Shropshire firefighters to take part in major training exercise
Firefighters from a number of Shropshire fire stations will this evening carry out a major training exercise in Shrewsbury.
Crews from Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Tweedale in Telford, along with the Environment Pod which carries specialist equipment to deal with pollution will be called to deal with a gas cloud over Shrewsbury caused by a supposed chemical spillage at an oil depot.
Morris Lubricants has volunteered their works site so that county fire crews can gain knowledge and practice their skills in dealing with a potential major incident involving hazardous materials.
The exercise at 7pm, will see crews from across the county called to deal with a reported chemical spill and casualties after hazardous materials were being loaded into a lorry.
Some firefighters will wear the distinctive green airtight chemical protection suits to deal with the incident while fire control and incident command procedures are carried out as though it were a real life incident.
Senior officers will observe how firefighters tackle the major alert while crews will gain valuable experience and be ready to deal with any such incident in the county in the future.
“These are valuable training exercises for us and we are extremely grateful to Morris Lubricants for allowing us to practice at their site near the centre of Shrewsbury. We hold these exercises as regularly as we can as they allow us to practice operational procedures and rescue techniques,” said organiser Russ Hales.
