From lightning strikes to cow rescues - a fire fighting history (From Gazette Series)

From lightning strikes to cow rescues - a fire fighting history

DURSLEY and the surrounding area is a rural community with little development during the 19th and first half of the 20th century. However, as the population increased so did the need for more housing and the area became more built up with new housing estates being built.

The local fire service was for many years situated in an old garage in Bull Pitch where the Henlowe Drive junction is and was leased to the fire service but had become inadequate for the modern needs.

So in line with the rest of the county, a brand new purpose-built two-bay fire station was built and officially opened in Castle Street on Saturday July 10 1965 to serve the fast-expanding community. Dursley fire brigade has always been part time, with its fire fighters having full time jobs elsewhere.

The move from Bull Pitch to Castle Street took place on April 1 1965 and Station Officer Len Frost lead his team of men including sons Tony and Len Frost, Fred Arthus, Mike Todd, Gerald Pekala, Basil Allen and Doc Billett to name but a few. I will now reflect on the call outs (shouts) and action seen since 1965 and look at the humorous side as well.

In May 1965, lightning struck a bungalow in Cam, severely damaging the roof by fire. During March 1967 the infamous 'Torey Canyon' oil tanker foundered on rocks off the Cornish coast and a team of men and 'Green Goddess' appliances went and cleared the beaches of spilt oil.

The M5 motorway was in the planning stages in the late 1960s, meaning the A38 was the main trunk route between the Midlands and the West Country. It was a very dangerous road and Dursley firemen were dealing with up to five road traffic accidents each month, many with fatalities! The stretch between Stone and Claypits was Dursley's ground.

One of the most common seasonal fires at this time was of course a chimney fire and three or four in one day was not uncommon.

The New Inn at Woodmancote has played host to three separate lorries losing control on Whiteway Hill and colliding with the pub. The first in April 1971 and one each in 1984 and 1988.

On August 2 1971 the diesel locomotive hauling a Taunton to Birmingham express train caught fire at Coaley Junction and a locomotive blaze happened at Berkeley Road involving a Leeds to Penzance express in 1977.

New faces in the service included Chris Jones, Ian Wilkins, Roger Woodward, Tony Warnell and Alan Carter. The call out system for the firemen was by means of a siren mounted on top of the tower in the station yard and this was sounded for 45 seconds between the hours of 0700 and 2300. Bells were fitted into the fireman's homes and these actuated for 24 hours. The siren was replaced by the pocket bleepers in 1972 and the bells discontinued.

August Bank Holiday Saturday 1973 was a busy day. A large barn fire containing a boat and vehicles was destroyed at Rock Road, Cam that afternoon and the drama hall at Rednock School was destroyed that night. R.A Lister and Co. always had their own works fire service and in the event of any shout, Dursley, Wotton and Stroud would respond. Indeed, none more so than during the early hours of July 13 1975 when a blaze tore through an experimental department in Drake Lane.

Weather related shouts are quite common. The long dry spell of 1975-76 produced fifty grass fire alone in August 1976 and the summers of 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1995 were similar.

Lightning strikes have caused untold damage in the locality. A house at Hornshill (A38) was struck in February 1977 and a house in Cam extensively damaged during a severe thunderstorm on July 10 1995. Severe gales and storm force winds badly damaged a dwelling at Coaley on March 24 1986 and places suffered damage in Wotton on Christmas day 1990, all needing fire service in attendance.

Just for the record, the largest fire in Dursley was the R A Lister blaze on July 27 1983. Twenty two appliances and 100 personnel were on the scene. The worst road traffic accident they ever dealt with involved a mini-bus colliding with a lorry on the A38 at the Wooded Lane junction resulting in eleven deaths on October 18 1962. Perhaps the most unusual call out was to standby at Maidenhead (Berkshire) on the day of the Windsor Castle fire in November 1992, but in the event were not needed and turned back.

Len Frost returned in 1972 and Basil Allen took over as Station Officer from then until 1991. Len Frost (son) from 1991 to 1997. Roger Woodward from 1997 until 2000. Finally Graham Ponting from 2000 until today.

Many fire-fighters have come and gone, too numerous to mention and in recent years the fairer sex have joined up with Joanne Ball first and more recently Hannah Wilson.

Fire-fighting, however, does have its comic moments, like the time a fireman fell into a slurry pit whilst rescuing a cow. The electronic two tone horns were accidentally triggered in the middle of the night on a two-minute cycle, waking all and sundry. Whilst manoeuvring their engine they brought the awning outside the jeweller's shop crashing to the ground.

Dursley fire service had an award for efficiency and prompt turn out for many years and finally I would like to thank former Station Officer Len Frost and current Sub Officer Ian Wilkins for their help with this feature and also mention that there is an exhibition of fire service history in the town hall on Saturday July 16.