Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 15/12/2

Firefighters from the retained crew at Camborne Fire Station thanked their sponsors at Camborne Fire Station on Thursday evening. The sponsors assisted the crew in competing in the Extrication Challenge 2003, held at the Nottingham Fire and Rescue training centre.

The annual event challenges firefighters from across Britain to compete against each other in gruelling conditions. The aim of the ‘extrication challenge’ is to rescue a trapped person from a road traffic accident scenario. Four highly trained officers from Fire Brigades and Fire Colleges across the country judge teams on their ability to assess the situation, extricate casualties, and their medical knowledge - all within a time of just twenty minutes.

The team from Cornwall consisted of Leading Firefighter Robert Martin and Firefighters Wynroe Heath, Keith Boyd, Brett Gray and Alan Walker.

Training for the event took place mainly at Simms Scrap Yard, who had kindly offered to donate as many scrap cars as the team needed to practice. In their own time the team trained at least three times a week, cutting up an average three cars a night.

Leading Firefighter Robert Martin explains: “In order to take part in this prestigious competition we needed to rely on the good nature of others. Our main sponsors were Pirate FM but we would also like to thank Simms Scrap Yard, Abbey National (Camborne), Roche Foods, Red Forum, Cornwall County Fire Brigade, The Lions Club of Hayle, Top to Bottom Construction, Mill Auto Supplies, Bosch Power Tools, Westcountry Ambulance and Kerrier Council who have all either donated money or assistance which has been invaluable.

“Simms Scrap Metal was really generous in allowing us to cut up as many vehicles as we needed, and giving up their own time in the process. The challenge taught us a lot of new cutting techniques which we can now put into action in real life scenarios and potentially could help us to save lives”