New £14.8m Hertfordshire fire training centre ‘will save lives’
A groundbreaking ceremony has been held at Longfield Fire & Rescue Training Centre
A new £14.8 million firefighter training centre in Stevenage “will no doubt save lives in the future”, Hertfordshire’s Chief Fire Officer has said.
Alex Woodman, Chief Fire Officer for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue, was speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony at the Longfield Fire & Rescue Training Centre on Monday (September 28), marking the start of the next stage of a major redevelopment.
The investment by Hertfordshire County Council will create a new five-storey live fire training facility and a dedicated six-lane motorway training area.
The centre will allow firefighters to train in realistic environments including high-rise buildings, basements and road traffic incidents, as well as carrying out joint exercises with police, paramedics and other emergency services.
Mr Woodman said the project represented a major investment in the safety of both firefighters and the public.
“This will be with us for many years to come,” he said. “This will no doubt save lives in the future. I have no question or hesitation to say that.
“It will protect our firefighters, it will protect the community and what they will learn here and continue to train in, we will develop, enhance and hone those skills.”
The new facilities will replace existing training infrastructure which Mr Woodman said had “pretty much come to end of life”.
He said the development had also taken lessons from major incidents, including the Grenfell Tower fire and the Harrow Court fire in Stevenage, where two Hertfordshire firefighters died.
Councillor Ajanta Hilton, Executive Member for Public Health and Community Safety at Hertfordshire County Council, said the £14.8 million investment demonstrated a commitment to firefighter safety and wellbeing.
She said: “We want to ensure that they do have the realistic environment to carry out those exercises that they need to.”
Mark Payne, Head of Training at Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the new building would contain more than 60 rooms, with live fires able to be created in around 13.
The facility will also include a basement, something firefighters have not previously been able to train in within Hertfordshire.
“We train for every eventuality,” Mr Payne said. “This new facility, the types of fires we can create… will be unbelievable for our firefighters and their safety.”