Bill and His Men Arrive From The USA

[Tim_w]

Hello  Everyone ,

As some of you may know Bill and myself organised an event about a month ago. Bill asked me if I would have some of his men over to take part in an advanced training scheme to teach his men how to use some of my new rescue tools. I had done this sort of thing before with Ben and had a great time, so I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity. This story follows on from Bill’s excellent two part send off story. There have been several delays at my end but I am now finally ready to share the first instalment. It took 270 pictures just to get to this stage alone, most of them being rejected in favour of the best shot’s. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did making it.

After weeks of detailed planning my fire brigade was ready for Bill’s arrival. Everything had been catered for and there were several vehicles to take care of some special arrangements. It was also a good opportunity to test the airport security and my Police force. Bill and his men arrived as VIP’s and as such security on the day was tight. No chances were going to be taken with such a high status event. Unfortunately the local coach firm let us down at the last minute and we had to hire a bus instead. This was the only thing that didn’t go to plan…


Armed police stand guard at the end of the pick up point.


Armed 'police' stand guard at the end of the pick up point, near to the terminal entrance.


One of the armed 'officers'


The bus waiting to pick up Bill and his men. Police are standing guard close by ready to form the escort.


Bill and his men exit the terminal escorted by the head of airport security


A 'cheeky chappy' known by the nick name 'Axe' waves at the armed 'officers'


Bill meets Station Officer Gardner for the first time. SO Gardner is the Officer in charge of Station 23 where Bill and his men will be working


A fire fighter invites Bill to board the bus as the rest of the men check in with SO Gardner.


The last man has been checked in and waits to board the bus


The signal is given and the bus is made ready to leave.


"Ok driver you know the drill lets get out of here"

[Tim_w]

Within a matter of seconds the bus has turned round and the police cars have formed an escort


The convoy pull out on to the main road. Once the bus passes another police car will take its place at the rear of the convoy


A sneaky picture of the men on the bus[/b


The convoy dissapears into the distance under the sound of sirens and flashing lights.

[Tim_w]

Once the dust has settled the next phase of the operation begin's. A low loader kindly supplied by TJW Demolitions backs up to collect Bill's kind gift to the local Fire Service.


The head of airport security discusses the transport operation now in progress


Bill's kind gift. A brand new Snow Cat that will be used as a brush fire fighting vehicle at the local rural fire station. It will prove a very welcome addition to the fleet


While this has been going on a very large collection of equipment boxes has emerged out of the goods terminal


What The ?


A joke is shared and one of the fire fighters doubles over with laughter. I dont know what was going on but they seemed to find it funny


The pain staking operation to load the equipment onto the truck begins


The Snow Cat is carefully driven onto the low loader as the last items of equipment are being loaded onto the truck






Final checks have been made and both vehicles are ready to depart on their journey back to station 23.




Follow Me


And with that both vehicles dissapear in a cloud of dust

[Tim_w]

I don't have this much trouble when the Queen arrives


Thank you for taking the time to look at my pictures. I apologise for the picture heavy thread but i guess that's what a photo story is about, pictures . As i said earlier it took about 270 pictures to get to this stage alone and i scrapped some of the final pictures to cut things down a bit.
As this is an ongoing story there will be a few threads over Christmas and into the new year. I hope you enjoy the story's, its a great pleasure making them...

Kindest Regards  Tim

[Bill Blackhurst]

Hello Tim  ! EXCELLENT photo story as promised  ! The details are fantastic, & the story line is "spot on"  ! As you say about my photo stories there are so many fine details to be noticed! I pick up on something new every time I go back & look at the pictures again! Now I can't wait to see the next series  ! Your pictures are very clear too! Please keep up the excellent work!

[Richard]

I don't have this much trouble when the Queen arrives

The "Head of Airport Security" took the words right out of my mouth ... 

Excellent presentation, Tim! I must admit that I was a bit concerned when I saw all the armed police.

Is this now a common "greeting" for Americans visiting the UK? Or, only Bill's firefighters? ... 

Looking forward to your contnuation ...

[Bill Blackhurst]

The "Head of Airport Security" took the words right out of my mouth ... 
Excellent presentation, Tim! I must admit that I was a bit concerned when I saw all the armed police.
Is this now a common "greeting" for Americans visiting the UK? Or, only Bill's firefighters? ... 

Richard, I think Tim was protecting his new Snow Cat , & rare discontinued parts from being hi jacked or stolen at the airport  ! But the PCFD does feel privileged to be this protected  !

[Gepetto]

Excellent job Tim! Your photos are so crisp and no need to worry about too many pictures, I love looking at all that equipment!

I wondered as Richard did about all the security but I guess everyone welcomes an opportunity to 'dry run' their procedures, even security. Thank you for going to all the trouble to provide us with these stories!



Gepetto

[Sylvia]

Super photos and an interesting story, Tim!

Your attention to detail and the little personal touches are always a delight. I'm curious about that joke the two firefighters were sharing.

Thanks for all the work you put into this, and also thanks to Bill for sending his men over. Great job!

[playmofire]

Great story, Tim, and excellent photos, but NEVER, NEVER, say how many photos you took!  Let the public think that what they see is what you took!   

I'm intrigues by the white/very pale grey boxes in the stack of stuff being loaded onto the truck (and also very impressed with that truck having only having seen it in the catalogue before).