'Chemical spill' tests fire crews

Firefighters practised their response in decontamination suits

Firefighters have been practising their response to a major chemical incident with a large-scale simulation at a paper mill.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service put its emergency drill into action at SCA Packaging in New Hythe, near Maidstone, on Saturday.

The exercise was held as part of the Health and Safety Executive's European Safety Awareness Week.

Firefighters dressed in decontamination suits tackled a simulation of a serious chemical incident, involving casualties overcome by fumes from a leak of hydrochloric acid.

A spokesman for Kent Fire Brigade said: "We've got a training competency programme and it includes training to deal with hazardous materials and chemical incidents.

"We train in that a couple of times a year so everybody on every station throughout the county will have done it."

It was the first time workers at the mill, which produces corrugated board and paper, had carried out a drill on this scale.

The company also held an open day for children at West Malling Primary School to educate them about the dangers posed by some chemicals.