Post by Madhatter on Jun 30, 2010 23:34:43 GMT
Firefighters from across the region will be heading to Kingsbury on Sunday 4 July to take part in one of the biggest high volume pump exercises in the county.
The exercise is being run by Warwickshire County Council's Fire and Rescue Service in partnership with Hereford and Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and West Midlands Fire and Rescue Services, Warwickshire Police, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Kingsbury Oil Terminal and the Environment Agency.
The aim of the exercise is to test the emergency plan for Kingsbury, pumping 15,000 litres of water from Kingsbury waterpark to the oil terminal. The exercise will involve five high volume pumps, over two miles of hoses and around 80 firefighters.
Due to the sheer scale of the exercise, there will be road closures in and around the park. However, diversion routes will be in place.
Station Manager, Neil McElvenny said: "When the explosion hit Buncefield oil terminal, most of the on-site hydrants were destroyed and so water had to be taken from open water areas and fire appliances.
"Not being able to access water as quickly as it is needed can clearly cause concern for the crews managing an incident. In light of this we want to test the capability of our high volume pumping units to see how we would work with other agencies to manage an incident at Kingsbury oil terminal.
"There will be some road closures in place throughout the day and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but clearly this is a major exercise which will help to increase the safety of those living in and around the Kingsbury area."
Portfolio Holder for Community Protection, Councillor Richard Hobbs said: "Exercises like these give us a great opportunity to test our capabilities for responses to major incidents, such as a fire at Kingsbury Oil terminal. This is the first time all of the high volume pumps will have been used together and so it should be a real challenge for those agencies involved."
News article courtesy of Warwickshire County Council.
The exercise is being run by Warwickshire County Council's Fire and Rescue Service in partnership with Hereford and Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and West Midlands Fire and Rescue Services, Warwickshire Police, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Kingsbury Oil Terminal and the Environment Agency.
The aim of the exercise is to test the emergency plan for Kingsbury, pumping 15,000 litres of water from Kingsbury waterpark to the oil terminal. The exercise will involve five high volume pumps, over two miles of hoses and around 80 firefighters.
Due to the sheer scale of the exercise, there will be road closures in and around the park. However, diversion routes will be in place.
Station Manager, Neil McElvenny said: "When the explosion hit Buncefield oil terminal, most of the on-site hydrants were destroyed and so water had to be taken from open water areas and fire appliances.
"Not being able to access water as quickly as it is needed can clearly cause concern for the crews managing an incident. In light of this we want to test the capability of our high volume pumping units to see how we would work with other agencies to manage an incident at Kingsbury oil terminal.
"There will be some road closures in place throughout the day and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but clearly this is a major exercise which will help to increase the safety of those living in and around the Kingsbury area."
Portfolio Holder for Community Protection, Councillor Richard Hobbs said: "Exercises like these give us a great opportunity to test our capabilities for responses to major incidents, such as a fire at Kingsbury Oil terminal. This is the first time all of the high volume pumps will have been used together and so it should be a real challenge for those agencies involved."
News article courtesy of Warwickshire County Council.
