Leading agriculture network Viterra recently partnered with the Strathalbyn, Clayton and Milang Country Fire Service (CFS) brigades to conduct a joint emergency training exercise at Viterra’s Strathalbyn site.
The simulated training exercises were designed to support both Viterra staff and CFS crews around responding to specific emergency scenarios. As part of the exercise, the CFS crews were able to gain familiarity and put into practice the inter-brigade teamwork required for a multi-response incident.
Two separate exercises, including a response to an emergency rescue situation at one of the silos, were conducted with 24 CFS volunteers taking part.
Strathalbyn CFS Brigade Committee President, Andrew Mepham says the exercises provided the crews with invaluable experience.
“All of the exercises were conducted successfully with the crews participating in an onsite debrief with the Viterra staff,” Andrew says.
“During the debrief, the crews expressed how participating in the exercises had provided them with a greater understanding of what to expect if responding to a similar incident.
“Thank you to Viterra and their staff for facilitating access to the silos for this exercise.”
Viterra Eastern region Operations Manager, Andrew Cannon says the training exercise was a good learning experience for both the Viterra staff and the CFS crews.
“It was great to host the CFS at our Strathalbyn site. We saw this exercise as an important opportunity to support our local community CFS by providing our infrastructure and equipment to test out their response to a crisis situation in real time,” Andrew says.
“The exercise also assisted our planning as it allowed our team to watch how the CFS would work through a potential emergency and rescue scenario and provided a knowledge sharing opportunity as our staff were able to ask questions of the volunteers.
“Keeping everyone safe at our sites is of the utmost importance to us at Viterra. This training was an important exercise for our staff and the wider community in putting our emergency preparedness and management into practice.
“We hope to support training exercises such as this one in the future at our other sites.”