A report which could help shape the emergency response to national and international major incidents was launched last week.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s report into the Buncefield Oil Depot fire - the largest fire in peacetime Europe - contains 30 recommendations, which will now be shared worldwide with emergency services and other agencies responsible for responding to major incidents.
Hertfordshire’s Chief Fire Officer, Roy Wilsher, launched the report on November 8 at the Fire Conference 2006 in Telford, where he gave a keynote speech and shared the stage with Fire Minister, Angela Smith.
The massive explosion on December 11, 2005, in Hemel Hempstead, saw an unprecedented emergency response. Control rooms across the south east handled more than 220 emergency calls to the incident. In total, 786,000 litres of foam was used to extinguish the fire in 22 tanks.
“This report follows months of investigation, debriefs and interviews with those involved in the response to Buncefield,” said Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher. “There has obviously been a great deal of interest in our response to the fire and the lessons we learned.
“This in-depth report examines the incident response step by step. We are very proud of our response to Buncefield but there are recommendations in the report which we have been looking at since the incident and which will now be shared with many organisations.”
Some of the recommendations include:
- A national system needs to be established to maintain an accurate record of all fire responders at the scene to enable a rapid head count if required.
- Early consideration needs to be given to the type, quantity and duration of deployment of national resources.
- Earpieces for radios should be introduced to enable communication while wearing a helmet.
- Consideration should be given to a national system of incident command support teams that could be deployed during a catastrophic or protracted incident.
A copy of the report, which costs £45, can be purchased from The Stationery Office - By Post to: TSO, PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN - Telephone +44 (0) 870 600 5522 or visit your local TSO shop or agent.
http://www.hertsdirect.org/buncereport
http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?Action=Book&ProductID=0117037168 |
