£370,000 grant for chemical training

Date article online: 14/04/2008

The Greater Manchester Fire Authority will share a £3.2 million government grant for specialist decontamination training and clothing.

There will be £370,000 distributed throughout he North-West with £70,000 spent on the New Dimension equipment, clothing and training in Greater Manchester.

The grant is largely for training for mass decontamination response units as well as additional protective clothing for use during work on collapsed buildings.

Other resources include rescue equipment for use in collapsed buildings, detection and identification, potentially dangerous substances, and high volume pumps for use in floods.

The Government has already spent more than £200 million buying equipment and on grants to man and accommodate the equipment.

Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said: “The New Dimension special equipment is vital, and these latest grants to fire and rescue authorities show that the Government remains committed to fund them to crew, host and accommodate the equipment.”

Firefighter training for the use of New Dimension equipment, used during the spate of letter bombs sent in early 2007, is being fully funded by the Government.

Every firefighter, some 50,000, has received basic awareness training for mass decontamination.