A Sheffield firefighter has donated £1,000 to charity after winning the money in a competition.

Crew Manager Paul Wood from white watch on Central station in Sheffield, won the money last year while attending the national fire service Breathing Apparatus (BA) Challenge, where he took part in the guess the name of the bear competition, which to Paul’s surprise he won.

He decided to donate the full £1,000 prize money between two charities, The Children’s Hospital Charity for the Burns Unit and The Fire Fighters Charity, getting £500 each.

Paul has this week presented his cheques to each of the charities.

Paul said; “I couldn’t believe my luck when I was told I had won, it was such a surprise. I knew straight away though that I wanted to donate the money to charity. The Fire Fighters Charity was the obvious choice, having been a firefighter for the past 19 years. I also chose The Children’s Hospital Charity as I wanted to help a local charity and having two children of my own I felt it was a very worthy cause.”

Judith Oliver, the Fire Fighters Charity fundraiser in Yorkshire, said; “We can’t thank Paul enough. Working with members of the fire and rescue services is always a pleasure as they are such generous and community-minded people”.

The Children’s Hospital Charity’s director, David Vernon-Edwards, said: “This is an incredible donation, which comes at a critical time in our hospital transformation as we strive to fundraise for a brand new wing at The Children’s Hospital in Sheffield. As part of our Make it Better appeal, we urgently need funds to bring world-class facilities to the already world-class hospital, so Paul’s amazing support means we are a step closer to that.”

Safety experts responsible for putting fire protection systems in iconic buildings like the Shard and Sydney Operate House have been put through their paces at a South Yorkshire training exercise.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) staged the exercise for seven fire engineers from ARUP, a multinational company responsible for implementing fire safety systems in large buildings worldwide.

The exercise at South Yorkshire’s Handsworth training base included scenarios in the service’s cutting edge Realistic Fire Training Building.

The training was designed to help the engineers to experience first-hand the physical demands placed on fire crews attending incidents.

SYFR’s Roger Brason, who helped organise the training, said: “As part of the design process, fire engineers have an obligation under building regulations to provide access and facilities for fire services. Physical attributes which are a daily part of a firefighters’ role are at times not fully quantified in design consideration by the fire engineering community.

“But staging this training allowed the engineers to understand how standard features commonly provided in buildings, such as dry and wet risers, fire fighting lifts, fire hydrants and smoke ventilation are used in real life events.”

Sometimes features which can aid firefighting are engineered out of designs to save money and space, so SYFR hopes that by staging the exercise engineers will have a better understanding of the impact this can have.

The exercise was led by South Yorkshire’s technical fire safety team, which is responsible for engaging businesses in the county and ensuring they meet obligations under fire safety legislation.

View more information on making your business safer.

Take the test

So you passed your driving test a while ago. But how much can you still remember about staying safe on the roads?

To mark CFOA Road Safety Week, we’ve created a quick quiz to re-test your knowledge of the Highway Code.

Remember to let us know your score!

Read our tips on how to stay safe on the roads

The first of two new aerial appliances has arrived in South Yorkshire. It is now being kitted out before firefighters undergo familiarisation training with the new vehicle.

The Turntable Ladder (TL) has been manufactured by Metz XS and supplied through the Rosenbauer Group here in the UK. It is believed to be the best specification firefighting turntable ladder on the market.

The L32A model has superior accuracy and agility compared to an aerial ladder platform (ALP), deploying 90 seconds faster. Its ladder can reach 32 metres and provides water more quickly than an ALP.

After specifications were submitted by companies interested in providing the vehicles, extensive testing by a working group consisting of staff in various roles across the fire service took place.

A dozen fire service volunteers joined a march through Rotherham town centre this week, in celebration of their service to local people.

The walk, organised by Voluntary Action Rotherham, attracted support from businesses and individuals along the route. More than 200 people who volunteer for a variety of local organisations joined the walk to mark National Volunteers’ Week.

Volunteers contribute to the work of South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) in a variety of ways, including supporting community safety events, schools work and helping to deliver educational scenarios for the thousands of children who visit Lifewise Centre, Rotherham each year.

Sue Butler, volunteers coordinator at SYFR, said: “This is overdue recognition not just for those volunteers who give up their time to make their communities safer by working with the fire service, but for the many thousands of volunteers from across Rotherham who are helping local people on a daily basis.”

Click for more information about volunteering for the fire service.