Alderney firefighters’ job not child’s play

The volunteer team spent Wednesday evening at Fort Albert courtyard using a Palmer’s fire behaviour doll’s house, put together by one of the crew members.

Made from two sheets of oriented strand board, a type of engineered wood, it has four compartments or rooms with removable ceilings. It also has removable panels that allow access to the loft space and to ventilate the main roof.

A small fire was lit in one of the compartments using only standard building materials and everyday household materials. Once a fire is fully established in the house, panels, shutters and windows are removed and replaced to show the different paths a fire can take.

Chief fire officer Mark Gaudion said it was a very useful exercise.

‘The exercise, which cost less than £30 in materials, was a practical demonstration showing local firefighters the effects of fireground ventilation both positively and negatively to help them practise reading smoke and predicting backdrafts and flashovers,’ he said.