Some years ago, a fire officer was mobilised to an incident involving a fire on the ground floor of a small two storey, two bedroomed home in which people were believed to be trapped. When he was near the scene, a "stop message: all persons accounted for and no injuries" was received indicating his attendance was no longer required. As he was near the incident he decided to attend to meet up with the crews to "show his face" and check on their welfare (ie have a cup of tea with them). As he chatted, he noticed that one breathing apparatus team member was flushed and on inspection had mild burns on their wrists. Following further investigation, it transpired that the crew had been on the first floor when the fire on the ground floor flashed over and trapped the team in the bedroom. A swiftly positioned ladder to the window allowed the firefighters to make a "very rapid" emergency evacuation by sliding down the ladder, with only minor scorches to the lower arms and great relief. If the fire officer had not attended the incident, no one would have been the wiser and other than for the individuals involved, no one away from the incident would have been remotely aware of the "very near miss" that occurred.
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