Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service will be carrying out a major training exercise, along with a range of partner organisations, at Pleasley Vale Business Park on Sunday, 26 September.
The exercise, involving Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire County Council, Bolsover District Council and others, will test the Service’s new evacuation procedures, which have been updated following the Grenfell Tower disaster. These procedures will make sure NFRS can more effectively serve people living in high-rise buildings.
The exercise in the six-storey former textile mill on Outgang Lane will involve 15 fire engines, six fire officers, numerous firefighters and up to 60 volunteers acting as live casualties. It will start at 10am and is expected to finish between 12 and 1pm. It will be followed by an evaluation and learning points will be shared with all the partner organisations.
NFRS has already introduced smoke hoods and smoke curtains, which are particularly useful for evacuating residents of high-rise rise buildings. Smoke hoods were used for the first time in Nottinghamshire to rescue a Radford woman from a fire in June.
Chris Emmott, Group Manager – Risk and Assurance, said: ‘There will be a lot of activity at the site on Sunday morning, so we wanted to let people know there is nothing to worry about and that we are just training. We would also like to thank the building owners and our partners for their assistance. We will learn a lot from this exercise and will put into practice the new procedures following the tragic loss of life during the fire at Grenfell Tower. This exercise will really test our firefighters on evacuating large numbers of residents from high-rise buildings and prepare us for any future incidents of a similar nature.’
Reporters and photographers are invited to attend the exercise at Pleasley Vale Business Park, Outgang Lane, Pleasley Vale, Mansfield, NG19 8RL at 10am on Sunday, 26 September.
For further information, please contact Carol Mee, Communications Officer, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, on 0115 838 8920 or email carol.mee@notts-fire.gov.uk
For further advice on fire safety, contact your local fire station or visit www.notts-fire.gov.uk
