Old buses help St Albans firefighters get on board with better training possibilities

St Albans firefighters have improved their heavy rescue training capabilities after taking delivery of two buses donated by a coach firm.

Crew commander Ellis Arnett said that with the introduction of the new rescue support unit stationed at St Albans Fire Station, the service was ‘keen’ to obtain some large goods vehicles to practice their heavy rescue skills upon.

As a result, Mullanys Coaches in Watford had recently donated two old buses to Herts Fire and Rescue Service to help crews with their training.

The bus company’s director, Sue Viney, said: “They need to practice, because it helps everyone in the industry and enables them to do training on getting people out of larger vehicles.”

Ellis said: “It is very difficult to find heavy vehicles for us to train on. With this kind donation we will be able to practice our heavy rescue skills in a more realistic environment.

“With the help of Stathams Recovery, these buses have been transported to the Herts Fire and Rescue training centre in Stevenage.

“Stathams also helped to set up an emergency scenario by putting one of the buses on its side.”

Group commander Jonathan Smith, head of training for the service, said: “We are very grateful for the local support provided by the two companies which have been generous in the donation of the buses and the delivery and positioning of the vehicles at our training centre.

“The training opportunities this presents will be valuable and allow our operational crews to prepare for a variety of emergency situations.”