Firefighters in Bicester have used a housing development which is under construction in the town to carry out training exercises.
Churchill Living’s development became a training site for the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's Bicester Fire Station team on Tuesday, August 13, as they practiced working at a height.
This included climbing and descending using harnesses and lanyards, assessing anchor points, rescue techniques, and team communication.
Watch manager Coral Hollis said: “We were joined by the rescue tender from Kidlington Fire Station who enabled us to carry out training in a unique location. It didn’t take locals long to spot us.
“Churchill kindly provided our crew their crane, where we got to test and refresh our working at height skills.
“For anyone that attended our open day and experienced the height of the hydraulic platform… The height of this crane exceeds that.
"At an incident, we may request specialist advice and skills from the site management and crane operator, and it was great to start building these communication channels.”
Churchill Living's construction manager, Rob Walker, added: “When we are starting at a new site we’re always happy to help the local emergency services by offering use of the site for training purposes, and assist in whatever way we can to enable them to carry on with the fantastic work that they do.”
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