Steak and Cherry

Big city centre fires are quite unusual these days due to improved fire detection; last night's fire in Sauchiehall Street looks to have been quite serious and could have been much worse. The crews who attended made some rescues in what must have been quite challenging circumstances, and they  rescued a family from the top floor of the building. 

If you live in a flat, you're dependent on the fire safety of those around you - an even greater risk if you live above a restaurant or shops. I consider it a responsibility to have a smoke detector - and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue will come and fit one for free if you ask. Do it today. 

On a less serious note - I was only in the Steak and Cherry once, at the end of a very random night out, but I'm still sorry to see it go.

Shortly after 11pm on Tues 8th Feb 2011, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue's Operations 

support centre in Johnstone received reports of fire at the premises of The Steak & 

Cherry Restaurant in Sauchiehall street, Glasgow.Initial appliances from Cowcaddens, 

Springburn and Yorkhill community fire stations were quickly mobilised and in 

attendance.

The blaze which is thought to have started in the kitchen area of the premises,  

quickly spread to the upper floors and roofspace of the tenement style property. Due 

to the construction of these property types,hidden fire spread via enclosed voids and 

spaces, are notoriously difficult and dangerous for crew to tackle.
 
On arrival the crews were faced with a rapidly developing fire involving the 

restaurant itself and spreading to occupied residential tenement flats above. These 

intial crews had to deal simultaneously with the original fire, it's spread to the 

upper floors and more immediately,a family trapped by smoke in their top floor flat. 

In total two males, two females and a child were rescued by firefighter's using fire 

service ladders, which had been manhandled into position to an elevated area to the 

rear of the property.

Commenting on this aspect of the incident in particular, Area commander Garry Milne 

commended the crews saying " the rescue of this family from the upper floors, was a 

textbook ladder rescue".

The family was subsequently transported to the Royal Infirmary for a precautionary 

check-up. 

While this rescue was underway,firefighters assisted by their Police colleagues 

systematically searched and cleared adjacent flats.
 
Additional fire engines and crews were quickly ordered on to the incident, with at it's 

height, 11 engines, including two with a high reach capability responding and around 70 

Firefighters in attendance.
 
Premises and flats on either side of the affected part of the building were evacuated as a 

precautionary measure and in conjunction with Strathclyde Police and Local authority 

partners, overnight accomodation was arranged  for householders who required it.
 
The blaze was brought under control by a combination of high volume water jets being 

directed down from a high reach fire appliance and the sustained and determined efforts 

of Firefighter's entering with hand held hose lines.
 
Control of the incident was assisted greatly by Strathclyde Police organising traffic control,

cordons and an initial rest centre for residents evacuated.
 
A joint investigation into the cause of the blaze will be carried out by Strathclyde Fire and 

Rescue and Strathclyde Police. It is expected that crews will be in attendance for some 

considerable time and local traffic diversions have been put in place.
 
There is no further information available at this time.
 

St Anne's Emergency Services Day

I was invited along to the Emergency Services day held at St Anne's Primary on Thursday.

It was a great day - and it broke down barriers between young people and those in the emergency services.

The Police mounted division were on hand to explain the role played by Police horses - and they impressed by cantering round the playground and demonstrating that the horses wouldn't flinch even when a class of primary children screamed at the tops of their voices!

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue brought along a fire engine, the Traffic Policing section had their car, and the Police Dogs came along in the afternoon. Officers from cycling and GCSS in the council also lent their time and expertise. The pupils had lots of questions, which all involved ably answered.

The most exciting moment came when the Police helicopter flew low over the school - apparently photos were taken too, which I hope to get to see.

Credit should go to PC Daniela Giannoni, who pulled the whole thing together. I got a real sense that the children got a lot out of the event; anything that builds up the relationships between our emergency services and the communities they serve should be commended.

Labour Councillors award themselves another trip at your expense

I enjoyed today's Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Board meeting - lots of interesting papers, and I had plenty of questions to ask. I got the distinct impression that by the end of the meeting, the Chair was getting a bit fed up with me! I think it's only right that when officers put work into the papers before us, that they are properly scrutinised.

I was particularly concerned by the lack of detail in a proposal to move from three areas in Glasgow to two, not least as the papers had no detail on the cost or full personnel implications of the proposal. Oddly, Calton and Parkhead will move to the South of Glasgow! I'm still kicking myself for not moving that the paper be brought back with more detail to a future meeting, but given the composition of the board, the vote would have been unlikely to pass in any event.

There was also a proposal to send the Convener and one Vice Convener (both Labour, as it happens) to the INTERSCHUTZ conference in Leipzig. Sounds fairly innocuous until you look in the papers and realise that the cost of their attendance at this four-day conference was a rather extravagant £5,900. The cost of actually attending is free, so this sum was to meet the travel, accommodation and subsistence costs for two people. Quite rightly, a few of my colleagues on the board questioned the wisdom of this expense in the current financial climate, and moved rejection of the trip. Labour Councillors rallied round their Convener and Vice Convener's right to attend, and one even accused the SNP of bigotry for daring to suggest it was a waste of money. We were outvoted by fifteen votes to eight. It's frustrating to witness that even in these times of scandals and belt tightening, there's still an appetite in Labour-dominated institutions to splurge on foreign trips.

Cheapside Street memorial

I was privileged to attend the memorial events on Sunday for the 50th anniversary of the Cheapside Street fire.

The event began with a wreath-laying ceremony at Necropolis, followed by a service at Glasgow Cathedral, and the unveiling of a plaque at a ceremony in George Square.

The whole day was very moving, and it made me reflect not only on the devastating loss of life back in 1960, but of the very real risks fire crews face every day.

A book to mark the anniversary has been launched, and I hope to get myself a copy soon.

A busy and varied Friday

One of the things I love about being a Councillor is the wide variation in the things I get to do. Today was a great example of this.

This morning, I was asked by Station Commander Eddie Renfrew to come along to the first day of a new initiative in Kilbirnie House, the community resource based at Calton Fire Station. Kilbirnie House is kitted out with great facilities for young people to get them interested in fire safety, as well as having a conference room and computer suite.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue were keen to get local people in to use the resources, and got in touch with John Wheatley College about hosting a computer skills course. Today saw the first group of women from the Calton come along to get started. They're all looking forward to surfing the net, sending some emails, and improving their typing skills, and I'm glad to see their enthusiasm being met by the local Fire and Rescue service. It's a great opportunity, and a very practical way to get the most out of their resources.

I hope the ladies will forgive me for posting up this picture of them as the lesson got underway!

Following this, I rushed back to the City Chambers for the Executive Committee. Today's agenda included a huge paper on Council funding for a range of organisations, details of the polling stations at the upcoming General Election (no confirmation of date, sadly!), a submission to the private members Bill on Autism Strategy, and proposals to allow groups to bid to run the Community Centres Culture and Sport Glasgow are proposing to close.

After lunch, I met with a constituent in Barrowfield, who is concerned by the behaviour of Celtic fans arriving by buses. Some drink, leave rubbish, and urinate close to his home. No one should have to put up with that, so I'll be doing what I can to help.

I attended the World Day of Prayer service at St Michael's in Parkhead. This was a great event, where all the local churches had come together to present a service composed by women in Cameroon. John Mason MP also attended, along with Frank McAveety MSP, and the congregations were pleased to see so many politicians giving their time and support. I had a good chat with some of those involved afterwards, and sampled some of the lovely home baking. I hope my singing didn't annoy too many people - I'm more used to Hampden!

After that finished, I popped back into the office to clear a few things off my desk. It's great to be out and about, but the paperwork tends to build up the second I leave!

Firefighters - invite them round!

As regular readers of the blog will know, I’ve been supporting a lot of the work done by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue. While I was visiting Calton Fire Station to see Firereach in action, I offered up my flat as a means of promoting Home Fire Safety Visits, an offer which was met very enthusiastically by the new Area Commander Frank Waters and Stephen McKee, Community Safety Co-ordinator for North East Glasgow.

White Watch came to my flat (as they do with any other Home Fire Safety Visit), along with a journalist from the News of the World and a photographer. The team ran through the Home Fire Safety Visit as they would with any member of the public, checking each room for fire risks such as overloaded plug sockets, candles, and other flammable items.

I live in an older tenement building and a lot of the plug sockets are single ones, so I do use a lot of extension cords. I was reminded that they can overheat, particularly when devices like hair straighteners and hairdryers are plugged into the same one. I learned that the old style plug adaptors are more hazardous than the new bar ones, and I now switch all adaptors off when they’re not in use.

A significant risk factor is of course smoking – cigarettes left burning when people nod off in their armchairs or in bed can quickly cause a fire to break out. I don’t smoke, or allow people to smoke in my flat, so that wasn’t directly an issue for me. It could be an issue for me though if it happens to one of my neighbours. I live in a close with ten other households, and I’m sure a few of them smoke. The fire fighters told me a recent fire where the person had fallen asleep, but the neighbours heard the smoke alarm going off, and called 999. If they hadn’t, their neighbour could have died, and the fire could easily have spread to other houses in the street.

I was shocked to find that my own smoke detector, which had been in the flat since I moved in two years ago, was found to be faulty. The fire fighter who checked it reckoned it was a loose connection. As part of the service, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue will fit a smoke alarm for free. It has a ten-year lifespan, and is smaller and neater than most I’ve seen. You can also press a button to turn off the beeper if it goes off by accident (I set it off soon after while cooking bacon!).

I feel a good deal safer knowing that I now have a properly installed, functioning, reliable smoke alarm, and I would recommend the Home Fire Safety visit to anyone. The fire fighters carrying out the visit encourage you also to make an escape plan, to think about what you would do in a fire, and to make your own home safer. They pointed out things I wouldn’t have thought of, like the importance of having well-fitted doors to prevent the spread of smoke. It’s also worth recommending to family and friends – we could all be victims of fire, and it’s clear that the best early warning is a smoke detector.

Book your Home Fire Safety Visit today. Call 0800 0731 999, text "Check" to 61611 on your mobile phone or follow the link to fill in the request form.

Photos by Carol McCabe Photography
35 Summertown Road
Glasgow
G51 2QA
Web: www.cmcpictures.co.uk

Fire!

I've blogged before on various matters relating to Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, and was recently switched from being a substitute member of the Fire and Rescue Board to being a 'fishel member. I enjoyed participating in the meetings I attended as a sub, so I was happy to take the opportunity when it arose.

I went with a couple of Fire Board members to visit the site of the new training centre at Clydesmill Industrial Estate the other week, and was impressed by the scale of the development. The training centre should be a great asset to SFR (and hopefully wider!), and I hope it will be a success. The facilities aims to be as realistic as possible to give firefighters the best possible training. There will also be an academic block to allow for seminars and conferences.

It's a large site, and will also house the merged Cambuslang-Parkhead station. I noticed on the visit that you can actually see the current Cambuslang station from the site - obviously Parkhead is a wee bit further away. Hmm. One of the Councillors on the trip seemed to be trying to bait me on the issue. I accept the Fire Board voted against retaining Parkhead, but that doesn't mean I concede the argument.


On a much happier note, I visited North East Area Headquarters in the Calton and got to see the award winning Firereach programme in action. This aims to break down barriers between young people and fire fighters, allowing them to learn about the dangers of fire while having a bit of fun training with fire crews. It started in Easterhouse as a means to deal with fire hydrant vandalism and anti-social behaviour, and has snowballed due to the hard work of some very dedicated firefighters.

When I visited on Friday, third year pupils from St Mungo's were taking part in fire hose drills and fire and rescue simulation activities in Kilbirnie House. They certainly looked like they were getting a lot out of it. I sat in on two of the boys completing a 'rescue' in the cage room - they had to work together to negotiate their way around a two storey cage structure in the pitch dark wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatus. It's a great way of encouraging teamwork and communication, and I was impressed by the serious way the young people treated the exercise. It's certainly a good way of instilling respect for the dangerous work carried out by firefighters. Check out the video below!

Meetings and events

Today's going to be hectic - and very conversation-heavy. It sounds odd to my other half, who speaks mostly to computers, but a significant part of my job is listening to people. Speaking too obviously, but the listening's the really important part. Remembering what was said by whom and when, and what action I've to take when I get back to the office is a bit more challenging, especially when all the meetings are back to back.

This morning, I've got a meeting with parents from St James' and Queen Mary Street at 9.15, and a Royal visit to the opening of the Community Fire House at Calton Fire Station at 10.15. This afternoon, I've got the pantomime of Full Council at 1.30 and then casework to catch up on with several constituents to call back. I'm also still trying to get hold of some facts'n'figures for the school closure meetings next week.

If I get all my work done, I hope to go and see Motherwell play St Mirren tonight in the cup. Events have kept me away from the football for weeks, so it'd be great to make it along. It has the advantage of being able to switch the conversational part of my brain off for a wee while!

Parkhead closure goes ahead

I've taken some time to get over my anger that Parkhead Fire Station is set to close. I, and other SNP colleagues on the Fire Board, asked the questions that needed asked around safety and service provision. We criticised the public consultation, which had received suspiciously low responses from the public. We queried why those comments which were against the proposals got played down in the response to the consultation. Buried at the back, these included:

"I trust that you will not claim in your ‘full consultation report’ that this event and your ‘business plan’ has in any way the support of this community council - since the event was clearly designed to exclude any meaningful participation by working people in general and by this Community Council in particular."

"The FBU presented a petition with over 2000 signatures asking for the Board of Strathclyde Fire & Rescue to retain Parkhead Fire Station. The petition stated that a slower and less efficient service would be provided and no account was being taken of planned regeneration works. The premise of this petition was therefore misleading."

"Our overall conclusion, then, has to be somewhat guarded:
The Public Meetings did not demonstrate a widespread public opposition to the proposals – because they were poorly attended and because fire service personnel were so influential in articulating concerns that were taken up by others;"

In the end, we still got outvoted 17 - 6.

Credit must go to the FBU, who did so much work to raise awareness in the local community and told the other side story.

I got an assurance from the Chief Officer after the meeting that Parkhead will remain open until the new station is built. This may take around two years.

Petition letters handed in

The consultation on the proposal to close Parkhead Fire Station closed on the 23rd of January, so I headed to Hamilton to hand in the hundred and twenty or so written responses I received from the people of Parkhead. There should be a decision in the offing soon, but I hope the efforts of everyone involved in the campaign won't be in vain.

FBU Public Meeting

The Fire Brigades Union Public Meeting tonight on the proposed closure of Parkhead Fire Station was lively and well attended. There were meaningful, heartfelt contributions from the floor, both by fire fighters and members of the public. The FBU got to make the presentation that was denied to members of the Fire Board by the Labour Chair, and the public and elected members got to hear the other side of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue's proposals.

Ken Ross, the Regional Secretary for Scotland of the FBU gave a very informative presentation busting the myths and half truths being sold to locals as part of the consultation. The constituents I spoke to afterwards were very grateful to have had the counter-presentation., which really just highlights how things were being spun. The FBU website has a lot of information on this, but the basic points are as follows;

- the number of fire fighters at the new Cambuslang station (which will replace Parkhead and Cambuslang) will be around thirty fewer
- there will be one fewer fire appliance
- response times will increase
- fewer fire fighters means that fewer home fire safety visits can be carried out.

All this when there will be significant developments going on in the east end.

I personally delivered a survey to Parkhead residents to ask people why Parkhead Fire Station mattered to them. I spent a most of my day today going through the responses which had arrived. I wasn't surprised to hear that people wanted to save their local fire station, but I was taken aback by the stories they had written about the impact of fire on their lives. For several the fire wasn't even in their own home, but that of a neighbour. If fire crews had taken just a few minutes longer, several families would have been trapped and lost their lives. For others, the simple reassurance of having the service there for when they need it is invaluable.

Neither the people of Parkhead, nor fire fighters can see the logic of this closure. I'm with them. The closure of Parkhead Fire Station is a bad deal for the people of the East End and I will do what I can to make their voices heard.

Public Meeting for Parkhead Fire Station Closure

THE FIRE BRIGADES UNION

STRATHCLYDE

Immediate Release

Saturday 17^th January 2009

Fire Brigades Union Public Meeting on

Proposed Closure of Parkhead Fire Station

The Fire Brigades Union is holding a PUBLIC MEETING at the FULLERTON PARK HOTEL, Tollcross Rd, Glasgow on Monday 19^th January 2009 at 1830hrs.

The meeting has been arranged in order for the Union to outline its opposition to the proposals by Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service management to close Parkhead Fire Station.

Members of the Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service Board, as well as MPs, MSPs, Councillors, Community Councils & Residents in the Communities covered by Parkhead & Cambuslang Fire Stations, have all been invited to the meeting.

The Public Consultation on the proposals ends on the 24^th January 2009. The matter will then be discussed and decided upon by the Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Board on 13^th February 2009.

John McFadden, Brigade Treasurer & Campaign Coordinator for the Strathclyde Fire Brigades Union said “There is overwhelming evidence that shows that Parkhead Fire Station must be retained. It is the busiest single appliance Fire Station in Scotland and covers some of the poorest & most needy Communities in the UK.

“The Communities continue to record some of the highest fatality & casualty rates in Scotland. It is clear that those Communities need their Fire Station.

“The proposed closure of the station defies all logic. To remove the station and serve these Communities from a Fire Station further away, will only serve to INCREASE RESPONSE TIMES and INCREASE FATALITY & CASUALTY RATES.

“We hope that the members of the Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service Board will recognise this, reject management’s proposals and concentrate on refurbishing Parkhead Fire Station for the 21^st Century.

***ENDS***

For Further Information Contact:

John McFadden Strathclyde Brigade Treasurer Mobile: 07801-047-612

Campaign Coordinator

Alex Miller Strathclyde Brigade Secretary Mobile: 07890-630-988

NOTE FOR EDITORS

Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service managers state that the new proposed Fire Station in Cambuslang will be able to attend incident to Communities currently served by Parkhead Fire Station in 8 minutes.

The average Response Time currently achieved by appliances from Parkhead Fire Station is 3 minutes 34 seconds.

The Communities covered by Parkhead Fire Station are growing. Over the coming 5 years, it is projected that there will be:

• 10,000 New Homes;
• 25,000 New Residents;
• Over 400,000 square feet of Commercial Property;
• A Multitude of Leisure & Community Facilities, due to the Commonwealth Games; and
• The Extension of the M74 Motorway.

Current Special Life Risks include such premises as:

• Celtic Park Football Stadium;
• Barlinnie Prison;
• 3 Hospitals;
• 11 Care Homes;
• 11 Multi-Storey Flats;
• 1 Major Bus Depot;
• 15 Primary Schools;
• 4 Secondary Schools; &
• 13 Nursery Schools.

Blogging roundup

The last couple of weeks have been hectic, so I'm going to do a quick sum up of the things I've done and the places I've been. Then I'll do conference, then I'll start on this week (Thursday already? You've gotta be kidding!).

Thursday the 9th was a fairly busy - I started by modelling for my good friend Fiona, who designed my wedding dress. My gown had taken a bit of a pounding in the ceilidh but Fiona had managed to put it back together again, and return it to a pristine condition. It's nice to have it, but it's more useful to use it - Fiona is exhibiting in a number of upcoming wedding fairs, and I managed to be pursuaded to pose for her. I've yet to see the photos, but I hope there's something she can use. From there, I had to high-tail it to Hamilton to attend the Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Board, still scrubbing wild makeup from my face!

I'm a substitute member on the SFR Board, so I don't get the opportunity to go to many meetings. It was important to attend this one, however, since the closure of Parkhead Fire Station in my ward was on the agenda. I appreciate things can't stay the same forever, and that the current station isn't ideal, but I don't think the proposal to close it and merge with Cambuslang (on a new site over the river in South Lanarkshire) is the right call. The FBU aren't keen either. With huge change in the area, including the Commonwealth Games arena and velodrome, I think there's more to be considered. The SNP and independent member on the Board all voted against the move, and Labour (including the Glasgow members) voted for the closure. I intend to blog more on this later; as the plans will go out for consultation, there's a lot still to play for.

The evening of Thursday 9th was the annual St Mungo's Academy Awards Ceremony. It's tremendous to see young people doing well and excelling in their chosen subjects, and I was proud to see how well the pupils had done. It's a real treat to attend. The event itself is very slick (as it needs to be when you're giving out so many prizes!), and entertainment was provided by the school orchestra, jazz band and the choir. One of the nicest things was the pupils who left at the end of the school year coming back in numbers to recieve their prizes. At my school, the prizegiving ceremony was at the end of the summer term, with prizes based on prelim results. The hall would be oven-like and everyone wanted to get out to let the summer holidays begin. At St Mungo's, the prizes reflect the actual post-appeal results. There was extra pride when the pupils who achieved 5 A Highers and 8 Standard Grades got up to take their bow. Doing it this way allows those still at the school to see for themselves what opportunities lie before them - work, travel, college, uni.

Saturday 11th - Scotland Norway. Having neglected to get tickets, I watched the game in Coopers with the usual suspects. It was bad. Very bad. There were many sorrows to drown, and there may have been some whisky involved.

Sunday 12th - I attended the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust Open Day, and even managed to get my mum, dad and husband to come along and admire the beautiful buses.

There were a lot of very special and rare buses on show, some the only ones remaining of their kind. A good number had driven to the event especially for the open day, while others are garaged there permenantly. Some vehicles from the Glasgow Museum of Transport are being looked after by GVVT while the preparations are made for the move to the new Riverside Museum.

My parents (who're not that old!) enjoyed seeing some of the buses they used in times past, lovingly and painstakingly restored. A range of trucks, vans, and even a tank were also on show.

As you can see from this picture of the outside of the garage, there were plenty of visitors to the open day. Some of the buses were even running a free hurl to the Museum of Transport, and when I headed off to the Kelvin Hall after lunch, it was quite exciting to see a convoy of vintage buses running along Argyle Street.

The Kelvin Hall was hosting the Acrobatic Gymnastic World Championships. I watched and was impressed by the Gymnastics at the Olympics, but I was totally blown away by the agility and strength of the competitors in this event. You'll be able to see from the video some of the amazing feats, but seeing it in person was breathtaking. The gymnasts, male and female, were able to do the impossible. Flips, tumbles, throws, balancing feats. Huge skill, and I would imagine, massive pain, but truly phenomenal perfomances through it all. Check out the videos and the gallery - you'll be amazed.

Smoke Free Homes and Zones

Today, I had the privilege of attended the Prize Draw Ceremony for Smoke Free Homes and Zones at Parkhead Fire Station.

The Smoke Free Homes and Zones scheme encourages smokers not to smoke in front of their children, and either to make their homes completely smoke-free (the "Gold Pledge") or to reduce smoking to a single room in the house (the "Silver Pledge"). Those who sign up to the pledges get a certificate and a goody bag with things like stickers and magnets. There was also entry into a prize draw for £100 of DIY vouchers. More than 300 households in the East End of Glasgow have now signed up to the scheme.

The presentation was at the Fire Station, because as well as the obvious health benefits of reducing smoking, there are safety benefits too - because there are a higher number of smokers in the East End, there are a higher proportion of fires in the home started by cigarettes.

The £100 DIY vouchers were presented to Gold Pledge winner Christina Raeburn at the ceremony, and she and their family were given a tour of the Fire Station, including getting a demonstration of Parkhead's new Fire Appliance.

It was interesting to hear Christina's story - she said that she'd made the decision some years ago never to smoke in front of her grandchildren. Christina also said that their nagging had helped her to reduce the number of cigarettes she smoked over time. She'd signed up to the Smoke Free Homes and Zones scheme, and felt that she was now almost ready to give up smoking for good.

Hopefully, many other families can take inspiration from Christina; she put the health of her grandchildren and first, and set them a positive example.

Small rewards

I blogged back in June on the subject of sprinklers, and I was delighted to recieve an unexpected letter in the post at the end of last week from John B Walker, the Assistant Chief Officer (Strategic Planning) at Strathclyde Fire and Rescue.

The letter thanked me for my blog post, and mentioned that some 2256 referrals to the Fire and Rescue website had come from my blog. So I'd like to extend his thanks to all of you who clicked the link. Here it is again, for those who missed it!