Chester’s Grosvenor Museum will be at the centre of dramatic events on Monday (September 21) - but residents are being reassured that the ‘emergency’ is just an exercise.
Up to 50 firefighters in 10 appliances will descend on the Grade II listed building to test their response to a scenario involving a major fire with people trapped and precious artefacts under threat.
The two-hour exercise will see Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service demonstrate their emergency response using a salvage plan devised by West Cheshire Museums.
The plan - which sets out a priority-driven strategy to save artefacts in the event of a fire or flood - is a nationally recognised ‘gold standard’ used as a template by museums nationwide.
On Monday, fire crews will arrive at the museum shortly after 7pm to discover that a ‘fire’ that began in the basement is fast taking hold of the four-storey building.
Firefighters will locate two members of staff reported ‘missing’ inside the building while their colleagues work to bring the ‘fire’ under control.
Next, crews will put the salvage plan into action by rescuing replicas of paintings, vases, items of furniture and other artefacts from some of the most inaccessible areas of the museum.
Meanwhile, museum staff will enact their part of the plan from a safe distance by wrapping and documenting the replica artefacts and removing them to a secure location.
Councillor Louise Gittins, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Wellbeing, said: “Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service chose the Grosvenor Museum as a venue for a major heritage salvage exercise due to the national standing of its salvage plan.
“While the exercise is predominately to test the response of the emergency services, it will also be an invaluable test for museums staff.
“We regularly carry out exercises on how to recover artefacts in an emergency but this will be on a far bigger scale to anything we have undertaken in the past.
“Of course, we hope never to have to face an incident such as this, but if we do, this exercise will ensure that the emergency services and our staff are as prepared as it is possible to be.
“It underlines how seriously we take our role as custodians of the precious artefacts and collections we are responsible for.”
Representatives from Grosvenor Estates will be among the observers who have been invited to watch the exercise unfold.
Also present will be Steve Emery, National Fire Safety Advisor for Historic England, who helped to develop the museum’s salvage plan.
Barry Williams, Chester Station Manager, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to provide our crews with a realistic training scenario.
“Our aim is to have crews trained to the highest possible standards to ensure they are able to safely and effectively deal with emergency incidents.
“This sort of mock exercise really helps us prepare for major incident, which thankfully is a rare occurrence.”
The majority of the activity will take place at the rear of the museum and a number of appliances will be parked on Castle Square. No road closures are planned.
Cllr Gittins added: “It is crucial that conditions are as realistic as possible in order to get the best out of the exercise for everyone participating.
“We would like to thank the local community in advance for their co-operation and understanding, and apologise for any inconvenience which may be caused.”
The exercise - which had been planned for earlier in the year but had to be cancelled due to the Bosley tragedy in Macclesfield - is expected to be complete by 9.30pm.
