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Home » News & Events » 2015 » June » Free Radio Hursty and Helen visit Worcester Fire Station

Free Radio Hursty and Helen visit Worcester Fire Station

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Today (Tuesday 30 June) Free Radio breakfast presenters, Hursty and Helen, stepped into the shoes of firefighters when they visited Worcester Fire Station as part of their A-Z of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Over the last few weeks, the presenters have been visiting places across the two counties that represent each letter of the alphabet and their visit with Hereford & Worcester Fire Service meant they got to tick off 'F' for firefighters.

The duo arrived promptly at the new and improved Worcester Fire Station, situated in McKenzie Way, where they got to spend the morning with one of the crews. The crews transferred over to the new station in May so Hursty and Helen had the opportunity to see the modern amenities as well as the new training rig.

Wearing breathing apparatus and full fire kit, Helen joined the crew for a training exercise that involved rescuing a casualty from a house fire scenario. Using the new training rig, Helen had to crawl through confined tunnels into the main area where she used a guide line to feel her way through the building in order to rescue the casualty.

Helen said: "I found the experience terrifying and exhilarating. I'm immensely proud to have had this experience but also in total awe of the firefighters that have to do this on a regular basis at top speed with lives at stake. Total heroes!"

Whilst Helen carried out the rescue mission, Hursty was put through his paces in a range of fitness exercises from the National Firefighter Selection Test, which involved running while carrying heavy equipment within a specific timeframe.

Hursty said: "That was easily the hardest physical test I've ever taken on. I can imagine how rewarding being a firefighter must be and I feel privileged to have seen what they do."

The pair finished off their visit off with some road traffic collision training. The Service regularly attend road traffic collisions across the two counties so continually train for these types of scenarios, ensuring that our firefighters are prepared for each rescue that they may face. In this training exercise, Helen helped the firefighters cut the roof from a car and rescue Hursty, who was playing the casualty, from within.

Chief Fire Officer Mark Yates said: "Each year the Service responds to thousands of incidents that can include fires, road traffic collisions, water rescues, collapsed structures, and even animal rescues. The training that our firefighters undertake allows us to further prepare for these situations so we were delighted to give Hursty and Helen an idea of what being a firefighter involves."

If you would like to see photos from the day, please click here.


Issued by:
Jessica Chadwick
Corporate Communications Officer
Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service
Tel: 01905 368 319
JChadwick@hwfire.org.uk
www.hwfire.org.uk