'The only thing that can save us is the rain...' Battling Bonfire Night mayhem with Manchester's firefighters
06.11.2023 - 00:31
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
It was quiet in Gorton Fire Station. And then the alarm went off. Very quickly, three men and one woman spring into action. They fly down the pole, throw on fire tunics, and brief themselves on the next incident.
It could be a wheelie bin smouldering, or a tower block alight. That uncertainty is part of the job.
But what shouldn’t be part of the job is the amount of unnecessary calls out — down to anti-social behaviour, commercial waste burning, and unsafe bonfires.
And yet, this is the reality of Bonfire Night with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
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This year, the Manchester Evening News was invited to spend the evening with crews from Gorton Fire Station. From 5pm to 10pm, our reporter, Ethan Davies, joined two shifts on eight calls.
The first was called in as a large bonfire in Clayton. It might usually conjure up images of marshmallows and a family celebration.
This was far from that — a large collection of wooden pallets and household waste on fire at a storage yard. The caller at the yard was apologetic, but the crew just got on with their job. 20 minutes, 1,800 litres of water, and a telling off later, there was no fire. A quick hurtle back to Gorton meant job one of the night was done.
The next time the alarm went off, the team had just had time to wipe down the floor so it was free from tyre tracks — but not enough time to get undressed.
“It’s started, hasn’t it?,” the two most experienced members of the team asked one another. It was over to Broughton after a report that children were holding a