London Fire Brigade is hosting one of the largest and most comprehensive training exercises in its history this weekend, with fire crews and other emergency services taking part in a major three-day exercise in east London.
The exercise will run from 1340 on Saturday 26th April, through to midday on Monday 28th April and will be held at Millennium Mills
, which is a derelict Victorian mill building in E16.
The exercise aims to test local and national emergency response procedures to a major incident in the capital. The Brigade said that the exact nature of the exercise will not be made public until it begins on Saturday. This is to ensure that it remains a realistic training environment for the emergency service personnel taking part.
Over 220 emergency service personnel from London and across the country will take part, including specialist Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from across the country, Metropolitan Police Service, and London Ambulance Service.
The Brigade said it wanted to let local people know about the exercise in advance due to the sheer number of emergency service personnel and vehicles that will be present in the local area for the duration of the exercise.
Wayne Brown, who is the Brigade’s Borough Commander for Newham, said:
“There will be a large number of firefighters, police officers and paramedics in the area near to Millennium Mills at the weekend. We wanted to let local people know before the exercise begins to prevent people from worrying that something catastrophic has happened. I’d also like to remind people to only dial 999 if there is a genuine emergency.
“These training exercises are vital to ensure that the emergency services are ready and prepared, should a major incident happen in the capital.”
Media / photographers:
Media places at the exercise are strictly limited and are available on a first come, first serve basis. Unless you have contacted the Brigade’s press office on 020 8536 5922 by 5pm on Friday 25th April, you will not be granted access to the site due to on-site security.
Agencies taking part include: London Fire Brigade water rescue and USAR teams; Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service, Newham Council, Emergency Planning and Air Accident Investigation Branch.
More information about Millennium Mills can be found on Wikipedia.