Fake vehicle accidents test skill of volunteer firefighters

EXTRICATION IN PROCESS: Volunteers worked on a number of fake car wrecks around Wanganui as part of a training course in the weekend.PHOTOS/BEVAN CONLEY

Members of the public may have thought Wanganui was particularly bad for car accidents on the weekend.

But the dozen crushed and mangled cars popping up around town were nothing sinister - it was all part of an exercise for volunteer firefighters.

Senior station officer Jemal Weston said volunteer firefighters from around Wanganui and further away were taking part in an "accident extrication training course" over the weekend.

The roughly 14 volunteers spent some of their time learning theory before taking to the streets to respond to the fake car accidents.

Mr Weston said Molten Metals provided them with about 12 cars, which they were able to crush and place dummies and actors inside.

The volunteers could then practice their skills getting people out of the wrecks.

He said the exercise was to "just replicate what we would find on the road".

"The students respond to the set-up and apply their skills to what they would find on the road," Mr Weston said.

He said the instructors, which included senior station officers such as Bryce Coneybeer, had a "wealth of knowledge".

Mr Weston did not attend the exercises, but said it was common to get "a few curious onlookers".

"Sometimes they're quite realistic, what they set up."

Occasionally the fire service would put up signs to let members of the public know it was simply an exercise, Mr Weston said.