Roger Hansford - Fawleys Front Line: A Century of Fire-Fighting and Rescue

Fawley Refinerys Dennis F/pyrene foam tanker LYM (built in June 1952 ) on a training exercise involving storage tanks. (Dick Lindsay)

Dedicated to my father,
Ronald Joseph Hansford
19452012

CONTENTS

Note: The traditional term fireman was superseded by firefighter in 1992 , and this is reflected in my text.

This book was made possible with help from serving and retired firefighters from the Waterside. Chas McGill at Hardley Fire Station allowed me access to his station and to a major emergency exercise, as well as giving me many contacts in the fire brigade. Trevor Fenn at Marchwood MOD Fire Station gave me a tour of his site, including a ride in the fire engine on blues and twos, and we spent several enjoyable hours sharing photographs and memories. Alan House, retired Deputy Chief Fire Officer for Hampshire, invited me to Fire Headquarters in Eastleigh and took the time to read my work, as well as offering invaluable research advice. I also met with Martin Rumsey, Malcolm Rumsey, Barry Browning, Derek Turner, Colin Partridge and Paul Freeman, and spoke on the telephone with Bill Farr. I would like to thank all the firefighters very much for their time and for the insight they gave me into their unique job.

Other local people have also been supportive. Mike Hocking at Geo Speciality Chemicals responded to my inquiry letter with useful information. At Waterside Heritage Centre in Hythe, Graham Parkes gave me considerable encouragement with my work and help with the early photographs, and Pam White provided interesting news clippings from her files. Jez Gale at the Southern Daily Echo assisted my archive work, finding me several decades worth of clippings on Waterside fires. Janice Taylor at Herald Publishing promoted my project in her excellent local newspaper. Keith Dyer saw the Waterside Herald advertisement and got in touch to share his memories and an early photograph. Ernie Hartnell, formerly a local resident, responded to the advert from Australia! Pam Whittington wrote a 1998 book on the local fire brigade, and she discussed her research with me. I thank all of you, and hope this book gives something back to everybody in the area.

The work of several photographers enhances these pages: thanks to Steve Greenaway, Iain Kitchen, Matthew Leggott, Dick Lindsay, Roger Mardon, and Ken Reid (see Bibliography for individual websites). Clive Shearman and Malcolm Cheshire put me in touch with other photographers and sent me photographs from their collections. Hardley Fire Station and Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service kindly donated photographs, as did many individual firefighters.

Love and support from my mum and my wife Kaman also enabled the book to happen: thank you both!

The rapid turnout of a fire appliance, with bright colours, flashing lights and loud sirens, is exciting to many people, not least when the humanitarian aspects of the vehicles work are considered. The fire and rescue service has evolved over many years but the pride associated with the early origins of fire brigades has not diminished. The necessary qualities of discipline, caring and bravery remain unchanged to this day. The firefighters role in the Fawley and Waterside area of Hampshire, one which presents firefighting risks of the highest level, is no exception. Firefighting tends to run in families, and many local firefighters were inspired to join by watching previous generations.

The preparations for civil defence during the Second World War marked a turning point in the organisation of fire brigades, but the arrival of a petrochemical industry brought the most significant change to provision on the Waterside. Today, fire and accident risks from industrial, commercial, domestic and rural causes are coexistent. The establishment of a new fire station at Fawley in 1977 provided immediate, round-the-clock cover for the area, but reduced opportunities and resources for existing fire stations. Some of the areas firefighters were employed full-time, and some were retained firefighters, responding from their homes or places of work, including in local industry. Fawley Fire Station, renamed Hardley in the 1990 s, has worked hard to build good relations with local young people and to spread a fire-safety message.

A higher than average number of private fire brigades have operated on the Waterside, and the degree of collaboration between them, both in equipment and personnel, has gone largely unreported. The area is home to the UKs largest oil refinery, so a special focus on petrochemical firefighting is a particular feature of this book. Most of the industrial sites employ their own fire officers, drawing on additional workers at their plants for an emergency situation. The military presence at the Sea Mounting Centre (Military Port) in Marchwood involves the loading of ships with military explosives, an operation covered by the Defence Fire & Rescue Service (DF&RS) and also featured in these pages.