People are being given the chance to witness how the fire service responds to road traffic collisions at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service’s Road Safety Open Day.
Bishop Auckland Community Fire Station at Fylands Bridge in Bishop Auckland will open its doors to the public from 9.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday 7th July 2012.
Throughout the day visitors will have the opportunity to see how the Fire and Rescue Service deal with different road traffic collision scenarios.  The fire crews will be displaying their expertise as part of a national fire and rescue service extrication competition. Running alongside this, fire crews will also be competing in a trauma care competition which involves dealing with casualties from a house fire, a motorcycle accident, a building collapse and a fall from height.
County Durham and Darlington will be competing against other fire and rescue services from Avon, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Hereford and Worcester, Humberside, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear.   
The main focus of the day is road safety which is always of high importance to the Service as fire crews regularly have to deal with the traumatic aftermath of appalling road accidents, which are often preventable.
Entry to the event is free and there will be various stalls, activities and refreshments for the whole family to enjoy. Local radio station, Bishop FM will be there to keep everyone entertained and informed throughout the day.
Andy Whitehead, District Manager at Bishop Auckland commented “I would love to see as many people as possible join us at our Road Safety Open Day this weekend.  It’s a chance to come along and meet your local fire crews and see for yourself the work they do daily to ensure the people of County Durham and Darlington remain as safe as possible”
Andy continued “We have put together a packed programme of events which will help raise awareness of the importance of acting safely on our roads. Dealing with road traffic collisions has become an all too frequent aspect of a firefighter’s role, many of which could be avoided. “