Firefighters tackle 'chemical accident' near Meadowhall

FIRE crews from across the county have tested their response to a major chemical incident.
Fire officers at the training exerciseFire officers at the training exercise
Fire officers at the training exercise

The crews descended on Sheffield’s Fly DSA Arena to take part in the exercise which offered up 40 ‘casualties’, all played by volunteers from the fire and police service’s Prince's Trust Team Programme and students from the public services course at Barnsley College.

Rotherham firefighters joined colleagues from Parkway, Elm Lane, Central, Birley Moor, Tankersley and Thorne in the operation to test their training.

The scenario involved a number of people being exposed to a chemical. The exercise comes weeks after the alleged use of nerve gas on two people in Salisbury.

Station manager Nicholas Abbott said: “Our firefighters are ready to respond to a huge number of different incident types, from fires to road traffic collisions.

“We issue lots of guidance to our crews about the different sorts of scenarios they might come across in the line of duty, but really the best way of preparing our response is to test it out for real.

“We’re extremely grateful to Fly DSA Arena for making the exercise as realistic as possible and providing some vital technical input on the day.”

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