Fire Crew meet Oaklands horses on special visit

Today, St Albans Bluewatch Fire Brigade swapped tackling fires for handling horses in a specially organised visit to Oaklands College Equine Centre.

After Oaklands College suffered a fire a few years ago, fire safety has been an important focus, so in the first visit of its kind, Oaklands College Equine Centre welcomed the fire crew for an afternoon of learning about how to handle its 29 horses in a fire and the layout of the yard.

Crew Commander Tasker, St Albans Bluewatch, commented: “This has been a very useful visit for both parties. We have been able to familiarise ourselves with the yard and learnt about leading horses safely. Each horse has a key to their personality pinned onto the stable door so we have learnt about how they all have different traits and which horses would be easier to lead out first and which ones are better following.

“Importantly, we have worked out a pre-arranged plan of action in case of fire and the worst scenario. This is the first planned visit we have done to a yard and I would welcome it if other stables suggested the same thing.”

Gavin Crossley, Yard Manager, Oaklands College, said: “We’ve had a really good exchange of information this afternoon. The fire crew have helped us with fire safety advice and in turn we have been able to work out a tailored fire plan for the yard. This has been an excellent exercise and I would recommend it to other yards.”