Heard the sirens, saw the traffic queues

’Tis amazing how easy it is to miss an event happening almost on your doorstep. This morning I heard a siren coming from the direction of Wootton Bassett Road and thought that it was going on for rather a long time without fading into the distance as they usually do. A few minutes later I heard another siren and thought the same. An hour and a half later whilst walking to work I noticed immediately that Westcott Place was heavily congested despite the school holidays having started and that traffic was also tailing back heading north along Park Lane. I assumed this was the cause of an accident on Great Western Way, as that is the usual cause of abnormal traffic congestion in this area. In fact it was far closer to home.

One thing struck me in the comments on the Adver report of the loft fire in a house on Wootton Bassett Road was a comment from someone claiming to be a fireman.

Every house fire requires the attendance of our aerial appliance

It never used to be that way and I’d be interested to know when and why the use of a conventional fire tender, water hose and ladder ceased to be acceptable. As the Adver’s photograph shows, although the ‘aerial applicance’ was in attendance, its aerial capabilities weren’t getting much use.