Crews train together for specialised weir rescues

Firefighters faced a fast flowing weir during a joint training exercise

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Firefighters faced a fast flowing weir during a joint training exercise recently.

A family stranded in a boat in and around a low head dam was the scenario as crews met on the banks of the River Roach near Hooley Bridge in Heywood on Sunday, 3 February.

A family stranded in a boat in and around a low head dam was the scenario as crews met on the banks of the River Roach near Hooley Bridge in Heywood on Sunday, 3 February.

Crew Manager Andy Doel said: “We ran the training exercise as a real time incident and the the idea was for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s (GMFRS) two Water Incident Unit crews to train together in specialised techniques to cope with rescues involving weirs.

“When we were called to the ‘incident’ we knew a family of three were in difficulty with a boat near the weir. Weirs, or low head dams, are incredibly dangerous even for people very experienced in the water because even very experienced canoeists can easily get into difficulty.

“The water drops down and creates a washing machine effect like a cyclone where it just spins round and round and if you get trapped in the weir it will just hold you there instead of allowing you to be washed downstream. Americans call them drowning machines.”

When Green Watch crews arrived, they spoke to Watch Manager Colin Moran who was posing as a passerby with information who told them that in fact there was a family of four stranded in the water near the weir.

Watch Manager Jon Stewart said: “As the training incident unfolded, we discovered on arrival that rather than three people, there was in fact a family of four that had been in a boat that had capsized, spilling them into the water around the low head dam.

“The casualties were played by dummies of various sizes to pose as two children and parents. One had gone over the weir and three were stuck on the top side which allowed us to test safe systems of work.

“We used a special Water Incident Unit technique called the Tyrolean to manoeuvre the boat to the weir and river left or right in order to reach the casualties.

“The Tyrolean involves a line across the river using ropes and pullies to move the boat from the banking and stop it from being dragged over the weir and into trouble.

“The exercise was a real test for both GMFRS Water Incident teams and the exercise allowed us to prepare for a genuine incident.

“Weirs look innocuous but they’re really dangerous and children must not play near them and people should never enter a weir to rescue people or pets because they could so easily become a casualty or a fatality themselves.”