Skills for Life visit to Fire HQ

The students are pictured with members of Red Watch Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury teenagers visited the county fire HQ as part of a Skills for Life course.

A total of seven youngsters aged from 16 to 19 learned about home fire safety, the importance of having smoke alarms and an escape route in case fire breaks out in the home.

Students attend a talk about home fire safety by Community Fire Safety Officer Delyth Humphreys

They took part in a teamwork exercise with firefighters explaining how they all work together in putting out fires or dealing with emergency road traffic collisions.

The teenagers also joined fire crews to get hands on experience of rolling out fire hoses, and a talk on the problems encountered by the fire service in receiving hoax calls and arson attacks in the county.

Students practice the hose drill before the team exercise

The teams use the the hose to hit targets

Firefighters set fire to a chip pan in a controlled demonstration to show just how quickly fire spreads.

"Students are covering part of their syllabus on teamwork in workplaces so as the make up of a fire crew is unique, this was an interesting part for the students," said Delyth Humphreys, Community Fire Safety Officer for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The Skills for Life course is a government run initiative organised by the county council's learning, employment and training services based in Sutton Road in Shrewsbury.

Skills for Life qualifications are designed to help people develop skills in everyday life, such as reading, writing or maths. They can also boost someone's CV or help people move on to further study.

Chip Pan fire demonstration

21st April, 2008