“Up, up and away” – Behind the Scenes at Leatherhead Fire Station.

Having had a glimpse of all that the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service does at the Service’s Open Day on 22 August, I was intrigued to find out more and asked whether I could come back for a proper visit to one of the Service’s fire stations. To my delight, the crew at Leatherhead Fire Station said yes and it made for a fascinating afternoon.

The crew showed me around the station and talked me through the different roles taken on by each crew member, e.g. being in charge of the control room, organising the equipment or cooking the day’s meals! Crews need to be ready to drop everything at a moment’s notice, day or night. They typically work according to 12-hour shift patterns: two day shifts are followed by two nightshifts, which then lead into four days of well-deserved rest. 

The station itself was immaculate. Seeing the fire engines primed and equipment meticulously organised, really showed how much preparation goes into “being ready at all times”. Every piece of kit has its place since every second counts when a call comes in. And calls come in from all over the country. This summer, the Leatherhead crew not only assisted with wildfires throughout the south of the UK, but also as far afield as Suffolk and the West Midlands.

The greatest excitement of the afternoon, though, was going up in the Aerial Ladder Platform. The “ALP” is a specialist vehicle with an articulated or telescoping boom topped with a working platform, or cage. It is used to reach people and situations at height, whether fires, rescues or other emergencies. The ALP can reach a phenomenal height of 42 metres if fully extended vertically.  Unfortunately, it was not safe to reach such dizzying heights that afternoon because of the relatively brisk winds, but even “only” being 19 metres up in the air gave me a genuinely new perspective — both literally and in terms of appreciating what firefighters have to do when working at height.  It is one thing to see an ALP in action from the ground; it is quite another to stand in the cage yourself and feel how it moves and trembles in the wind – and that was without having to handle large equipment, stretchers or dealing with intense heat.

A huge thank you to the crew at Leatherhead Fire Station. Visits like this are a brilliant reminder of the huge skill, discipline, specialist knowledge and teamwork which underpin the emergency services.

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/community/fire-and-rescue