Not a Very Happy Christmas
Beckett Court Bedford
Friday 20th December 1974

It had been a pleasant evening out with friends and we returned home soon after 2330, as I drove past the fire station I noticed some activity, one pump was already out and another crew was gathering. I left the car and Josie my wife went indoors. At 2350 the Station Alarm sounded; “Water tender to Beckett Court Bedford, flat fire second floor.”

“Good, we have a crew, and a driver lets get going,” Sub Officer Dennis Hubbard was a retained Officer but he had in the past been a professional fireman, he was in charge and I was one of two that would use breathing apparatus if required. The address was a twelve story block of flats in Bedford town centre. There was a shortage of crews in Bedford this particular evening due to a large school fire in another area of town*. We booked in attendance 2358, after a quick initial enquiry Sub Officer Hubbard returned, Right, “Mick and Ben get rigged in B.A. and come with me we are going to the second floor.” We soon established there was no fire on the second floor, but a member of the public reported smoke on the third floor, and sure enough there was. It was Flat 18. And we were informed by the police that they believed it was occupied, a message was sent to our control “Persons Reported”

A policeman used his size 10 boot on the door as we started up our B.A. sets we were wearing Miniox Oxygen one hour sets. L. fm. Ben Benson was my partner and we entered the flat with a hose reel. We used standard procedure for a search, Ben took the left hand wall and I took the right. We entered a small lobby which led to a main sitting room; there was a small amount of heat and smoke. Very soon Ben indicated to me he had found a body by clapping his hands.

As we arranged the body for a quick rescue, (I broke the rules at this point.) I took a deep breath, removed my face mask and gave the victim a good dose of oxygen whilst dragging her out of the area, then placed the mask back onto my face. When we arrived at a place of safety I removed my mask again continued mouth to mouth resuscitation until relived. The fire was by this time out and later the ambulance removed the body. The stop message was sent at 0018. The Officer in charge was Station Officer Millis.

We returned to Kempston fire station at 0200. Both L.fm Benson and I were required to make a very short statement in writing to the Chief Fire Officer, ** we also had to service our B.A. set which was time consuming. I returned home at around 0300.

The unfortunate victim of this tragic fire was a Miss Henrietta Ballantyne who lived alone, the alarm was raised by Miss Anna Rieth who lived on the seventh floor. A neighbor Mrs. Manton who lived at number 15 Beckett Court said Miss Ballantyne was planning to spend Christmas with a friend.

* The other fire in progress that evening was at Kingsbrook School, Oak Road Bedford. Two firemen were injured, Joe Jenkins with a broken wrist and Gerald Spavins who was overcome by smoke. The fire had started at about 2300, there was considerable damage.

**
The Original copy of my short statement has been recovered and I have placed it below. The reader will note I did not include my action during the recovery of the body.

Memorandum

From: Fm. Gurr

To: Chief Fire Officer
Date: 21st December 1974
Subject: Fire 18 Beckett Court Bedford

Sir,
I was a member of the water tender crew Kempston that attended the above fire. I entered the flat with my B.A. partner L Fm. Benson; I proceeded to search the right hand wall, as I was half way into the room Fm. Benson indicated to me he had discovered a person. We together removed the body; as soon as we were outside the flat I attempted mouth to mouth resuscitation and external cardiac compression, and continued to do so until I was relived. On entering the flat I did not notice a great deal of heat.

Fm. Michael Gurr

I note with interest the following:

Becket Court has had its share of fires over the years therefore perhaps I should include two more. Joseph Newman lived on the ninth floor at Beckett Court; he was a well known character about the town of Bedford, often carrying a sandwich board with his income displayed. He was a campaigner against the establishment for better pensioner’s rights and lobbied our member of parliament who at the time was Sir Trevor Skeet. His sandwich stated:

“1939 – Stalin – don’t – kill – me”.
“1949 – Hitler – don’t – kill – me”

It then went into detail about his income under the Thatcher government and how much worse off he was in 1987. He was a former prisoner of war first under the Russians and then under Hitler. He even predicted his death under the Conservative government.
He decided to try to end it all by barricading himself into his flat, and then setting fire to it, this happened on New Years Day 1990. Although I am unable to obtain exact records both Bedford Fire Station and Kempston attended and the Brigade rescued him, dealt with the fire and evacuated the large block of flats. He was taken to Bedford Hospital and soon transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, later he died of his burns.

Flat Fire Persons Reported
Beckett Court, Beckett Street, Bedford
27 June 2006 – 1146 hours 

Rescue Pumps from Bedford and Kempston with the Aerial Platform from Bedford attended a fire in a 1st floor flat of an eleven-storey building. A total of six persons were rescued

Greycote Shortstown
14th June 1979

Shortstown is situated just south of Bedford named after the Short Brothers of Airship fame. The village of Shortstown its road names are mostly connected with Aviation such as Lancaster Avenue, Halifax Road, Sterling Road, De Havilland Avenue and so on.

We were on station at Kempston and the call came into control at 1020 we were mobilized at 1021 to a roof fire at 1 Greycote Shortstown Bedford. Leading fireman Tim Smith in charge, Bedford also booked mobile at the same time with Sub Officer Pat Wheeler both crews booked in at 1028. This fire in fireman’s terms was classed as a going job; the roof of the house concerned was well alight. Sub Officer Wheeler who was in the front appliance shouted for two B.A. We were already rigged and made a quick entrance, as we handed over our tallies at the front door a man stood just to the left of me, he collapsed into a hedge, I could see he was very ill, fortunately there were Bedford crew on hand to help him.

We had the fire to deal with and a charged hose had been run out by the Bedford crew. By now the fire had a good hold on the roof, we could see it burning well through a half open hatch,
I gave the hatch cover a good shot of water to move it out of the way, then another good jet of water right into the roof space, we had hit the fire hard but we suffered a lot of debris falling on us through the open hatch. We knocked the fire down quite a lot before we were withdrawn.

At 1031 Sub officer Wheeler sent a message “Persons reported” An assistance message was sent at 1033, “Make Pumps three for B.A. purposes” “At 1035 Ambulance required immediately,” At 1052 Station Officer Magee sent an informative message; “ Roof alight, one male person found collapsed in front garden resuscitation equipment in use.” Then at 1112 Divisional Officer Ken Taylor sent the stop message; “A two story private dwelling house severely damaged by fire one jet one hose reel five breathing apparatus in use, two male persons conveyed to hospital by ambulance, one believed to be fatal, all other persons accounted for.” B.A. was withdrawn at 1115.

Tuesday 24th April 1973
Dallas Road Bedford

It was 1245 on a normal routine day; I was due to go on duty at Dunstable Fire Station at 1800 that evening for the nightshift which would finish at 0900 on Wednesday 25th April. At about 1250 I made my way down to the Mulberry Bush public house for a glass of beer, my plan was to return home for lunch then rest before going on duty that evening. Although I was now stationed at Dunstable I was still on call for the Bedford area and would report to Kempston if and when required.

I never did return home for lunch that day, I ordered my glass of beer and carried it to the table, sat down and raised the glass to my lips; I did not want to spill my half pint of best bitter. My radio alerter sounded and that was 1304, I made a hasty exit and jogged to the fire station which was just 3 minutes away. “It’s a make up Mick; where?” “Dallas Road Kempston” We were soon away and within a few minutes arrived at the Cornelius Company, straight away we could see this was a serious fire. It was a single story building 110ft. X 150ft. The fire appeared to be towards the rear of the building, but thick acrid smoke was issuing from part of the roof and several exit doors and high windows around the building. In the initial stages of the fire there was a shortage of men and machines, but they were on their way. Nowadays more sets of breathing apparatus are carried on machines but in 1973 there were only 2 or 3 sets to each pump. I did not get a set to use so was more exposed to toxic fumes, however we managed to find a good supply of water on the Bedford Road.

After some initial hose running I was ordered to man a branch and position myself in a doorway to hit any fire visible, there was very little to see as the whole area was completely smoke logged. I held this position for about an hour before taking a break outside the doorway to get some fresh air, my face and ears were smarting and I felt dizzy. “Hey Mick are you alright?” “Yes” “No you are not, stay there do not go back inside.” I then heard another voice say. “Get him off to hospital; there is an ambulance in attendance.” I remember trying to climb a grassy bank but slipped or had another dizzy spell; I was soon in the ambulance and ended up in the casualty department I had left less than two years previous.

To my surprise other firemen had already arrived at the hospital suffering from the same problems that I was experiencing. I was examined very quickly; I was suffering from occasional dizzy spells, sore eyes, coughing, and very sore face and stinging ears. A kind nurse placed some cold swabs on my ears and face, this action made me feel much more comfortable. I had the usual tests which included x ray, blood tests, and blood pressure. I also answered a lot of questions. I was given oxygen and told I would be admitted for observations and further tests. The fire service would inform my wife.

A little later I was admitted to Elizabeth Block which was the men’s medical ward for heart and chest complaints, I was placed in an oxygen tent and reassured that it would not be for long. I was in the care of Doctor Riding a consultant physician; two other firemen had already been admitted to the ward, Fm. Fred Fox and Fm. Dave Cox. Sometime later, and to my relief, the Oxygen tent was removed and I was given a mask to supply my requirements.
I must have fallen asleep for an hour or so when I awoke the acting chief fire officer Mr. R.S. Drought was walking up the ward, he was still in his fire boots. “You are doing all right lad, your wife knows all about it, she is coming up to see you.” “Thank you sir,” to my surprise he then sat on the end of my bed. “Well lad, tell me what happened to you?” I explained all my actions on the fire ground as best I could remember under the circumstances, after reassuring me again he moved on to see the other firemen that had been detained on the ward to get their story.

Josie my wife visited me soon after, she mentioned Mr. Drought had visited her when he informed her that I was in hospital, she replied, “Oh I thought he may be involved, I have been listening in to the radio messages,” Our wives very often did in those early days.

Late in the afternoon Dr. Riding visited me on his rounds, by this time I had been given a thorough examination by the house officer and another doctor, he read my notes and listened to my chest. “Tell me, I do not understand why you chaps go into such dangerous places when there are no persons involved”? “Well doctor that’s my job,” he made no further comment. But I thought at the time, I wonder what he might say if the building was his house on fire. However he was a nice chap, factual, and easy to understand.

I was to meet him again several times during the next 25 years. I was to be detained in hospital for the next four days.
The Cornelius Company built refrigerated units for the coca cola company, and in the main it was the insulation used in these units that caused our problems.
Asbestos, plastics, expanded polystyrene and other materials, which when on fire gave off some very toxic fumes.

On Thursday the 26th of April sometime in the evening I was handed a copy of the Bedfordshire Journal, there was an interesting report of the fire. It was pleasing to note The Deputy Chief Officer had made a statement, it read: “No praise is to high for the men who fought the blaze, they worked extremely well in very difficult conditions and I am very proud of them,” He added, “The main difficulty was not the fire itself, but the intense heat and thick black smoke which hampered the men’s efforts. Some of the men overcome had gone into the building using breathing apparatus to try to extinguish the fire inside. Other men overcome by the smoke were outside the building.”

A spokesman for the Cornelius Company explained, “The smoke damage in the factory is colossal and at a rough estimate I would say we have lost at least fifty per cent of our stock, the overall cost will be terrific, possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds buy the time we have fully assessed our losses.”

It was some years later when Doctor Riding visited Kempston fire station, he was making a study of firemen and their working practices. We were to perform some realistic drills for him to observe and he would give us a quick medical examination afterwards.

Our drills were as real as possible in fire heat and smoke with breathing apparatus, then without a break we went straight on to ladder drills and combination drills. He had remembered the time he treated the firemen in hospital. After we had been examined one fireman asked, “What were your findings”? “Well, I can tell, you have all been working extremely hard!”