Local students enjoy fire service training exercises at Yate Fire Station

A group of Public Services students from South Gloucestershire and Stroud (SGS) College recently attended Yate fire station for a two-day familiarisation session with fire crews.

Watch Manager Mark Rayner reached out to SGS in the hopes of striking up a partnership to assist current students with their Public Services course. After meeting with college tutors, a two-day training package was developed to run in conjunction with their curriculum, with crews supported by the CYP team.

Mark said: “I’d like to personally thank Watch Manager Andy Lavis and Firefighter Britton (Blue/White Watch Yate) for giving up two days to assist with the project. I’m really pleased with how the training package has been designed and am looking forward to future collaborative working.”

The 2 days were split with approximately 10 students aged between 16 – 18 years old for each day starting with a presentation which covered the role of a firefighter, where all our stations are based, the different types of vehicles we have and why they are located in specific areas.

This led into a tabletop exercise where the students were split into teams acting like a fire crew attending an incident. This highlighted the hazards and decision-making process expected to resolve an incident. This proved to be very successful due to the group discussions with fire crews explaining how we approach different situations and why.

After a well-earned break, the students then got hands on with the fire engine equipment, with a demonstration from the crews, they donned fire kits, handled cutting equipment and thoroughly enjoyed using handheld radios for communicating.

They were then split into two teams and timed to overcome a task using different bits of equipment. This was designed to bring out natural leadership and problem-solving skills and proved to be their favourite part of the day.

The afternoon session consisted of a coaching style introduction to connecting into a hydrant, rolling 45mm hose, building a portable dam and using a light portable pump to extinguish a simulated car fire. After the coaching session, the students were tasked to set up the fire ground with their newly acquired skills under the supervision of the duty crews and they proved to be very enthusiastic and able to carry out their tasks to the best of their abilities.

Both days were extremely successful and the partnership with SGS College has gone from strength to strength with future dates booked in for 2025.

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