Firefighters at West Sussex landmark: Presence of multiple crews at stately home explained

The fire service has explained why dozens of crews were seen at a Chichester landmark on Wednesday morning (April 26).

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters have completed a training exercise at Goodwood House to ‘test their procedures in the event of a major incident’.

The mock incident saw crews respond to a simulated fire in a tower filled with smoke with one person unaccounted for.

Crews from Chichester, Bognor, Petworth, and Worthing attended the ‘incident’ along with the aerial ladder platform from Worthing.

Anton Mezzone, station manager at Chichester Fire Station, said: “As a service we carry out regular training exercises to practice our response to ensure we are prepared should a major incident occur.

“Goodwood House is a historic and popular attraction. Being afforded the opportunity to train at such a prominent landmark and put our well-rehearsed plans for a large scale incident into action provides valuable real life experience for our crews.

"We are very grateful to the team at Goodwood for allowing us onsite to carry out this mock incident today, which was a success.

“While saving lives is always our primary concern at an incident, being able to practice salvage techniques in a building like this is also hugely valuable to our crews to ensure that we protect our heritage.”