10 fire crews joined by actors for major training exercise in Stafford town centre
Ten fire service crews were joined by volunteers and actors for a major incident training exercise from a tall building in Stafford town centre.
The initiative involved real life crews attending a call out to Tipping Street in Stafford at around 9am on September 30 for a practice rescue of a team of actors and volunteers at the property.
In the exercise, which aimed to replicate a major incident, crews received a report of a fire inside a flat on the second floor of the six-storey building.
Crews worked quickly to first identify any hazards, which included falling debris, slips and falls.
The actors and volunteers were evacuated from the building whilst crews used breathing apparatus and hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.
A ventilation process was then carried out, allowing the ‘residents’ to return to their flats as soon as possible.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service delivery group manager, Dave Steele, said: “This exercise was extremely beneficial in allowing our firefighters to put their skills into practice and identify any key areas of improvement, should they be needed in a serious real-life situation.
“I would like to thank local residents, shoppers, and workers for their patience whilst fire crews were at the scene.
"It's vital that we continue to utilise real-life locations across Staffordshire during our training in order to give our firefighters the most realistic and effective methods of training for major incidents, which in turns helps us keep our communities as safe as possible."
