Fire Brigade team arrive at Chubb HQ to commence training

Team member wearing full breathing equipment during training exercise

3rd March 2009

Three fire stations within the north area of Surrey used Chubb Fire’s Sunbury headquarters for a series of high-rise training exercises.

Chubb vacant floors of the 12-storey Chubb House for exercises to simulate people trapped in a tall building by fire. The conditions were real, though firefighters did not use water or extinguishers.

Station Manager at Sunbury and Spelthorne, Gary Jeffreys believed the training is vital. “These are exactly the situations where lives can be saved and exercises like this help to hone our skills and guarantee procedures are followed quickly and professionally.”

Four training sessions designed to test the mobilisation, approach, deployment, incident command procedures and communications took place throughout February and March. Three appliances from Sunbury, Staines and Esher were involved in the exercise and were overseen by observers and senior officers from each of the stations.

Gary Jeffreys, added: “We are extremely grateful to Chubb for allowing us to use their premises to carry out these exercises as it can be very difficult to find anywhere suitable. Not only is the site itself good for us, but the location is also great; it is out of the view of the public and there is sufficient space for the appliances to access.

“We are working closely with the security team and site managers to ensure we are complying with all the rules and that everything runs smoothly. I cannot thank Chubb enough for giving us the opportunity to practice what is a crucial part of our fire and rescue training at its headquarters.”

Jane Garland, Marketing and Communications Manager, said that “Training is an integral part of all fire brigade practices, and Chubb is pleased to be playing its part in keeping firefighters at the top of their game.”.