Tolvaddon firefighter joins Cornwall crew for Essex rescue contest

A Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service crew swapped clifftop call-outs for the competition floor this week, heading east to take on the best rescue teams in the country.

Five firefighters, including one from Tolvaddon Community Fire Station, travelled to Essex yesterday to compete in the United Kingdom Rescue Organisations Festival of Rescue. The opening ceremony was held last night, with the competition itself running across today, Friday 11 September, and tomorrow, Saturday 12 September.

What the competition involves

The event pits firefighters and rescue services from across the country against each other in extrication and trauma. Crews are presented with realistic scenarios and have to use their training and skills to work through the incident and carry out a rescue, much as they would on a real shout.

Who is competing for Cornwall

The Cornwall contingent pictured ahead of the trip is Firefighter Andrew House, who is whole-time crew at St Austell, Crew Manager Calum Couch, on-call at Tolvaddon, and Watch Manager Chris “Biff” Williams, on-call at Mullion.

Tolvaddon Community Fire Station wished the wider team luck in a post shared to Facebook, urging them to “show them how good Cornwall can be and make us proud.”

📷Credit: Tolvaddon Community Fire Station