A £50,000 training centre which will help firefighters become better prepared for major incidents opened in Oxford today.
Based at Slade Park fire station in Headington, the new incident command suite will stage hi-tech simulations of incidents – such as the roof fire at Wardington Manor House – to train crew managers and senior fire service personnel.
Watch manager for the new command suite, Jim Davies, said: “This centre will allow firefighters to improve their decision-making in different emergency scenarios.
“They will then be much better prepared when a genuine emergency comes along.
“There are far fewer major incidents these days because of fire prevention activities, but if there is a major incident we want to be able to deal with it swiftly and effectively.”
The new training suite features two rooms with large boards for presenting video footage and three other rooms with 46in television screens.
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