Off Topic Nine Nine Nine

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In your lifetime how many times have you dialled 999?


  • Total voters
    32
No by accident. There was a power strike and my Mother left a candle on the landing so we had some light as we were going to bed. I couldn't find my pyjamas so I picked up the candle to search. I put the candle under the bed and next thing the mattress sparked. Within 10 seconds the whole bed was ablaze. Myself and my Sister got pots of water but that was like throwing petrol on the fire. We got out just in time then we realised the youngest aged 6 months was still inside. My 12 year old Brother ran back in and got her. Lucky.

That sounds horrendous Fin. Was the fire contained to your bedroom or did it spread?
 
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Wasn't there a tragic helicopter crash in Tramore killing Air Corps lads returning from an emergency call out? I think there was 4 killed. There is a memorial along the sea front.

There was Fingi......July 99, a couple of months after we moved over here.

It was in the early hours of the morning and they were returning from a call out (the air corps rescue helicopter is stationed at Waterford Airport), in dense fog and sadly they were flying too low and crashed into the sand dunes on the beach. There is a really nice memorial to the crew on the sea front that was unveiled by Mary McAleese when she was President.

Also in 2013 3 fisherman died in Tramore Bay when their boat capsized just off Brownstown Head......

The sea has to be treated with respect and you become very consious of it and how the water can change from calm to rough in a very short period of time....
 
That sounds horrendous Fin. Was the fire contained to your bedroom or did it spread?
You've called 999 more than 10 times Nines? I hope that was on behalf of other people, an accident prone firefighter is the last thing we need.......
 
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aparently the 1 and the 9 were in different places on the new zealand phones compared to the uk ones so we ended up with 111 as our emergency number
never tried so i dont know what happens if you dial 999 here
maybe you get batman
 
You've called 999 more than 10 times Nines? I hope that was on behalf of other people, an accident prone firefighter is the last thing we need.......

Mainly on behalf of other people. On a few occasions I've been the right guy in the wrong place at the right time. I was coming out of my karate class in Putney about 10 years ago when I noticed that a ground floor flat in a Victorian building was well alight. I put a call into the brigade and then went into the building to alert the residents in the flats above to make sure they got out before the fire became fully developed.

Another time I was walking down the street and saw an old bloke on the floor, it looked like he'd had a cardiac arrest so I started to carry out CPR. After two cycles I rang the ambulance before continuing CPR.

The best one though was when I was on holiday in San Francisco in 1991. We was on a city tour bus going under a tunnel to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Me and my wife ( who was my girlfriend then ) were sitting towards the rear upstairs. As we approached the service tunnel under the bridge I thought it looked a bit tight but thought the road must suddenly dip or something, it didn't. We hit the safety chains that hang down a few meters before the tunnel entrance but as the driver was going too fast we hit the roof of the tunnel and the roof of the bus was ripped back about six or seven rows. The driver forgot she was driving a double decker. There was a stunned silence and then there was screaming from the front of the bus. Everyone sat there in shock and wasn't doing anything so I got up to assess the situation. Three woman were trapped so I helped to get them out while Kim went to call the emergency services. No mobiles back in them days.

I've just remembered another one ... I was in our local corner shop about 12 years ago when I lived in New Malden when a masked man burst in with a sawn off shot gun. He pushed the woman behind the till over and emptied it before fleeing. I followed him down the road and put a call in to the old bill. Within about five minutes there was a helicopter and armed police on the scene. I told them that he went up onto the railway tracks and very shortly after he was arrested. The detective who came to my house to take my statement rang me six weeks later to say don't worry about having to give evidence in court as the robber had hung himself on remand.
 
Once. When a amiable older man was trying to separate a fight between a young couple. The little prick grabbed his other half and then, at the older guy's attempted intervention, pushed him backwards and his head hit a wall with a loud crack.

This was in a street after leaving a pub ast winter. I called an ambulence and some bouncers jumped on the agressor. The man went to hospital unconscious but was OK.
 
Last time for me was 8 years ago when my late Jack Russell alerted me that neighbours garage was on fire. Les had old left tumble dryer on and it went up
Les, then in his late sixties entered garage through side door as his Nissan Micra was a blaze
My claim to fame I pulled him out and was praised by fire crew
Those lads went straight in and isolated the car.

Everlasting respect for fire fighters ever since apart from our 9s of course who has had his problems with cross dressing in the past x
 
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Once. When a amiable older man was trying to separate a fight between a young couple. The little prick grabbed his other half and then, at the older guy's attempted intervention, pushed him backwards and his head hit a wall with a loud crack.

This was in a street after leaving a pub ast winter. I called an ambulence and some bouncers jumped on the agressor. The man went to hospital unconscious but was OK.

Good skills
 
Voted 5-10 as late Mother had problems and many suicide attempts

Should of voted more actually as Father was very ill as well during his last years
 
Voted 5-10 as late Mother had problems and many suicide attempts

Should of voted more actually as Father was very ill as well during his last years
Don't worry, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate.

Doesn't seem like anyone is calling 5 times a month, which is a relief, and the high incidence ones are work related (can't really count Steel's stuff) except for Nines, who attracts trouble like moths to a light.
 
Called once, after being attacked and had my wallet stolen by a group of yobs when I was about 15, so a long time ago. Got a call back half an hour later saying they were too busy to attend. In all fairness something big had gone down in Ealing Broadway that day.
 
And here in NY too, although it has become a somber number, 9/11
I called the Fire Brigade once when my sister set the kitchen ceiling alight when cooking. We had those bloody foam tiles on the ceiling so they went up quickly. Luckily we had a hose pipe attached in the garden which prove to be very useful until the engines arrived.
 
Fortunately I have never had the need to dial any of the emergency services.
One useful piece of information I discovered on a first aid refresher course is that if you are calling from a mobile phone dial 112 and not 999 in the UK. The 112 number will connect via whichever is the strongest network at your location and not only your provider as the 999 number would do.
 
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No by accident. There was a power strike and my Mother left a candle on the landing so we had some light as we were going to bed. I couldn't find my pyjamas so I picked up the candle to search. I put the candle under the bed and next thing the mattress sparked. Within 10 seconds the whole bed was ablaze. Myself and my Sister got pots of water but that was like throwing petrol on the fire. We got out just in time then we realised the youngest aged 6 months was still inside. My 12 year old Brother ran back in and got her. Lucky.

I didn't know that you were so hot in the bedroom :1980_boogie_down:
 
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