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At 09:02 on the 14th of August, Yelverton appliance was called to a fire in the open at Dousland Industrial Estate. On arrival the crew found a bonfire that was under control. The crew checked the fire was under control and then returned home station.
Yelverton Fire Station's Blog 
Hi Fred
As usual your blog makes interesting reading, after your DVD on the Shirley Towers I viewed it and it raised a few questions.
I noticed that at this incident both fulltime and retained fire fighters worked well together ( as I know you do in Plymouth ) but how does your training compare? with that of full time fire fighters.
Is the main ladder carried on your pump the same length as the ones carried on the old Leyland/Dennis pumps of the 80’s as looking at your photos the old
pumps seemed to have a longer bar across the base.
Are you the first retained pump to move into the city when required because there is less risk in Yelverton than there would be if Ivybridge was left without immediate fire cover.
Thank you very much for your time.
Take care
Mark
By: Mark on August 19, 2013
at 8:50 pm
Hi Mark
I will try to answer your questions as best I can.
Technically there is no difference between the training for whole time and retained Fire Fighters. The system requires Fire Fighters to attend courses until they have completed the initial training at which point they become Fire Fighters in development. In development they run a log book of the incidents and training they have received at a station level and, when ready, they attend a stage review which is pass or fail. There are three stage reviews, the first is primarily pumps and ladders, the second, amongst other things includes RTC procedures and the third is theory, they are questioned on everything they have covered so far plus questions on the ops procedures which could be on anything from animal rescues to Radiation incidents. The main difference between the whole time and the retained is the study time. The whole time get an opportunity to study at work, the retained have to study mostly in there own time. Locally we have a training officer based at Plympton who runs additional drill nights for Retained Fire Fighters in development that definately helps them pass their stage reviews.
The ladder we carry is a 135 ladder. That is 13.5 metre ladder that we have always carried. A lot depends on the risk in your area and there is a 105 or 10.5metre ladder that is routinely used throughout the brigade. The bar may be smaller on our ladder, as technology has moved forward different alloys that are stronger have been used in their construction.
We are not the first appliance into the city for stand by. A lot depends on what city appliances are out, if Camels Head, Crownhill and Greenbank are out then either Bere Alston or Yelverton will be sent stand by, sometimes both depending on how many city pumps are involved with the major incident. If Plympton, Plymstock and Greenbank are out then Ivybridge will most likely be sent stand by to Plympton. It isn’t an exact science and different watches at control may use different appliances for stand by, there is no hard and fast rule.
Hope that helps.
Fred
By: yelvertonfirestation on August 24, 2013
at 6:08 pm