Bells and Two Tones are a commercial fire service providing fire safety for the TV and film industry as well as other sensitive sites nation wide. Operating small vans, 4x4s, HGV fire engines and water carriers all designed and built for firefighting and carry the equipment required to get the job done.
By law any commercial fire service operating HGV vehicles must hold an Operators licence.(commercial fire services do not enjoy any vehicle exemptions under the fire services act). All our vehicles have 6 weekly safety inspections, MOT, tax and our drivers are on Tacho. If your fire safety providers are missing any of these and tell you they are exempt, they are not telling you the entire truth and are most likely working illegally, putting you in an awkward situation. With BTTFRS you can rest assure that we are 100% compliant.
All our HGVs have DVS permits allowing us to work in and around London, ensuring the safety of London cyclists.
How does our TACHO effect you?
Tacho rules are set in stone, depending on where your location is and length of day/night will define how many driver/operators will be required for your production. By law, our drivers can only be on duty for a maximum of 15 hours and can only drive for 9 of these. The driving hours aren't an issue as we generally only drive for a couple of hours to and from location, the 15 hour rule is where we get issues. If for instance your location is 2 hours away from our yard, that's 4 hours driving there and back, a typical shoot day is 10 hours and each bowser needs 1 hour when it returns to refuel and fill with water ready for the naxt day. That in itself is the maximum 15 hours, consideration must also be thought of as this leaves no safety net should the director as for overtime.
The map below shows our Reading and Bristol yards and is a rough guide for you, anything inside the circles can normally serve a 10 hour work day with one driver, anything outside the circle will need either a shorter day (for instance if we aren't required until later in the day) or a second relief driver booked. Please feel free to call if you want to chat and find out any more information.
History
Bells and Two Tones are run and owned by genuine time served firefighters, we have been supplying fire cover, fire wardens and fire marshals for the TV and film industry as well as some of the countries largest industrial sites, railway stations and domestic tower blocks. We also offer staff training for large and small business types.
We have a vast list of satisfied customers, these include Disney, Warner Bros Pictures, Netflix and the BBC to name but a few. We can supply fire and medical cover for productions of any size as well as health and safety advisors.
Bells and Two Tones are run by firefighters and not fire service enthusiasts so you can be confident that the information and advice supplied by us comply with current regulations.
All our officers are highly trained individuals, many sit at instructor level and are knowledgeable in all current legislation. We also have a core group of firefighters that are CAA qualified, enabling us to assist you should you require any kind of aircraft fire cover.
Please feel free to contact us for advice on tv and film fire cover.
Our Fleet
We currently have a large fleet of fire fighting vehicles, These include:
1 x Iveco Fully London compliant wetdown vehicle
2 x 20,000 litre water carriers with DVS permits
1 x 16,000 litre water carrier with DVS permits
1 x 10,000 litre water carrier with DVS permits
4 x Mercedes "Atigo 2" fire engines with DVS permits
1 Mercedes X-Class Stunt Rescue fire fighting vehicle
1 x Ford Ranger 4x4 Fire Fighting Vehicle
1 x Landrover 4x4 fire fighting vehicles
1 x Mercedes Vito Man and Van
1 x Mercedes Vito with firefighting capabilities
1 x Ford Transit Van with firefighting capabilities
1 x Ford Fiesta Man and Van
1 x Warm Rain trailer
