Crofton Engineering, the specialist fabricator and installer of fire training buildings has equipped Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service’s New Lymm FRS Safety Centre with a variety of equipment including a specialist rope rescue tower and SWAH equipment including a telecoms tower, sloping roof structure, cantilevered walkway, multi-level platforms, a lattice climbing structure, grain silo and a crane cabin with platform. Crofton also installed a silo and roof ladder training structure at the service’s Penketh facility and a new training tower at Powey Lane.
“Cheshire Fire and Rescue are committed to providing the best training facilities and equipment, enabling our firefighters to be trained to the highest possible standards,” said Lynsey McVay, Group Manager Service Delivery, Cheshire FRS.
“When planning the new training facilities at Lymm, we invited experienced rope rescue operators to contribute to the design so we could develop a vast array of training scenarios to tax even the most experienced of operators. As a result, we have one of the best indoor and outdoor Fire Service technical rescue training sites in the country.”
“We envisage this will be a regional hub for all multi-service technical rescue training in the future and would like to thank Crofton Engineering Ltd for all they have done to ensure our vision became a reality,” Lynsey McVay adds.
The training tower is a purpose-built four-storey steel structure with a pitch-roofed cabin at the fourth floor. To the side of the tower is a dual-pitched lean-to structure for rope training and ladder drills. Trap doors and lifting points throughout the structure can accommodate numerous training scenarios.
The telecoms tower is a six-metre-high free-standing triangular structure that can also be used for simulated confined space training.
A cantilevered walkway features differing widths for restricted access and numbers of personnel as well as having wider sections to accommodate stretchers. A lattice climbing structure features small-section box frames making it easy to manoeuvre with hands and clips. Varying sections, braces, voids and other obstacles create a diverse and comprehensive training structure.
To recreate a crane rescue scenario there is a four-metre-high training platform with decommissioned tower crane cab complete with all its original fittings as well as a confined access wall aperture.
The 5.3-metre-high training silo offers versatile space for numerous training scenarios both inside and outside. Fittings and ductwork have been retained to create an authentic environment.
For more information visit www.crofton-eng.co.uk