APPLIANCE REPAIR IN ATLANTA

As Wastnage’s factory burned to the ground fire crews from all over the county rushed to Danbury to fight the inferno.

A total of 200 firemen were brought in to fight what Michael Dedman, Divisional Commander and senior officer at Sunday’s blaze, claimed was the biggest fire the county had seen since the Shell refinery were up eight months ago.

Forty appliances were brought in – with 25 actually fighting the fire at any one time.

Among them were six specialised appliances where were used throughout the operation.

A hydraulic platform was brought in from Southend and a Simon Snorkel foam tender rushed to Danbury from Basildon.

Leigh on Sea sent a rescue tender and a foam tender from Grays also helped to put out the fire.

A turntable ladders and a hose laying lorry from Chelmsford fire station were also on hand to beat the flames.

Fire cover was maintained throughout the county by using appliances from outlying fire stations to cover the towns and back up from fire services in Herts, London and Suffolk were also provided.

The centralisation of so many of the county’s appliances and firemen at Danbury did not lead to any problems elsewhere in the county added Mr Dedman.

Fire has severely damaged part of riverside hotel in the Village of Streatley on the Berkshire/Oxfordshire border. The fire began shortly before 1630 hours on 8 May in a storage room adjacent to the recently refurbished spa area and quickly spread into the roof space. The fire was under control at around 1900 hours but crews remained on scene throughout the night cutting away and damping down. Streatley is on the northern edge of Berkshire and the hotel is last building before crossing the county border.
A total of 12 pumps attended the incident, 7 from Berkshire and 5 from Oxfordshire, along with both of Berkshire's ariel appliances and the Incident Command Unit. Local news reports state one firefighter was injured tackling the blaze and remained in hospital overnight.

Written and photos by Ivan Barefield

<< Arhiva >>