Pictured above: A fireman gets to grips with a
simulated emergency at Hawthorn House
A nine-storey block of flats in West Bromwich performed one last
useful purpose before demolition - thanks to Mansell Construction
and West Midlands Fire Service.
Hawthorn House in Dial Lane is due for demolition by Mansell as
part of their Sandwell Pathfinder PFI project - a major
multi-million pound urban regeneration programme on behalf of
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and Riverside.
But before it is pulled down later this year, West Midlands Fire
Service used it for a day long training exercise. They carried out
a simulation of a flat fire on the 6th floor, which had spread and
trapped a number of people. During the exercise they filled the
block with simulated smoke and carried out rescue training.
Paul Harris, fire service watch commander on Tipton Blue Watch
said, "It is extremely difficult to find a residential high-rise
building where we can train in a realistic environment, enabling us
to charge the dry riser with water and have no concerns about the
public being injured. Incidents in high-rise buildings pose a great
danger to all operational firefighters and the tragic loss of
firefighters a couple of years ago in Stevenage is still very fresh
in our minds."
He added, "We managed to get up to 40 firefighters into the
building which is something we usually only do at incidents. We
strive to put into place operational procedures and tactics which
we all adhere to, and having a facility available to put these into
practice was a very positive opportunity"
Mansell's partnership housing manager, Simon Liversage said,
"The block of flats is due for demolition, but it was good to put
it to good use for one last time before it is demolished. The fire
service doesn't often get opportunities like this, so they were
delighted to be able to train in what was close to a real
environment."
Mansell's work on the Sandwell Pathfinder PFI scheme has won
three national silver Considerate Constructors Scheme awards.