West Sussex firefighters and emergency services joined the Chichester Harbour Master’s Team last weekend to carry out a live training exercise at Itchenor.
The mock incident arranged by Chichester Harbour Conservancy, took place on Sunday 17 November and saw fire services crews from Chichester, Selsey, and East Wittering attended the incident alongside the Coastguard, RNLI and our own Harbour Patrol Team. Emergency services teams respond to a simulated fire on a barge at sea and rescued casualties from the barge.
Ludo Munn, Lead Patrol Officer at Chichester Harbour Conservancy, said: “We were pleased to organise and participate in this multi-agency exercise. It provided an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with emergency services and refine our own emergency response procedures.”
Anton Mezzone, Station Manager at Chichester Fire Station, said: “We are very grateful for the opportunity to carry out a training exercise at Chichester Harbour.
“With around 50 miles of coastline in West Sussex, it’s vital that we are able to practice our response to emergency incidents at sea and along the shore.
“This exercise presented a challenging scenario with a barge fire that tested our ability to make critical decisions and work collaboratively under pressure. It was fantastic to work with other emergency services and test our preparedness in this environment. I would like to thank everyone involved in making it a success.
“We regularly carry out training drills at fire stations, our training centre, and in the community to ensure that our crews are prepared for all fire and rescue scenarios they may deal with when on duty.”
