Firefighters have been heading back to college in Wisbech to take up a unique training opportunity at the College of West Anglia.
The crew from Wisbech Fire Station turned the former C block at the college site, on Ramnoth Road, into a training ground during the past few months to deliver “challenging exercise scenarios to test firefighters from across the county”.
The site was chosen as it is due for demolition over the coming months and at the time of proposal was not being used.
Staff from Wisbech Fire Station and the College of West Anglia health and safety department worked together to ensure that guidelines and procedures were put in place to enable the use of the college buildings and to provide training opportunities for firefighters.
Various ladder drills were conducted around the buildings as it offered different conditions and opportunities that cannot be replicated in the firefighters’ usual drill yard.
Breathing apparatus search and rescue drills were also conducted inside the building during both day and night time sessions.
The buildings were also used to hold an on-call training support day to provide further training for firefighters from across Cambridgeshire. During these sessions firefighters wore obscuration masks to replicate heavy smoke logging of the building without the college fire alarm system being affected.
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