FIRE crews from across south Cumbria took part in an adventurous exercise at Barrow Docks to prepare them for tackle fires on board a ship.

Crews from Barrow, Barrow on-call, Walney, Kendal, and Ulverston along with officers all took part in Exercise Pintail last week.

The training simulated multiple different rescues including fires on a lower bridge deck and in a galley kitchen.

Watch manager Tom Wright explained: “This was a simulated vessel fire on board the ship.

“We have to undertake so many exercises a year and this is the one I planned.

“The vessel is currently undergoing decommissioning, it was previously used for exporting hazardous materials.

“It is in the dock until December but we have been part of doing risk assessments on there, which is where we built contacts with International Nuclear Services to do this exercise.

“There was 40 fire service personnel taking part in the exercise. It was three hours long as there were a number of rescues."

Mr Wright was pleased with the outcome of the exercise, which will help crews deal with unique situations.

He said: “It was done to test our training and skills and bring about learning points.

“We use exercises like this to build on our strength and improve on our weaknesses.

“We had some great feedback on this, and it is not everyday you get to access a vessel like this.

“It was my exercise that I planned, and I think it went well. A successful outcome.”