News

Severn Trent has been working with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service on a training exercise that saw firefighters simulate rescuing people from a confined space – namely a Severn Trent sewer.

Firefighters from the Hinckley and Southern Fire and Rescue Stations were involved in the exercise in Hinckley on Saturday 10 June which took place in a 1.6m diameter sewer that is in the process of being built and which will, once complete, reduce the risk of flooding in the Leicester Road area.

James Arkesden, who is leading the project for Severn Trent, said: “We’re carrying out a major £1.5m project in Hinckley at the moment and we realised that the new sewers we’re installing would provide the fire and rescue service with the perfect opportunity to carry out a training exercise.

“We worked with them to set up the exercise and had staff on site while it took place. We’re always happy to help the emergency services, and events like this will help us to develop best practice and allow us to work more closely together in the future.”

Paul Weston, Area Manager for Safer Communities at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, added: “It’s vital that, as a service, we always look to enhance the skillset of our firefighters, preparing them for all incident types.

“With Severn Trent allowing us to use a newly constructed sewer, it gave us a real opportunity to take part in some confined space rescue training which we don’t get to do very often. 

“The Service would like to thank Severn Trent for allowing us to use the sewer, and for their assistance with setting up the training - all their help and time was appreciated.

“Hopefully, we’ll get further opportunities to work with them again in the future.”

The work in Leicester Road is being completed to increase the capacity of the sewers and reduce the risk of flooding to a number of homes during heavy rainfall. The project is on track to be completed by the Autumn.

For more information about the work visit www.stw.works.