Firefighters tested the Brigade’s emergency response to a fire at the RAF Museum London last week as part of a training exercise at Hendon’s former aerodrome.
Fire crews from the north-west area attended the national museum in Colindale, and were joined by museum staff and colleagues from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. The exercise was set up to practice the response to an incident in one of the six hangars which house aeroplanes and help depict the history of aviation.
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As well as testing the response to a fire on the third floor mezzanine level in a hangar, it was also an opportunity for firefighters and the Museum’s salvage team to train for how they would safely remove, and preserve, the site’s historic artefacts in the event of an emergency.
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The Brigade’s heritage team is keen to remind building managers for London’s historic venues to ensure they have up-to-date salvage plans in place. These plans identify not only actions that should be implemented by site staff, but also clearly identify priority items which need to be removed from the building or, left protected but in situ.
The plans allow crews to put recovery strategies in place in advance of an incident and help firefighters establish which equipment is needed to safely recover or protect items as quickly as possible to minimise any damage.
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Barnet Borough Commander, Peter Johnson, said: “We’ve had a really successful event working closely with the RAF Museum’s team. Thanks to careful planning and organisation, we were able to swiftly resolve the incident and recover the all-important artefacts which form part of aviation history. This was a great opportunity for both organisations to put their skills to the test.
“The recent high profile incident at Somerset House was a timely reminder that we can’t be complacent and think the worst case scenario won’t happen. Our crews prioritised and completed life-saving procedures and swiftly followed salvage operations to protect our national heritage. I’d like to thank everyone involved for taking part in the training with us.”
Photo credit: Little Big Ego
Alan Edwards, Head of Operations RAF Museum said: “It was fantastic to work with the Brigade on this exercise which tested out all our incident responses and process. It was a positive exercise with cross-organisational support that we learned from and enjoyed.”