Fire alarm once a week
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By PL-R Michael Rømer
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 The alarm sounds
loudly throughout the building. The three persons on duty jump out of
their chairs and run to the fire station. The fastest one has the key and
opens the door for the others. Their fire clothes are ready so they are
able to quickly put their feet in the boots and pull the fireproof suit
over the rest of their clothes. They have strict routines so no one is in
doubt of what to do.It is only a drill but it is being trained as realistic as possible and the fire extinguishing equipment is often used even though there is no real fire. “I have never seen a fire on the Naval Base – and as far as I know, neither have any of the others,” the 24 year old constable Sune Schlattner says. Normally he is a writer with the 1st squadron. Today I am meeting him in the watch room at Frederikshavn Naval Base. Sune explains that there is a total of 30 men taking turn on the watch. There are three people on each shift and this way they each have a watch every ten days.
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“We meet in half an hour before closing time and prepare our own equipment. From this on we have the watch until the next morning where the regular fire personnel meets in,” Sune explains.
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The watch job is very different from his daily work as a writer. As a writer Sune is writing signals, writing travel orders and doing similar odd jobs, as he puts it. When he walks to the watch room, he and the two other watch men have the responsibility for the fire fighting at the Naval Base and it is this responsibility and challenge that makes it pleasantly varied compared to his normal routines. A regular day on watch starts out with the officer on duty informing of any ships arriving that might be in need of assistance. The watch team also assists if incoming ships need freshwater supplies, telephones installed or cables attached. They also have the job as mooring line handlers. “If a ship arrives at three o’clock in the morning, we know it beforehand and are out of bed in plenty time before the ship arrives,” Sune says.
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 The watch team is not awake throughout the night waiting for the alarm to sound. But there is no need to worry about the watch personnel being at sleep since they sleep in their clothes and they can’t help hearing the loud alarm.
“In less than five minutes we have to be at the fire scene – preferably much earlier,” the young constable says with a serious expression on his face.
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The weekly fire fighting drills are quite different. For example, the exercise can be to drive out the fire truck and spray the1000 litres of the tank at a given area. They might also train in pumping water directly from the harbour basin. During an exercise like Sorbet Royal, the fire procedures are not changed and the number of people on watch is also the same. “Of course there is more to look after during such an exercise,” Sune Schlattner says. Sune was a Tank driver in the Army before he joined the Navy in 2001. “There is a large difference in the way people talk to each other and in the sense of responsibility towards all groups of personnel in the Navy compared to the Army,” Sune finishes off before he moves on to the common room for the watch personnel. With a good feeling in my stomach I return to the press centre. At least I’m not concerned with the thought that people such as Sune is looking after the fire fighting at the Naval Base while the rest of us are at sleep. |
