FIRE SERVICE RELATED
Terror attack and
derailed train scenario:
Fire chief passes ‘rigorous’ test
The Hampshire county’s fire chief has been put through his paces
with a scenario that featured terrorist attacks, derailed trains,
multiple fatalities and hundreds of people unaccounted for.
More than 50 people were involved
in the immersive assessment of
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
Chief Fire Officer Dave Curry which
lasted half a day and tested his vast
experience. Organisers made sure only limited
information was available and
there were constant interruptions
to put the chief under even more
pressure and recreate the stress of
an ongoing emergency.
As well as the train explosion the
exercise also included attacks
at East Cowes and Plymouth
where festivals were being staged
and thousands looked set to be
stranded. Issues from a cracked road and
traffic management to social media
rumours were all factors CFO Curry
had to deal with.
The scenario also featured the
evacuation of a high-rise building in
the centre of Southampton that was
hit by a smoke plume following the
incident.
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During the off-site scenario he also
had to consider pulling in resources
from elsewhere to give full cover
to other areas as, in the case of a
real attack, firefighters would still
be called to a normal number of
incidents.
CFO Curry said: “The details of the
scenario were completely unknown
to me until my pager went off in the
morning and it started to play out.
“It was clear a lot of effort had
gone into making the exercise as
challenging as possible which is
exactly what is needed. “This not
only served as a rigorous test of my
skills and decision-making abilities
but also helped us make sure HFRS is
prepared for anything – something
every firefighter thinks about.”
Every incident commander from
crew manager to the chief has
to be assessed every two years in
addition to other exercises and drills.