Thursday 12 July 2007
10.00hrs
Specialist equipment capable of handling major emergencies will
be put to the test by Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) technicians
from Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) next week.
The USAR team will simulate a structural collapse incident at a
block of flats on Caernarvon Road in Keynsham.
Scheduled for demolition later this year, the flats provide an
ideal environment for the USAR team to train in shoring up
buildings, cutting through concrete walls and using search
equipment.
Watch Manager Mark Webb said: “This is a fantastic opportunity
to test the equipment in a realistic, but stable, environment. Our
main aim is to practise propping and shoring walls, breaking and
breaching, and locating and rescuing casualties.”
The scenario of stabilising, locating and rescuing will be
repeated throughout the flats, giving the team an opportunity to
test not only the equipment, but also their skills of working
together at a USAR incident.
Urban Search and Rescue forms part of the Government’s New
Dimension programme which provides the fire and rescue service with
the capability to respond to major emergencies involving chemical,
biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) events, search and
rescue, major flooding incidents and major transport incidents.
AF&RS’ USAR kit includes three prime movers (vehicles which
transport the modules) and five modules to cope with major
emergencies and the team can be mobilised to anywhere across the
country. With equipment designed to cope with a level four
catastrophe – where there are hundreds of casualties and many
collapsed buildings – the team is also required to provide training
to neighbouring fire and rescue services.
The flats currently belong to Somer Community Housing Trust.
They are due to be demolished as the first part of a major PRC
redevelopment project. In all, 193 defective pre-cast reinforced
concrete homes around Bath and Keynsham will be demolished to make
way for new homes. Contractor Lovell has taken possession of the
site and has been working closely with AF&RS’s USAR team to
allow the exercise to go ahead before they start work.
Steve Watson, Managing Director of Somer Community Housing
Trust, said: “We know that empty properties, where USAR can
practise its skills to full, don’t come up that often. We are
pleased to support such a valuable exercise and hope that it
provides them with worthwhile
experience.”