Life hots up for chaplains

CHAPLAINS from the Essex Churches Council for Industry and Commerce spent the day as guests of the Essex Fire Service Live Fire training Centre in Wethersfield to experience modern fire training and understand some of the dangers faced by a fire fighting crew.

Not only did they learn about the technicalities of fire in the classroom, they donned personal protection equipment, pictured right, and were taken outside to see it in reality under expert guidance.

They used shipping containers modified with doors and vents to simulate buildings in which a fire is lit and its behaviour controlled to produce ‘back draughts' and ‘flashovers'.

The results were a spectacular demonstration producing flames up to 30 feet long issuing from the containers. It certainly gave the chaplains a chance to feel the heat, taste the smoke, and to appreciate the dangers of getting too close to a fire. Valuable lessons about home fire safety were learned along the way.

The chaplains' explosive experience was all part of their training in their understanding the pressures faced by people in the workplace.

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