Saturday, October 08, 2005

I put out 2 fires yesterday!!!!

Yes, you have read correctly - I put out 2 fires yesterday!!! Not your usual Friday afternoon at work eh? And I'm very proud of myself!!!!

Think kitchen toaster catching alight, a work colleague throwing a fire blanket on top of the toaster but not covering it completely so that is set alight too, smoke alarm going crazy, colleague screaming for help and me coming confidently and calmly to the rescue with a fire extinguisher saving the day.

Sounds impressive eh? Trouble is it doesn't really sound like me!!! But it does make for a good story!!! No, the 2 fires I actually put out yesterday were part of fire marshall training that I got sent on with work. Best fun I've had on a training course ever because you know the stuff you are learning is really useful and you get to test it out by doing hands on stuff!! I got to put out a flammable liquid (Class B) fire with a CO2 extinguisher and used a water extinguisher to put out burning paper in a waste paper bin (Class A). This was all done in a cordoned off section of a car park in case you are wondering!!!

So whilst the reality may be less dramatic I still feel quite proud of my achievement and it feels quite empowering!!!

So here's to not doing a Basil Fawlty whose classic lines were going round my head yesterday;

"It sits there for months on end, and when you have a fire, when actually need the bloody thing, it blows your head off!!!"