Our partnership work with the local emergency services

Firefighters from Wivenhoe, Brightlingsea and Manningtree Fire stations took part in a fire safety exercise at our Colchester Campus on Sunday 7 March, alongside three firefighting appliances.

The firefighters worked with our Security and Campus Safety team to test how we’d respond to a fire in one of our academic buildings. This exercise is part of our ongoing commitment to providing a safe and secure campus through partnership work with the local emergency services.

The scenario for this exercise was designed by Matt Baxter, T/Crew Manager at Wivenhoe Station, and to makes things challenging for everyone, it involved a fire on the roof of a seven-storey academic building, with one person unaccounted for. Our patrol officers responded as normal when the fire alarm was activated, confirmed there was smoke coming from the lift motor room, and contacted 999.

Once the 999 calls had been made, the fire crews from Wivenhoe, Brightlingsea and Manningtree were mobilised by the Fire and Rescue Incident Room. The fire crews were greeted and directed at the entrance by our patrol officers and taken to the scene of the fire. The patrol staff also gave further information about the incident to the firefighters, as well as information about the missing person.

Live exercises like this one are crucial in training our staff to respond in the best ways they can during real emergencies, and we are always striving for the very highest standards in the HE Sector. It was great to see all the fire crews and our security team working hard to successfully complete the exercise together. The exercise was a great test of both the fire service and University’s emergency procedures.

I’d like to thank all the staff at the University who worked with us to make this exercise a success and everyone at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.