over areas near the flames.

The following day: This is the situation as firefighters dampen down the properties and make safe any weak structures. This photograph was taken some 18 hours after the fire started, and is almost identical to the first photo in this album. 50 properties were damaged, with damage running into tens of millions of pounds.

Disused Warehouse Fire (2004)

A large fire breaks out in a disused warehouse in Leeds

Several appliances are called to the scene to tackle the flames. This photograph shows a pumping appliance drawing water from a near by hydrant.

Firemen tackle the blaze from outside, inside and above the building.

YD02 TYT is an Volvo / Angloco aerial ladder platform from the Kirkstall Road station in Leeds.

S803 EUB is a West Yorkshire Volvo pumping appliance.

YE03 XJV is another Volvo appliance with Emergency One bodywork. The equipment lockers and pump controls can clearly be seen.

YH53 FKZ is a marked up Volkswagen Passat diesel estate fire car used by a West Yorkshire Fire service senior officer. It is joined here with R959 RHL, a WYMAS Mercedes ambulance and a West Yorkshire Police Vauxhall Astra panda car.

Extrication From Car (2003)

Here we look at how the fire brigade responds to a collision where a driver is trapped in their car. This is part of an exercise so the driver is simulating being trapped and injured.

Two fire appliances arrive at the scene of the collision. A blue Vauxhall Astra’s driver is trapped in his car. The fire brigade waste no time in collecting their cutting equipment from the rescue tender to use of the vehicle. One of the firefighters assesses the casualty’s injuries and reassures him.

Within a few seconds the car is secured with chocks and the ‘jaws of life’ cutting equipment begins cutting through the roof pillars. The casualty is shielded from and flying debris with a board. On cars equipped with a steering wheel airbag, specially designed boards are fixed over them in case they fire.

While the cutting continues, one firefighter uses brute force to bend the doors as far back as possible to aid access to the injured driver. The team works in almost total silence; everyone knowing what has to be done.

An ambulance arrives on the scene. The paramedic gets out and collects equipment from the back. Click the thumbnail to watch it arriving.

Four-and-a-half minutes after the fire brigade arrived at the car, the roof is removed. Excellent access to the casualty is now available and he can be extricated with the minimum amount of movement.

The driver is slid out of the rear of the car using a spinal board and is carried to the ambulance.

The firefighters help the casualty into the back of the single-crewed ambulance and then begin to tidy the scene. The total time from the firefighter first speaking to the casualty to them being placed in the back of the ambulance is seven minutes.

Scrap Yard Fire (2001)

This scrap yard fire on Tyneside sent thick clouds of black smoke into the air as firefighters spent many hours battling to control the blaze. The pillars of smoke could be seen for over 30 miles as 1000 tonnes of scrap caught fire at an industrial estate in Blaydon. 14 fire appliances were used as well as the Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade boat as it bordered the River Tyne.

A police car blocks the road as firefighters tackle the blaze in the background.

Warning signs are erected on neighbouring roads. Fire engines are used to pump water from hydrants to the fire.

Two of the fire engines on scene.

A general view of the scene from one of the approach roads.

A mobile control unit is set up to co-ordinate resources at the scene.

An aerial platform is used to get water on the seat of the fire.

The plumes of black smoke dwarf a fire appliance.

There is still a sense of urgency to qualm the flames even after three hours of fire-fighting.

A firefighter collects equipment from an appliance.

A Dennis pump (yankee-zero-two from Swalwell, the nearest station) shrouded in the thick smoke.

The same engine from the side

Day is turned into night as we look at the blue lights and head lamps of a fire engine through the smoke.

A Dennis Sabre appliance is being used to pump water.

In the scrap yard which is on fire hoses are scattered like spaghetti.

An aerial platform in use to tackle the blaze.

The prevailing wind is doing a good job of sending the smoke in one direction only. The buildings nearby are dampened down to prohibit any new fires starting.

As two fire fighters take a break for refreshments, their colleague continues to tackle the blaze in the background.

The smoke caused problems on the nearby A1 as traffic had to negotiate fog-like conditions. The smoke could be seen 30 miles away. The police helicopter was used for a short time to determine the centre of the blaze using its thermal imaging camera.

Senior fire officers arrive in their unmarked cars. This Vauxhall Astra is fitted with a double blue flashing light on the roof with built in siren.

A less-than-two-week-old Ford Mondeo is also fitted with the blue light and siren cluster. This vehicles belongs to a Fire Safety Officer.

The rear view of the same vehicle.

The view from a few miles away. The smoke is more grey than black now but is still very visible.

The next day roads around the site remain closed.

The smoke has cleared but firefighters continue to dampen down the piles of scrap metal. Fire investigators believe that a short-circuited car battery started the fire.

A Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade appliance with doors and shutters left open as firefighters have jumped out.

The rear view of the same appliance.