Last week Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service carried out a major training exercise with a range of partner organisations at Uniper’s Ratcliffe Power Station.
The exercise, nicknamed ‘Exercise Power Down’, involved Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service crews, power station staff, and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service crews, and tested breathing apparatus procedures alongside the site’s specific risk information.
It aimed to allow crews to be best prepared in the case of a real incident.
The exercise took place in the site’s hydrant suppression system room and involved six fire engines, four fire officers, numerous firefighters, and other support staff. It started at 9am and finished by midday and included various operational and command-room scenarios. An evaluation then took place, and learning points were shared with all partner organisations.
Sam Featherstone, Watch Manager at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “There was a lot of activity around the power station and the surrounding roads during the morning of the 31 October. Thank you to members of the public for your understanding.
“These exercises are vital to practice our ways of working and continually improve the service we provide. We hope that we’ll never need to use these skills but strengthening our knowledge and organisational relationships can only be a good thing.
“We would like to thank the power station and our partners for their assistance. We learnt a lot from this exercise that we will put into practice.”
Peter O’Grady, Uniper’s Ratcliffe power station Plant Manager added, “The opportunity to test our emergency procedures alongside the emergency services, adds an important dimension to the exercise, and really helps us to learn and improve.
“Many thanks to all the Fire Service staff, as well as Ratcliffe staff and contractors who were involved.”
• Pictures: Fire Service carry out training at Rushcliffe Country Park
• Pictures: Notts Fire Service carry out training at Sneinton high-rise
