Silverlake provides vehicles for ‘Festival of Rescue’ as firefighters from across UK are put to the test

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) hosted the UK’s biggest rescue competition last week, with local business Silverlake Automotive Recycling as a main supporter.

Expert teams of firefighters from 28 UK fire services and three international teams gathered in Portsmouth and Eastleigh to take part in the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation (UKRO) ‘Festival of Rescue’.

Teams competed to test their skills and be the best across a variety of challenging scenarios.

Silverlake provided 110 salvage vehicles to be used in the extrication challenge, which took place over both days at Gunwharf Quays.

Teams competed to remove actors, playing casualties with a variety of injuries, safely, quickly and efficiently from vehicles in simulated road traffic collisions (RTCs).

Members of the public visiting Gunwharf Quays over the two days were able to watch the challenge and cheer on the teams, with South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Bridgend emerging victorious.

Craig Gregory, group manager at HIWFRS, said: “It’s important that fire services train to respond to road traffic collisions and work with partners to reduce deaths on our roads.

“The extrication challenge puts firefighters’ skills to the test by tackling different RTC scenarios.

“It’s designed to improve the knowledge, skills and understanding of services, enabling them to deliver an improved response to RTCs and improved outcomes for casualties.

“We’d like to thank Silverlake for supporting this year’s UKRO event and providing vehicles for the extrication teams to test their skills on at this event.”

Allen Prebble, managing director at Silverlake, added: “We’ve been supporting HIWFRS for over a decade, supplying salvage vehicles and the use of our 10-acre site in Shedfield for their training exercises and assessments.

“When they told us they were hosting the 2024 UKRO Festival of Rescue in Portsmouth, we were 100 per cent ready to help.

“We were really proud to be sponsors of the extrication challenge in Gunwharf Quays, to provide the vehicles and manage the logistics around their delivery and removal.

“The Festival of Rescue is a fantastic opportunity for all the teams taking part in the competition to showcase the vital lifesaving work that they do and share best practice.

“This event represents a learning and development opportunity that helps firefighting professionals to keep our communities safe.

“Congratulations to the UKRO for putting on an amazing event, to everyone that took part and to the winning teams.”

Other challenges included a rope rescue from height, water rescue and trauma care, which took place at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

There was also a fire cadets’ challenge and dog demonstration.