18th July 2008
Headcorn firefighters in National Competition
A team of retained firefighters Headcorn fire station has been selected to represent Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) in the first ever Fire Service’s national Breathing Apparatus competition.
They will be competing against fire service staff from around the UK at the Fire Service College in Gloucestershire, and will be rigorously tested as they demonstrate their firefighting and incident command skills in a live-fire scenario.
The firefighters will be required to tackle a fire in a specially-constructed building that is used for training purposes. It has been designed to test crews’ search and rescue skills, as well as their fire-fighting techniques.
During the competition, judges will assess how well the team responds to the incident, concentrating on the use and selection of the most appropriate fire-fighting equipment, as well as how quickly and efficiently crews can conduct a search for people trapped inside the burning building.
Wearing Breathing Apparatus sets, crews will be able to use Thermal Imaging Cameras to search for casualties in the smoke-filled environment.
Headcorn Watch Manager Stuart Albon said: "This is the sort of scenario that crews may be called to at any time, and so we regularly train using both live-fire and smoke simulators.
“The team at Headcorn is made up of retained firefighters who all live and work in the local community, and so this is excellent news not only for the crew, but for Headcorn and the surrounding villages as well. We hope the competition will give us a chance to show how well we perform operationally, as well giving us the chance to look at and learn from other Fire and Rescue Services.”
Having been selected to represent KFRS, the team will be undertaking a program of intensive training over the next three months, as well as carrying out their normal duties before taking part in the competition in October.
Retained firefighters respond to emergencies from home or work. While they are 'on-call' they carry a pager and must be able to get to the fire station within five minutes. They are fully trained to respond to all sorts of emergencies, from fires, road traffic collisions, floods and chemical spills and may respond to a call as a single crew, or work alongside their colleagues from other stations at larger incidents. To find out more about becoming a retained Firefighter, call 01622 692121 or go to
www.kent.fire-uk.org/Retained|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|