A major fire alert at a chemical works sparked an emergency response yesterday .
But fortunately the blaze wasn’t real.
It was a training exercise designed to test how firefighters would react in a real life or death situation.
Firefighters from across West Yorkshire were called to chemicals firm Solvay at Brooklands Industrial Estate in Holywell Green .
And to make the exercise as realistic as possible, crews were unaware of the drill until a mock 999 call was made to their stations at 10.30am.
On arrival they were faced with a forklift truck on fire in a warehouse surrounded by chemical containers.
They were told a number of people were trapped in the building and were given a site warehouse map.
Fire crews from Elland, Brighouse, Halifax, Odsal and Stanningley took part.
A West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Mobile Incident Unit also attended.
Steve Staveley, a spokesman for Solvay, said: “We provided an industrial environment in which the emergency services and our own employees were able to practice vital response skills.
“We wanted to be sure the setting was as realistic as possible.
“The scenario was that there were people trapped in the warehouse after a forklift truck caught fire.
“Firefighters had to negotiate around the many aisles in the warehouse which were smoke-logged.
“Our on-site Emergency Response Team was also involved to test working relationships and communications links between the site and the fire service.”
Assistant district commander for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Robin Ward, said: “The fire service views these training opportunities as highly important as they offer realistic venues and scenarios which crews benefit from.
“It also improves the inter-agency relations between the organisations which will help any operations in the future.”
Solvay, an international chemical company with five UK sites, employs 60 people at Holywell Green.
It manufactures surfactants, materials which are used widely in shampoos, detergents and many industrial products.
The site also makes biocides, which remove bacteria from water, mainly for swimming pools.
Local residents were told the drama was only a drill.
