Deeping Fire Station

from I'd Rather Be In Deeping September 18

Five great heritage open days

Deepings Fire Station

Back row l-r Michael Jenkins, Callum Coomes, Steve Smith, Richard Boulderstone, Michael Culff, Peter Parsonage, Shaun Kelly, Robert Townsend Front row l-r James Stapleton, Christopher Curley, Kallum Errico, Leah Chapman, Oliver Fountain, Stewart Hill.

Without the tenacity and spirit of Jim Curley, the Deepings might well still be without its own fire station! Jim had arrived in Deeping from Leicester via Peterborough where he had become a member of the auxiliary station at Dogsthorpe, sited next to the main station and used in the event of big fires breaking out or when there were large gatherings in the city which needed to be covered. It was here that the Green Goddesses, that became famous at the time of the strikes in the70s, were deployed.

Jim had become the Chairman of Market Deeping Parish (at that time) Council, where he managed to persuade Councillors to fund a fire engine if a station could be found. At this time fire cover for the Deepings was provided by Stamford, Crowland and Bourne. Never one to resist a challenge, Jim set to with Bob Jibb, Fred Smith, Graham Ellis and David Jackson to build a makeshift garage of angle iron and chicken wire under the tree at the back of the Library. Their office was sited on the top floor of the Library. In these days before the advent of technology and the use of a pocket bleeper, in the event of a fire the retained fireman would be called on the telephone to be informed of an emergency. Soon the fire engine was moved to the Gas Works, just down the road from the Boundary Fish and Chips, but in 1972 after Richard Wade had sold The Park to Lincolnshire County Council and the Health Centre was built, space for a purpose-built fire station and later the Police Station, was made available.

Jim quickly set about recruiting men to join the retained fire brigade, many of whom were his friends; such as Bruce Manning, Roger Wilson, Pete Wright Derek (Ben) Parkins, Paul Hopkinson, John Stevens, Dick Cook, Richard Long, Norman Bingham, Trev Townsend and Michael Crosby. Later Melvin Healy, Dave Aaron, John Willis, Micky Culff, Pete Parsonage, Shaun Perkins, Steve Medcroft, Keith Griffiths and Paul Rojek would join the team. Without the support of sometimes long-suffering partners it would be difficult for firemen to make themselves available literally at the drop of a hat, so the social life of the Club has always been important and in the early days it was Bob Jibb that ran the social club. There would be memorable New Year’s Eve parties when the appliance room was cleared for dancing and the lecture room was used as a social room. As David Jackson comments, ‘The lads were like a second family.’ Camaraderie is still a crucial aspect of life as a retained fireman and this year the crew entered a team in the Deepings Raft Race.

Jim Curley stayed with the local brigade from its inception until he was retired at the age of 45 having had a heart bypass. The tradition has, though, remained in the family as Jim was followed by son Mark who has now passed over the reins to his son Chris Curley.

Following an ongoing recruitment campaign there will soon be a crew of 16, including the Station‘s first woman recruit, Leah Chapman. This level of volunteer help is much needed because the Deepings Fire Station has on average 350-400 call outs a year, 75% of which are medical calls. Introduced in 2002 this service was at first seen as a temporary measure to help the NHS but now it is an integral part of the 8 minute EMAS target. ‘Acquiring these new skills and being there to help at the tail end of people’s lives does without question enhance the empathy you feel for others,’ confides Watch Manager, Mickey Culff, Traditionally firefighters are self-employed; mechanics, decorators, farmers, electricians, builders although employers such as Perkins, Tesco and Wilcox have been proactive in allowing their staff to become involved and in the past Dick Cook was a railway signalman and Richard Long worked for South Lincs Patterns. Some of the retained firefighters at Deeping have also gone on to work full time in the Service; Mick Crosby went to London while David Jackson, Roger Wilson and Peter Wright went to the Station at Dogsthorpe. Memorably Peter and David were present at the fatal fire in Fengate when a lorry containing three quarters of a ton of gelignite destined for the quarries ignited; this perforated both of David’s eardrums and left him with tinnitus. He says ‘You have to be able to put the work to the back of your mind and a sense of humour is an essential ingredient!’

There is regular training at the Fire Station on Wednesday evening between 7 and 9.30pm and the specialised training facility at Waddington provides initial training as well as RTC training with residential training at weekends. which as well as covering new developments includes ladder and breathing apparatus training. Though it has oft been said ‘you can’t learn to be a fireman out of a book!’ hard work pays off and in 2014 and 15 the Deepings Station was awarded the accolade of Lincolnshire Beacon Status Station. having satisfied a range of criteria.

A new appliance is now on the cards, LCC having rolled out a contract with Scania to replace the fleet of MAN appliances. The uniform of heavy black jacket with silver buttons has now been relegated to history. Now the uniform is designed to buy the firefighter more time in perilous circumstances both ergonomically and with state of the art fabric.

16 The very first call from the new station, as it then was, was to a house fire in Godsey Crescent, Market Deeping, when Roland and Sheila Schofield lost their furniture and clothes in a fire which destroyed their lounge. Call outs have remained predominantly to farm and industrial accidents, and field fires (especially in the day when stubble burning was commonplace and in the 1976 drought) still feature as do the all too common road traffic accidents. There have been memorable fires in the area over the last half century, one being the day the Three Tuns Pub caught fire (opposite the Boundary Fish and Chips) another when the Baskervilles Hotel in Baston was gutted in 1990. The crew was deployed in the wake of the Easter floods in 1998 when water had to be pumped out of gardens in Eastgate, from the Waterside Garden Centre and in Uffington, where livestock were rescued. Firemen came to the rescue when a young man caught his leg in a garden rotavator in Suttons Lane and other less serious incidents where individuals have caught their arms and legs in garden furniture. Cats stuck in chimneys are traditional headline grabbers and Sooty of Deeping St James did not disappoint when he spent the festive season in the chimney, finally rescued by a crew led by Keith Griffiths. But ‘Susie’, black and white cat of Fraser Closer, wrought her feline revenge on the Fire Service when released from a precarious position on top of an up and over garage door she trapped the finger of fire fighter, Shaun Perkins, who has never quite lived down his reputation as paw old Shaun! This is all very different from the first time the ‘new’ Market Deeping fire engine had been called out to a fire on Friday, 11th May 1900 when a barley stack fire in Maxey was doused in six hours. The Engine had been called out to a fire in Langtoft Fen in September 1899 but the fire was put out before it got there and a messenger was sent ahead to turn it back! There appears to have been no working fire engine in Market Deeping in the late 1800s, the old one being ‘ old and rusty and enveloped in cobwebs and dust’ according to a 1874 edition of the Stamford Mercury. The Deeping St James engine was used but after it broke down irreparably Market Deeping Town Council ordered a new one for £95. The first drill was held in 1899 under its Captain, Mr E. Neal (who also provided the horse) and its Lieutenant, Mr Harrison. The crew at this time were T. Andrew, T. Emery, J. Gilbert, W.D.Hare, W.French, J. Hempsill, W.Greenfield, J. Redhead, J Sammonds, G. Saddington , M. Tales and W. Milbourne. Essential were the callers-up, who went round on their bicycles to every fireman’s house, one of which was local barber from the Market Place, Eric Bowman. One young fireman Tom Plowright, went onto serve in the First World War. Considerably more time to reach a fire than now! Words: Judy Stevens Research: David Jackson, Mark Curley, Mickey Culff and Shaun Perkins Pictures: David Pearson, Joy Baxter, Shaun Perkins, Mark Curley Mark and Chris Curley look at pictures of Jim Curley.