IFRA CONVOY 5

G33 HSC Volvo FL6 14 to Kljuc, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

This “old” Volvo appliance (by our standards) first saw service at Dunfermline Fire Station in 1990 and served Fife well until Friday 3rd of September 2004. Having been saved from the scrapheap or the indignity of becoming a Fire Engine Limo it was carefully polished, no not a typing error, by personnel of Blue Watch Kirkcaldy, small repairs were carried out and kit found to fill the lockers. With the help of Grampian Fire & Rescue Service, Oxfordshire Fire Brigade and of course Fife Fire & Rescue Service all the gear a modern Fire appliance should have was stowed on board, including two full sets of Lukas Rescue Equipment.

The OiC of this latest trip was Dave Sharp (Blue Watch Lochgelly) a veteran of two previous trips to Bosnia, once with the UN and once with IFRA. Dave is a natural when abroad as he will give most languages a try which is always handy when refreshments are required.

Driver and navigator was Bob Rearie (Blue Watch Kirkcaldy) who, having been to Bosnia the previous year knew the way and the problems to be overcome along the way.RTA Instructor and cultural attaché was Calum Bruce (CFS Kirkcaldy). Calum came to the rescue late on as instructors were required to teach the basics of tool operation and RTA techniques when the kit was handed over. Driver and mobile DJ was Dave Hume (British Airports Authority Fire Service). Dave is one of the most enthusiastic members of IFRA; no job is a hassle to the big guy from Rosyth. The Airport Fire Service train with, and use hydraulic cutting gear as part of their remit of protecting the travelling public. Dave is also an EFADS driving instructor at the airport, albeit on a grander scale than Local Authority appliances.

So let the Journey Begin

Friday 10 September

After a hectic week, G33 HSC is ready to go, fully kitted up and looking good, Due to the greatly appreciated help from Bob Rearie, Gordon (Mechanic) and the Blue Watch, Kirkcaldy.

1330hrsPhoto shoot at Rosyth ferry terminal, Heart of Midlothian and Canadian International footballer Kevin McKenna was there to see us off as well as the Couriers photographer. Also attending was Fife’s Assistant Firemaster, Forbes Catto and IFRA’s Directors the electrifying Dave Kay and Irene Kerr.After waiting in line we boarded the ferry at 1630hrs parked up and put our back packs in the cabins. Then the laborious task of going over the European road map and determining our route, obviously over a few beers!! Which Brucester and Bob demanded….I was baby sitting again!!

Saturday 11 SeptemberBob & I were up sprightly at 08.15hrs and give a wake up call to Dave & Calum. After a hearty breakfast, we packed up our gear ready for docking at Zeebrugge.

12.30hrs we hit the road, good clear journey down through Belgium, Luxembourg, and little piece of France and into Germany. Arriving in Homburg at Konigsburg camp site a little after 7pm. Bright sunshine, tents pitched, hot good food and German Pils beer….too good to be true….just after 9.30pm torrential downpour and strong winds, Which soaked our tents and contents just in time for turning in for the night…slightly uncomfortable night!!

Sunday 12 SeptemberUp bright and early cleared up the wet tents and gear…headed to nearest fuel stop, fuelled up the truck and ourselves then on the road again heading towards Salzburg, Austria.Arrive at the Campingnord sam Camp site in Salzburg about 1615hrs without any hiccups. Sent up tents, making sure they are sheltered this time in case of more rain, got ourselves showered, then taxi into City centre. Had an excellent meal, few beers and a chat with female lead singer of a local band…fortunately she spoke good English…our German could order 4 beers and that was it!! Back to camp site and bedded early enough though!

Monday 13 SeptemberUp and at’em just after 08.00hrs…the guys look a bit rough this morning!! And disaster, we had been camped alongside 15 Australian female backpackers all night and hadn’t even known DOH! After a quick pack up and wash, we’re off again, heading towards Graz, Austria then Slovenia through to Croatia and then the Bosnian Border. Received a text message from Sanel (interpreter) in Kljuc, telling us to keep him informed of our progress and they would meet us at the border!Stopping briefly in Slovenia at …of all places ‘MacDonald’s’ for a bite to eat. Arrived at Bosnian border at 20.15hrs and met by Fahro (Fire Commander) and Sanel. Slight problem with ‘gift certificate’, which the Bosnian Government insist on, we sorted out with a few phone calls to Dave Kay, who had to run around a bit!! But a few hours later we were allowed to continue to Bihac and park the truck up in a Customs terminal overnight.We were picked up with our gear in a mini bus borrowed from the Fire Station in Bihac and eventually arrived at Kljuc around 2am. Put up in the second floor of a local residents house.

KLJUC

Tuesday 14 SeptemberLucky Bob had to be up at 09.30hrs to head back to Bihac with Fahro to go through some customs checks on the truck. The rest of us had a little longer in bed, then with the assistance of Sanel, who speaks fluent English (he was a refugee in London for 4 Years) we toured the town after several cups of the local strong, thick coffee.Bob and Faroh arrived back about 3pm from the customs check. We then all had lunch together. We then met back up with Faroh, who took us to the town hall where the local children put on a show, to celebrate 9 years of liberation. This we all felt honoured to attend.

Wednesday 15 SeptemberUp for 7am start, to the Fire Station in Kljuc for coffee, then off to Bosanski Petrovac, about 40km away. Meet up with Refit and his guys. He managed to get hold of a scrap car…so we carried out a demonstration / training exercise to show the guys how to use the Lukas cutting and spreading gear as well as the Porto power equipment. The guys seemed well impressed with the gear. It was also good especially for me and Bob to see the guys again.

Finished training about 11am, then we all went to a local Restoran and had a drink and a bite to eat.Back to Kljuc, the locals were having a holiday, of which they have very few!! Fahro invited us to join him at the riverside (River Sana) to our surprise the local Firefighters were all there. A sheep was on the spit, veal was cooking on a make shift BBQ and there was beer cooling in the river. This started at about 1.30pm. One of the older firefighters brought out a bottle of home made PLUM Brandy (slivovic) so to be sociable we all had a couple of small glasses….believe me a couple was more than enough!! The day ended about 10.30pm or so with lots of hand shaking and promises of continual help.

Thursday 16 September8am around to the Station to show the guys all the ins and outs of the Fire Truck, then down to the river to carry out a few familiarisation exercises with the pump and equipment.After that it was off to another local spot to show the guys how to use and maintain the cutting equipment and carry out an exercise cutting up a scrap car.1230pm we knocked off and made up all the gear, to go back to Pijo’s house to gather our ruck sacks.

A fond farewell to all the guys then the four of us headed to the bus station.We caught the bus from Sarajevo, bound for Zagreb in Croatia at 1350hrs.Four and a bit hours later we arrived in Zagreb bus station, from there we set out with the bags to look for a hotel for the night…the second hotel we tried ‘the Palace’ hotel had space so that was good enough as we were a bit sweaty and starting to tire!Once showered we headed out for food, fortunately we ended up in a great little placeThat was relatively inexpensive. We finished the night off with a walk through the centre and a few Croatian beers in a Café next to a Statue of Saint George on his Horse.

Friday 17 September

Up in time to catch breakfast at 06.30hrs, then we packed up our gear for the last time and caught the 07.30hrs train to Graz in Austria.Four hours later we arrived in Graz, we then walked from the train station to the centre of town, quickly grabbed a bite to eat and take in the sights before heading to the bus stop for 13.30hrs. The bus was full up but we all squeezed in a taxi to the Flughafen (airport). The flight to London, Stansted left on time give or take a few minutes. We managed to skip the queue with the aid of Dave Hume flashing his badge at the very accommodating flight assistant (Dave appeared well practiced in this art!).

The adjoining flight from Stansted to Edinburgh we just made…again assisted by Dave’s magic pass!!

All in all we accomplished the purpose of the trip on behalf of IFRA and we even managed to thoroughly enjoy the whole experience!!

I would like to thank Bob, Calum & Dave for the experience and all their assistance during the trip. Also thanks go to Irene, Dave Kay, Gordon and the Blue Watch, Kirkcaldy and the Guys at Mines Rescue Crossgates for helping to get things ready quickly for the trip.

From the reception of Faroh and his guys as well as the Mayor and people of Kljuc, I believe this convoy was a great success and shows that a little effort by all the members really does make a difference.