Thousands enjoy drills and demonstrations at Peterborough fire station open day

More than 2,000 people flooded through the doors on Saturday for the event and helped raised the money which will be split between The Fire Fighter’s Charity and Heltwate School in Peterborough. Fun activities at the station included dunk-the-firefighter and a hose reel challenge, where the public got behind a hose reel to extinguish flames in a simulated house. Other popular attractions included chip pan fire demonstrations and a drill by firefighters who used a ladder and MultiStar aerial appliance to rescue casualties from a simulated fire. People could also explore fire engines and their equipment, learn CPR with Gemma’s Hearts and henna hand painting. The Victims Support Unit, Red Cross emergency response team and the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) also attended the event. Dogsthorpe’s station commander Matthew Murdoch said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the stallholders, activity organisers and the local community once again for their amazing support as well as all our volunteers on the day. This year event has seen a diverse mix of people from communities across Peterborough, the widest mix for many years. I would like to thank the positive action team for their fantastic work in their communities. Their efforts clearly show the bonds being built between the fire service and the wider community. We had more than 20 off-duty firefighters along with other fire service staff, family and friends volunteering their time to help on the day. We look forward to hosting another open day in the future to engage with the local residents.”