THE man responsible for preparing the county’s firefighters to tackle serious blazes has said the years of training his teams put in helped to save the Randolph Hotel.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s crews had never tackled such a big incident at the Randolph before, but planning and risk assessment meant they knew exactly how to react on April 17 as black smoke plumed from the historic building.

The city’s fire risk manager Jason Crapper said firefighters have information on many of Oxfordshire’s biggest buildings, which allows them to respond quickly if a fire breaks out.

He said: “We do multi-agency testing [with Thames Valley Police, South Central Ambulance Service and others] several times a year.

“We use it as an opportunity to test our planning. So for very large sites we collect operational risk assessment.

“We use those risk assessments to test our plans in relation to those sites and we put together a tactical fire plan in a more efficient way.

“We have risk info on the Randolph but the number of sites we have in Oxford is quite phenomenal.

“All of the procedures which we put together get tested over a three-year period.”

Mr Crapper said the most recent building to have a risk assessment carried out on it was the waste incinerator at Ardley, near Bicester.

The risk assessments do not just help the fire service, but also the other emergency services.

Often their involvement is one of the factors that sets a major incident like the Randolph fire apart from a smaller house fire.

Mr Crapper said: “The Randolph incident was not just our incident. Thames Valley Police and SCAS had very important roles to play.

“I would suggest one of the biggest differences between the Randolph and a simpler house fire is the greater importance of multi-agency working.”

As well as the sheer number of large buildings in Oxford city centre, the fire service has to contend with more historic buildings in a small area than in almost any other British city.

Mr Crapper said: “Life is our principal concern. The Randolph put in really good procedures that allowed us to know the building was evacuated very quickly.

“Our concern then was to make sure we did not lose the building. Heritage comes very high on our list of priorities.

“Within the fire and rescue service we have a bit of a mantra. Basically firefighters will risk their lives a lot in a highly calculated way in order to save a life.

“They will risk their lives a little in a highly calculated way to save buildings. A heritage building like the Randolph fits into that second part. If we think we have any chance to save a heritage building we will push to do that because the country cannot lose them.”