This week, White Watch at Canley Fire Station kindly opened their doors to cadets from 163 Sqn to give them taste of a day in the life of a fire fighter. This is part of a continued effort at the Sqn to get the cadets involved in local services and projects.

On arriving at the station, the cadets were warmly welcomed, and given a tour of the station. They were shown how the fire fighters receive alerts of incidents, and experienced the alert that goes out to call them into action. They were told all about the shift patterns, how the Watch system worked and what they did in their down time – it seems much t the disappointment of the staff, gone are the days of beds and pool tables! They instead now undertake an extensive training programme and are heavily involved in promoting fire safety in communities. They were also told about the welfare vehicle, which contains facilities to carry food, make hot drinks and chairs and tables to extend the time for which each Watch can be in attendance at an incident. The cadets then got the moment they were waiting for – they were taken outside to have a look round an active Fire Engine.

Once outside, one of the members of the Watch, Gemma, showed the cadets all of the equipment kept on the engine, and explained how it was used, including different hoses, cutting tools and ladders. They were then given a demonstration of how the breathing apparatus works, as they Fire Fighters explained what happens on arrival at the incident, the number of them in attendance at different types of incidents and the roles each one plays.

Following this, a second member of the watch, Phil, took the cadets over to a demonstration area with a number of cars, and showed them how they would go about cutting the roof off a car in a Road Traffic Collision, and how the hydraulic jack worked to lift a vehicle to safely remove casualties from beneath it. The cadets were very impressed by this display, and it may have tempted a few into thoughts of a potential career!

Next, it was time for the cadets to get hands on, and cdt Coles did an excellent demonstration of how to unroll a hose, in the opinion of the rest of White Watch outdoing the attempt of Phil, who had demonstrated the technique. Each cadet then was given an opportunity to try their hand at controlling the hose while it was running, with some impressive aerial water displays being performed in the process! The cadets were quite surprised with the strength it required to control the hose, and they were quite in awe of the regular Fire Fighters doing this all of the time.

As the evening drew to a close, the cadets were able to climb on board the Fire Engine, and many enjoyed operating the sirens on the engine, particularly when the Sqn staff were standing in front of it! They got to climb into the back seats and were told the preparation process on the way to an incident for the staff in those roles.

By now it was time for the cadets to say their goodbyes and give their thanks to White Watch and head back to the Sqn. The evening was highly enjoyable and informative for all, and gave the cadets a fantastic insight to the work done by the Fire Service, and great respect for the work the Fire Service do.