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Kent Fire and Rescue Service shows off life-saving equipment after Grenfell Tower fire

By: Ellis Stephenson

Published: 00:01, 24 August 2017

At a time when fire crews are trying to calm the nerves of people who live and work in high-rise buildings after the Grenfell Tower fire, reporter Ellis Stephenson was given a tour of a nine-storey residential block to show how firefighting methods are developing with new technology.

Fire chiefs are attempting to reassure people a Grenfell-style fire is unlikely to happen in Kent as they continue to invest in state-of-the-art technology such as drones.

They say detailed plans are in place to prevent a potential disaster should one of the county's towers go up in flames.

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Fire chiefs say new technology will help them tackle fires in high-rise buildings

The Grenfell blaze, in the Kensington and Chelsea borough of London, killed more than 80 people.

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It started on June 14, and took over 24 hours to bring under control.

As a result of the huge fire, samples of cladding on buildings around the UK have been called in for testing.

One of the ways Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) is preparing itself is by training more pilots to fly its recently-purchased drone.

At the moment it has five pilots with three more in the stages of being trained.

There are also plans to buy another drone to help detect where fires might spread in a building that is already on fire.

It is a substitute to the older traditional fire engines which have high ladders that cannot go as high as a drone.

They can also be used in the search for missing people.

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A KFRS demonstration of the way modern towers are built with ready-to-use fire hydrants in the walls, took place at the Thomas Place block in Maidstone.

While there was nothing wrong with the nine-storey building itself an inspection was carried out.

Station manager Stuart Albon talked about the training crews go through for incidents that might happen in the county's high rises, which range in height from six floors to 27.

The average height of a high-rise in Kent is six floors.

He said: "We're taking the opportunity to show some of the residents how we use features in the building and what they are.

"Since the fire in London we've carried out a whole campaign across the county which is focused on reassuring people that if an event like Grenfell should happen we're trained and ready for it.

"It's important for us to talk to the residents about how their building works and encourage them to learn and understand how their alarm systems operate and that they know their exit routes.

Stuart Albon

"There has been a lot of focus on cladding in many ways that's not been helpful because it comes in many shapes and forms.

"We don't know the exact cause of the fire but we can offer advice to prevent these fires from happening in the first place."

One of the service's drone operators Tony Hendricks explained how the drone can be used in joint operations with other emergency services.

"We are able to deploy the drone with one person flying it and another operating the camera," he said.

"There are times when we would assist in the search for a missing person while using the kit and putting it into use in that we.

"During the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire London Fire Brigade used our drone for three days and it helped by going up to different floors, from the outside, and looking for potential hot spots where fires could reignite."

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