Matches, lighters, never touch, they can hurt you very much! This was just one of the lessons the Beavers were taught at our visit to Studley Road Fire Station.
We were made to feel very welcome by Firefighter Cook, Firefighter Karavadra and Firefighter Sherrington from Blue Watch, who showed us around the station, including all the secret bits that the general public don’t normally get to see! How lucky were we?!
We were told very clearly that if there was a “shout”-that’s when the Firefighters and the engines (Alpha or Bravo) have to respond to an emergency call-we’d have to move very quickly to the back of the station so we wouldn’t get in the way. When we were being shown around, the siren went off which indicates there is a “shout” and we were all poised to move fast, but luckily it was a test call and Firefighter Cook got Mattie to read off the information that had been sent. It was a call from the control centre in Kempston saying, “Hello 1st Luton Sea Scouts!” We bet not many groups can say they’ve had a message sent like that before!
Firefighter Cook showed us the big map of Luton on the wall and said sometimes they have to check where roads are if they’re not sure before they leave. He also explained to us that all new houses are built so that fire engines can get quite close to them to put out fires as quickly as possible, which is very clever. Sadly though he said, sometimes it’s very difficult to get to incidents when people park in silly places and block roads, so he asked us to make sure we told our families to be aware of where they park.
The next bit of the station tour took us to see the famous firemans pole. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to slide down it as it would have been very dangerous as we weren’t trained. Using the pole to get downstairs when they have a “shout”, means they can get on the engines much faster than they could if they ran down the stairs, so it’s really very clever and probably fun as well!
When we went upstairs, we saw where the Firefighters have their dinner and we were told that as their shifts are currently 24 hours they have to have lunch, dinner and then breakfast while they are working at the station. If they get a “shout”, even if they’ve just sat down for food, they have to leave it straight away and warm it up again later after they’ve got back.
Some lucky Beavers got to sit in the front of a fire engine and everyone else got to sit in the back which was lots of fun. Firefighter Karavadra opened all the secret compartments of the engine and showed us all the equipment that is stored for the Firefighters to be able to use in all sorts of situations. Everything had its place and it was very tidy, we wondered if the Beavers could keep their rooms as tidy?!
One of the big pieces of equipment is used to cut through cars when people get stuck in them after an accident. Firefighter Cook told us a very important piece of information that he said could save a life. He said, if you come across someone who has had an accident in a car and they are slumped forward, you should hold their head up so it opens their airway which means they can breathe easier. This he said was much more important than trying to get someone out of the car as you could hurt them more doing this. Holding their head up while others get help is the easiest way to save a life and he wanted us to remember that as it was very important.
The final bit of the visit was the best bit….we got to go outside and squirt water from the hose that was attached to the fire engine!! The Firefighters helped us with this bit as the water came out very fast and we needed to be very strong to hold it. They explained that the water squirted really far so they could keep as far back from the flames as possible until it was safe to get closer.
Before we left we all got given a leaflet which had lots of information about fire safety. The Firefighters said we should check that all the smoke alarms at home were working. This is because smoke is the most dangerous thing in a fire so the quicker we can get to safety the better. The Firefighters can actually come to your house and fit smoke alarms if you need them to, so there is no excuse not to have them.
You can find out more information here: https://www.bedsfire.com/Pages/default.aspx
Did anyone do their homework and find out who Saint Florian is? I’ll let you into a secret; he is the patron saint of Firefighters. Let’s hope he continues to look over all the Firefighters, especially the ones at Studley Road, as they’re the best!
Thank you to all from Blue Watch, we hope you didn’t have to go out too many more times after we left 
Fun at the station A video of some of the fun we had!
