Fire Section - Accidents Sometimes Happen

During the 50 year life time of RAF Saxa Vord, from the arrival of Frank Brand as a Sergeant Fireman (probably 1956) until the Station closure in 2006, the RAF Fire Service provided essential cover for the Unit. With narrow, often bendy, roads on Unst it's not surprising large fire tenders occasionally ended up in places which caused embarrassment to the drivers. A number of such incidents have been mentioned elsewhere  in the blog.

In 1988 Andrew Thorpe, the Station Photographer, was commissioned to take pictures for the official inquiry into an incident when  a Bedford  4x4 Fire Tender failed to negotiate the road below the cattle grid on the way from the Top Site to the Domestic Site. Although I have no details of the personnel involved or results of the inquiry, Andrew's photos below provide an excellent graphic record of the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone has more details of the occasion I would be pleased to hear from them. I'm grateful to Andrew Thorpe for permitting me to reproduce his photographs.

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html