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Fire and rescue services prepare for 'catastrophic earthquake'
FIRE and Rescue services in Hertfordshire are to prepare for a 'catastrophic earthquake', should such a natural disaster occur.
Exercise Orion, co-financed by the European Union, will test the UK's emergency response to large scale disasters, as part of a multi-agency exercise.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, which covers Three Rivers, will co-ordinate a response for an earthquake over four days from September 6 this year, to include a number of live, strategic exercises.
Roy Wilsher, Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer said: "In recent years the number and severity of natural and man-made disasters has increased, with many instances in other countries leading to requests for international assistance.
"The UK is very experienced at providing aid to other countries hit by disaster, but we've never had a situation where we have needed to request international assistance.
"This exercise will test every aspect of the response, from requesting assistance from the European Union Commission to how teams work together on the ground, and will be
a huge challenge.
"The scenario is based on something that may happen once in thousand years, or may never happen, but if we were hit by a significant earthquake in the UK the impact would be huge, and if we're prepared we can lessen the impact significantly."
A short video about Exercise Orion is available to watch at www.hertsdirect.org/fire
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