Firefighters were left ‘absolutely disgusted’ last night after having various objects thrown at them whilst attending an incident in Doncaster.

Crews were called to Chestnut Avenue in Carcroft at 6.57pm yesterday (Wednesday 6 February) to reports of a wheelie bin fire in a park.

Upon arrival they were met by a gang of youths who were initially verbally aggressive, before starting to throw random objects – forcing firefighters to withdraw from the incident until officers from South Yorkshire Police arrived.

This latest attack follows a number of previous incidents during the bonfire period.

“Clearly this group has set fire to a bin, in the knowledge that we would attend, and awaited our arrival where they have hurled abuse and physical objects at our firefighters,” said Area Manager Andy Strelczenie, the service’s head of emergency response.

“This is totally unacceptable and we’re absolutely disgusted by what happened. Our crews put themselves in danger every day to keep the people of South Yorkshire safe, they don’t deserve to be abused in any way.

“As with the incidents over the bonfire period we’ll be working closely with our police colleagues to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

“I’m sure they’ll be surprised to find out that this kind of behaviour now carries a custodial sentence of upto 12 months – thanks to a new law that came into force last year.”

• The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill will create a new offence of assault against an emergency worker in the exercise of their functions with a penalty that is increased from 6 months to 12 months
• The Bill also creates a statutory aggravating factor. This means that when a person is convicted of a range of offences including sexual assault, ABH, GBH and manslaughter, the judge must consider the fact that the offence was committed against an emergency worker as an aggravating factor meriting an increase in the sentence within the maximum allowed for the particular offence
• The Bill will cover emergency workers, this includes police, prison officers, custody officers, fire service personnel, search and rescue services and certain healthcare workers including ambulance personnel

Fire station improvements are being prioritised as part of a major investment in fire service buildings, a report to the service’s governing Fire Authority will say.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue plans to spend more than £8 million in one off, reserve funding on its buildings over the next few years- modernising its estate and improving the working environment for firefighters and other staff.

The biggest scheme involves the rebuilding of Barnsley fire station, which has reached the end of its operational life. A new, three vehicle bay building will be built on the current site, plus a separate unit where community schemes like the service’s successful Princes Trust Team Programme partnership with South Yorkshire Police can be housed.

Other major works include refurbishments of fire stations, including those at Rivelin, Rotherham and Thorne. Gyms are also being improved, supporting firefighters in meeting national fitness testing standards.

Plans are also being drawn up to move South Yorkshire Police’s vehicle bodywork and paint shop into the fire service’s own vehicle workshops at Eastwood in Rotherham. That work forms part of a wider collaborative project to bring the two organisation’s fleet management functions closer together.

Director of Support Services Stuart Booth, said: “One of our aspirations is to make our organisation a great place to work. Part of achieving that means investing in the buildings and facilities our staff use every day and we’re pleased to be making progress towards this.”

The service has produced an estates action plan to detail its work in this area.

The progress report on estates and facilities service improvements will be discussed at the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority meeting on Monday 11 February.

Paper-based processes will be ditched and technology used more widely in a bid to free up time for firefighters and fire safety officers, a report will recommend.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue will ask its governing Fire Authority to approve recommendations to modernise many of its systems and processes, including the use of one-off reserve funding to fast-track some of the key changes.

The report proposes committing around £680,000 in reserve funding, which has already been committed to support investments which will save the service time and money in the future.

More than half of the money will be used to create more robust back up arrangements for its systems- better safeguarding against cyber attacks which remain one of the biggest national security threats.

Other improvements include digitising the way water hydrants used by firefighters to tackle fires are checked and monitored, an electronic system for recording and maintaining equipment on fire engines and using new data sharing tools to better prioritise safe and well checks for the vulnerable.

Work has already taken place to update the recording of staff sickness, stopping firefighters from having to complete multiple paper forms.

Director of Support Services Stuart Booth, said: “Our firefighters and fire safety officers deliver some brilliant work, but often they are working with old fashioned, paper based systems. We desperately want to modernize and make greater use of technology, to make their lives easier and create more time for them to do what they do best- making local people safer.

“Whilst we can feel safe in the knowledge that our systems and equipment are as safe as they can be, the nature of cyber threats mean that they are constantly changing and evolving, which is why we’re also proposing to boost our back up arrangements so we can seamlessly recover in the event of an attack of this nature.”

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) criticised some fire and rescue services for being slow to modernise their systems and processes, in a report released last year.

South Yorkshire became one of the first fire services in the country to achieve Cyber Essential Plus accreditation last year, further illustrating the measures it has taken to keep its systems and information secure.

The ‘Digital Transformation Roadmap’ will be debated at the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority meeting on Monday 11 February.

The fire service’s governing Fire Authority will decide whether to increase its portion of Council Tax by 2.99% next year, at its budget setting meeting later this month.

Current indications are that South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue will lose around £800,000 in its Government grant funding in 2019/20, when compared with 2018/19.

Householders in Band D currently pay £71.01 per year for their Fire and Rescue Service, around £1.37 per week. The decision to increase council tax would raise around £750,000 in annual funding for the fire service- the equivalent of around 20 firefighters.

The service has previously outlined the financial risks it faces in its medium term financial plan, which it will need to find further savings to address. These include:

• The requirement to save £1.4 million from the service’s annual budget, following the outcome of a Judicial Review relating to the Close Proximity Crewing duty system
• The outcome of a Government pensions revaluation, which will almost certainly mean a sharp rise in employer pension contributions
• An uncertain financial future for all public services, with further cuts likely beyond 2020/21

Plans to be developed later this year will consider how these cost pressures affect the way in which South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue delivers its service to the public in the future.

Fire Authority Members will make their decision on Council Tax at the fire and rescue authority meeting on Monday 11 February.

It is now quicker and easier than ever to register large household appliances, such as washing machines and freezers, according to South Yorkshire firefighters.

The claim comes on ‘Register My Appliance Day’ – a national push that is being supported by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue as part of its latest ‘Protect Your Pets’ electrical fire safety campaign.

The initiative, which was launched in November last year, has been urging people to keep their pets and property safe by not buying ‘cheap and dodgy’ electrical items, turning appliances off at night and when they’re out and, lastly, not overloading plug sockets.

And with the campaign soon coming to an end the service is now shifting its focus to appliance registration – with figures showing that less than a third of white goods are registered after being purchased and that two thirds of people have never registered an older appliance they may have bought a couple of years ago, or been given by family or friends.

Station Manager Matt Gillatt, who works within the service’s community safety team, said that the few minutes it takes to register an appliance is time well spent.

“Registering an appliance only takes a few minutes, but it means that manufacturers are able to contact you if they think that something may be wrong with your white goods,” he said.

“Many of the incidents we go to include things like washing machines, and tumble dryers, that have had a repairable, common fault, but due to the fact they haven’t been registered the owner knows nothing about it – until their kitchen has been destroyed by fire.

“The good news, though, is that the majority of brands let you register appliances that are up to 12-years-old so it isn’t too late to do it and help keep your family, and of course pets, safe.”

Only two months ago, on Sunday 17 November, crews from Doncaster and Edlington attended a house fire on Anchorage Lane, in Sprotbrough, which was caused by a faulty washing machine that had been left on overnight.

Following the fire, Watch Manager Gary Ridgeway, who was the incident commander on the night, has called for people to make sure washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers and other electrical appliances are switched off overnight, as well as making sure they are properly registered.

He said: “This incident started after the occupant got in at night and turned the washing machine on before he went to bed. There was a fault in the washing machine, that they didn’t know about, which started the fire, filled the kitchen with smoke and caused a significant amount of damage to the property.

“At 2am in the morning, the two people who lived at the house would have had nowhere to go, had it not have been for their neighbours. Fortunately the smoke alarms sounded and they were able to get out, so the outcome wasn’t too bad.

“This is a serious issue for us, though. The cost of a few minutes’ worth of time is nothing compared to the lasting damage that comes with a fire – be it injury to you, your family or a pet, a kitchen that is completely destroyed or something far worse.”

White goods can be registered on the Register My Appliance web portal, which has been developed by AMDEA (The Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances) and can be found at www.registermyappliance.org.uk.

The portal was designed to make it quicker and easier than ever before to register appliances, providing access to over 60 leading brands and the relevant manufacturers.

A number of firefighters in South Yorkshire are now able to deliver vital safety advice to hard of hearing and deaf people thanks to students and tutors at Communication Specialist College Doncaster.

Crews in Doncaster have been learning basic British Sign Language (BSL) in order to improve their communication skills when attending incidents in their local communities.

Tutors tailored the sessions specifically to the needs of the fire service to include words and phrases that would be needed in the event of a fire.

To put their new skills to the test, crews also took part in a realistic fire exercise based in the residential facilities at the college. Students played a part in the scenario which saw firefighters having to communicate using BSL in order to direct students safely of out the building.

Station Manager Thomas Hirst said: “It can sometimes be harder for firefighters to communicate with people who are deaf or hard of hearing, particularly when in an emergency situation. Being able to communicate safety messages in a quick and concise manner when the time arises is vital, so learning some basic sign language skills in this way will be of huge benefit to crews.”

Fire Community Safety Officers have been visiting pupils at the college to deliver fire safety training sessions on what to do in the event of a fire and how to prevent one from occurring.

Stacey Betts, assistant principal at Communication Specialist College Doncaster, said: “We are really pleased to be working closely with the fire service and believe that this will be hugely beneficial to our students.

“We’ve helped to provide Deaf Awareness training to the team and they are helping our students become more aware of fire safety. This is a great example of how partnership working can benefit organisations.”

Fire safety information in British Sign Language can be accessed on South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s website here https://www.syfire.gov.uk/safety-advice/information-for-people-with-disabilities/

South Yorkshire has joined a major national firefighter recruitment drive, which launches today.

On-Call Firefighter Awareness Week (7-13 January) is a UK-wide initiative to get more people to protect their communities by signing up to become on-call firefighters.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue currently employs on-call firefighters at seven fire stations- Askern, Birley Moor, Cudworth, Dearne, Rossington, Stocksbridge and Penistone.

https://youtu.be/Qy6_00x-Yu4

On-call firefighters are local people who live within five minutes of those fire stations and are paid to respond to emergencies. They do not staff the fire station 24 hours a day like full-time firefighters. They are notified of a 999 call via a personal pager which they carry with them when they are on duty. They are also paid to train and, when needed, carry out safety work in the community.

Head of Emergency Response Tony Carlin, said: “We’ve employed on-call firefighters for decades and they play a vital role in keeping local people safe. But we need more people who are passionate about the places they live to become on call firefighters.

“If being a firefighter is something that appeals to you, but you already have a career or other commitments, now is the chance for you to find out if you can still make it happen.  There’ s lots of flexibility to work around other commitments such as family, studying or work, so we really want people to get in touch to find out if it could be a career for them.”

The National Fire Chief’s Council and Home Office are behind the national campaign, using materials designed to appeal to a wide range of potential applicants.

To find out more about the role of an on-call firefighters visit www.oncallfire.uk or to register your interest with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue here

A firefighter from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has just returned back to the UK after spending two weeks improving fire safety in migrant camps in South Sudan.

Clare Holmes, a watch manager on Rotherham blue watch, was part of a team of six volunteers who were approached by the ‘Women in the Fire Service’ network to visit the camp, after a request they’d received from an aid charity.

During the two week trip, the team provided ‘train the trainer’ courses for United Nations (UN) camp staff which included community fire safety advice and burn and scald prevention information. Clare and the team also carried out a fire safety assessment of the camp, which is occupied by roughly 120,000 people.

Many camps in South Sudan can hold thousands of people living in makeshift accommodation in close proximity to one another, with schools, hospitals and markets all adding to the risk of fire.  As well as this, all cooking takes place on open fires and fire service response is limited.

Clare said: “The greatest risk in camps like the one we visited in South Sudan is during the dry season which runs from November to March, so it was important to put into place fire safety measures as soon as possible.

“The community were very receptive to our visit and found the training and advice very beneficial. The site staff that we trained will now be able to pass on fire safety guidance to thousands of people living in the camps and hopefully reduce the risk of a fire starting.

“I hope that our work can make the lives of the people we visited safer for years to come.”

The trip to South Sudan was supported by Fire Aid, a charity which provides donations of fire and rescue equipment and training to those in need of such assistance.

The charity recently visited South Sudan in March 2018 and identified a number of substantial fire risks including a lack of awareness of fire safety. It was from this that Women in the Fire Service were asked to request if any of their members could volunteer for a second visit to the country.

It is hoped there will be a follow up visit in 2019.

Rough sleepers from in and around Sheffield were served a three course Christmas dinner today (Wednesday 12 December) at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s headquarters.

The meal, which consisted of turkey and all the trimmings, was paid for by fire service staff and cooked by the service’s chef. Guests were then served a syrup sponge pudding.

The attendees ate in the service’s café facility, which is shared with Age UK Sheffield, after being invited in by Framework’s Street Outreach team. The leftover food from the event has since been sent to the Salvation Army who will be using it to provide their beneficiaries with a Christmas dinner this evening.

Area Manager Tony Carlin, who has led on getting the meal set up, said: “Working with our partners on the Weather Watch scheme has really brought home for us the issue of homelessness in Sheffield and we, with the support of our staff, wanted to give some rough sleepers at least one hot meal this Christmas.

“For us this is a small gesture but hopefully it will go a long way. Everyone who attended the meal was extremely grateful and, whilst it was great for them to get a dinner, the important thing is that our partner agencies were on hand to offer support too.”

Members of staff based at the service’s headquarters donated £5 each to sponsor one meal for a rough sleeper – with any excess money going towards the Red Cross Weather Watch scheme.

Following the event, the service has set up a JustGiving page – with all proceeds going towards Framework Housing Association. This can be found here.

“We’ve had a lot of people asking us how they can help, so we’ve set up a JustGiving page as part of this event. This means that anybody who wants to contribute can do so by donating a sum of their choice, however big or small,” added Tony.

If you’re worried about someone sleeping rough please call Framework on 0800 066 5358 or Text SOTS to 80800 followed by your message, or visit www.streetlink.org.uk.

How safe are you when it comes to electrics in your home?

How safe are your pets?

As part of our Protect Your Pets campaign we’ve designed the below quiz to see how much you know about electrical fire safety.

Have a go for your chance to win one of a great prize collection – including tickets to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, tickets to the Grenoside Pantomime Group’s Aladdin performance and a portable bluetooth speaker worth £35.

We will draw the prize winners on Wednesday 19 December. If you’ve won, we’ll be in touch.