What were once called firefighting competitions are now referred to as skill assessments. These are organized by the General Firefighting Competition Committee: AWBC. In March of this year, skill assessments were held in Goes, where the company fire brigade of the nuclear power plant EPZ in Borssele assisted with their provided staging equipment.
The nuclear power plant EPZ and FireWare have known each other since 2005. In 2005, on the occasion of a national nuclear exercise, a challenging scenario was set up where FireWare used all its theatrical knowledge to help the responders fully experience, feel, and understand the situation.
The closer to reality, the better
Back in 2005, contact was made with Jaap Vasseur. Jaap is the process owner of fire safety at the nuclear power plant EPZ in Borssele, a responsible job. Training is therefore of great importance. Jaap understands better than anyone that realistic training brings you closer to reality, thereby optimally preparing your people for a real incident. At that time, he purchased a substantial set of training materials from FireWare.
20 years of experience
On March 23, 2024, about 20 years after that first staging, Jaap is once again involved in the staging of the skill assessments organized by the Goes fire station. The staging was supported by the EPZ company fire brigade. The knowledge gained so far about staging was used for a realistic training scenario. And not only that, but the FireWare equipment, which has been in use for 20 years, was also utilized. We think that’s awesome to hear, Jaap!
A significant ‘fire’ in Zeeland
Ten fire stations from the Zeeland region ran the scenario, which started as a fire under the ceiling in the kitchen of a catering business. The fire spread to the attic. An interior attack was no longer safe and had to be aborted due to the high fire load and smoke development. The teams had to decide, based on the presented image, to switch to a defensive external attack.
Jaap, thank you for your dedication and commitment to working with the company fire brigade to enhance the expertise of all our firefighting colleagues.
