Appeal to platinum party planners
The Platinum Jubilee and long weekend provide a fantastic opportunity to recognise a truly historic event. We hope you enjoy the celebrations and will help us to respond quickly and safely if you need us. As many prepare to celebrate HM The Queen’s 70-year reign, we’ll be sharing some helpful Bank Holiday safety advice on social media and appealing to organisers of street parties to consider access for emergency service vehicles while events are being set up and taking place. We’re also asking street party organisers to ensure that access to hydrants isn’t blocked, in case water is needed at an incident. Councils across the West Midlands conurbation have shared details of hundreds of street parties and road closures with us, to help our planning and to minimise disruption to the celebrations if we are called out. The information has been shared with fire crews, so they are aware in advance of road closures which might delay their response in an emergency.
Group Commander Martin Ward-White, our strategic lead for response, said: “We know that lots of people are looking forward to celebrating Her Majesty’s historic reign. Our firefighters are proud to be receiving Platinum Jubilee medals in recognition of their own service to our communities. “With hundreds of street parties and other celebrations planned across the West Midlands, we hope they take place without incident. As always, however, staff in our fire control, our fire crews and many specialist teams will be ready to respond 24/7. “We pride ourselves on aiming to respond to serious incidents within five minutes, so we’re urging people who are having street parties to consider how emergency vehicles would get access if necessary. “It’s also important not to park over or otherwise block hydrants - for example with vehicles, sound systems or staging - in case we need access to the water supply in an emergency. “The weather forecast for the long weekend is looking promising, so please also take extra care if you’re having a jubilee barbecue or cooking for family, friends and neighbours.” We’ve got lots of great tips to help you party safely. Visit our safety pages linked below to see them.
