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From sequins to silver suits ... RAFM helps children's TV presenter achieve dream of being a firefighter

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  "Turn over ... Speed ... All quiet! ... Action!"

Firefighters here got a small taste of life in the movies Monday and Tuesday, when Gethin Jones, Welsh presenter of the long-running children's television program, "Blue Peter," spent two days with the 100th Civil Engineer Fire department, filming for an upcoming program.

The show has been running in Britain since 1958, and is the world's longest-running children's television series. It was named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail.

Gethin is currently starring in the British television program, "Strictly Come Dancing," where he has to wear all kinds of outfits with sparkles and sequins. But, he swapped his dancing shoes for a firefighter's silver suit when he trained alongside British and American firefighters, to record a feature for "Blue Peter."

Presenters from the program are regularly sent on challenges, and Gethin has traveled all over the world, doing things others don't often get the chance to do, such as flying with the Red Arrows and training with the Royal Marines.

This is the first time he's trained with firefighters, seeing how they live and work, and experiencing just part of the many pressures and challenges they deal with regularly.

"This is very alien to me, but I've been well-briefed on the drill," the Welshman said. "The toughest bit was when you're actually in (the smoke house), trying to put a fire out, however big or small, and the smoke becomes so dense that you can't see anything in front of you. Then you're trying to pull out of the wreckage - you feel very lonely, even though you know you've got a team around you, and you've got someone you totally trust with your life behind you. You do feel very lonely in that mask and I can't imagine what that would be like doing that for real.

"When these guys go out to fight a real fire, there are no rules, there's no drill - it's just reacting to the situation around you. But it was really great to have a go at it," he said with a huge grin on his face as he sat in a fire truck.

To ensure he knew exactly what to do and how to do it safely, the 29-year-old Welshman was assigned a "buddy" - Tech. Sgt. Rick Henderson, who has been stationed at RAF Mildenhall for six years.

"I was shocked when I was told I was going to do (work alongside Gethin). We have really good people here and I thought it was a huge honor because I was representing RAF Mildenhall Fire Department," said Sergeant Henderson. "When I met Gethin, I found that he was a really easy-going and approachable kinda guy - I just told him what we were going to do, and we went in. He's really just like any other fireman that I've worked with. Our job isn't easy physically, but you know exactly what you have to do. You go in, you put the fire out, and if there's anyone in the building then you pull them out. That's exactly what he did."

With constant shouts of "Action!" - and after going through take after take after take until the director was finally happy with the scene to shout "Cut!" - Gethin and Sergeant Henderson patiently repeated every stage of training over and over again.

At the fire station, "Blue Peter's" presenter was first fit-tested for a respirator, as he would be wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus for many of the tasks he had to perform.
All firefighters have to be fit-tested for their masks to ensure a good seal, so when they go into a smoke-filled environment they won't breathe it. They are not allowed to ride in the fire truck to an emergency response if they haven't passed their fit-test.

After passing with flying colors, Gethin was then kitted out in a full set of bunkers, which included a jacket, pants, helmet with eye protection, special boots and self-contained breathing apparatus, all weighing in at around 70 pounds.

The firefighters then put him through his paces when he had to complete a series of challenges, including carrying a 12-foot ladder, a 50-foot and raising it against a wall, dragging a charged hose 100 feet; climbing a 24-foot ladder (10 rungs) three times, moving a 225.5-pound sled using a 10-pound sledgehammer, and dragging a 150-pound mannequin 100 feet.

Cheers of encouragement from both the British and American firefighters helped spur him on.

Monday afternoon, Gethin got his first ride in a fire truck, out to the smoke-house training area on the south side of base.

As his eyes sparkled with excitement, you could see he was thrilled with the whole experience - of training with the firefighters.

He helped put out fires inside the smoke-house and perform a simulated rescue, by dragging a mannequin from the flame- and smoke-filled house to outside. He also assisted in removing a windscreen and cutting a roof from a car, simulating what firefighters have to do when responding to a road accident.

He finished his two days as a firefighter by being able to assist in putting out a structural fire on a simulated aircraft. With flames roaring above him, two or three times higher than his 6-foot frame, he led a trio of firefighters as they lined up along the huge fire hose and sprayed water up, down and around the fire, gradually putting it out.
While all this was going on, several fire trucks and many firefighters, along with the fire department safety manager, Sub-Officer Dusty Miller, were on hand to ensure there were no safety violations, and that Gethin was kept safe at all times.

While you could see the Blue Peter presenter was starting to feel the strain of wearing the heavy protective equipment and breathing apparatus for hours on end, he fought on to the bitter end, determined not to take his equipment off before the others did the same.

"It really started to wear on him after a while, but I don't think I've ever worn an air pack for that long - we probably had our air packs on for three hours or more, and that's about 40 pounds on your back, plus the suit weighs about 50 pounds," said Sergeant Henderson. "Plus he had microphones and cameras taped all over him and all kinds of additional stuff; he put the fire out and then dragged the dummy out. And he didn't do it once or twice like we do it; he had to do it five or six times because the cameras needed to get the right shot. He could be a firefighter - he would have no problems doing the job; he did awesome."

With the fires finally extinguished, and air pack and protective gear taken off, Gethin said he was exhausted but happy.

"I feel great! It was a truly fantastic experience - a very hot experience, but a fantastic one. I was firefighting for five minutes, and it was the real deal; no messing about - I was in there fighting fires. It was just brilliant.

"How many people get to do that for real, except the guys who do it professionally?"

The presenter's experience at RAF Mildenhall will be shown on an upcoming show some time in the next few weeks.

Editor's note: No federal endorsement is intended or implied.