Smoke pours out of the window of a former nurses' accommodation block, behind Basingstoke hospital, being used by firefighters for a training exercise

BLOCKS of flats once used by nurses at Basingstoke hospital provided the ideal training ground for battling flames this week.

About 20 firefighters from Basing-stoke fire station put out the deliber-ately-set fires as part of a live-burn training exercise in the rooms of the abandoned buildings.

The buildings are due to be demolished as part of an £11million redevelopment of Basingstoke hospital.

Crew from the fire station lit heaps of straw and scraps of wood before teams of four firefighters fought their way in to put out the small fires.

Construction firm Leadbitter will demolish the buildings after the last training exercise, scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Eddie Burrows, blue watch manager at Basingstoke fire station, said the training exercise was needed because the number of house fires in the county has decreased.

In 2002, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to 3,904 house fires, but last year that number had decreased to just 2,786.

He added: "It does mean that our firefighters no longer deal with incidents on the same scale as we used to.

"As a result, most of our younger firefighters have gained their experience under simulated conditions in smoke chambers.

"But, thanks to Leadbitter, our young firefighters will have the opportunity to put their skills to the test in a realistic environment."

Richard Nixon, regional director at Leadbitter, said: "Leadbitter recognises the importance of supporting such safety initiatives and we hope that by helping out like this, firefighters are better equipped to deal with real-life scenarios."

9:40am Thursday 24th July 2008

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