Over 100 colleagues, contractors and local civic dignitaries warmly welcomed Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal to the new Huntingdon Fire Station and Service training center for a tour and to officially open the building with the unveiling of a plaque.
The Princess Royal was greeted by the Lord Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire, Mrs. Julie Spence OBE QPM, and introduced to Fire Authority Chair - Edna Murphy, Deputy Chief Executive for Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service (CFRS) - Matthew Warren and Assistant Chief Fire Officer - Jon Anderson, among other civic representatives, before commencing a tour of the new fire station and CFRS’s training center, which is on the same site.
HRH guided on the tour by Group Commander
Her Royal Highness (HRH) was guided on the tour by Group Commander - Simon Thompson
Her Royal Highness (HRH) was guided on the tour by Group Commander - Simon Thompson. First to meet HRH were employees from CFRS involved in the project, as well as contractors, including Artisan and Crofton Engineering who designed and built the fire station and training buildings respectively.
Along the way, The Princess Royal was treated to three demonstrations by firefighters and training center instructors showing rope rescue, road traffic collision and large animal rescue techniques. This included a horse rescue from a water filled ditch to replicate the unique challenges Cambridgeshire firefighters face with the large number of waterways in the county.
meeting on-call firefighters, Community safety team
After the tour - which also included meeting on-call firefighters, the community safety team, representatives from support groups and year 10 students from Hinchingbrooke School in Huntingdon who have designed a piece of artwork for one of the conference rooms – CFRS Deputy Chief Executive Matthew Warren officially welcomed everyone and thanked all those involved in the build project for their hard work and perseverance, before inviting Her Royal Highness to unveil a commemorative plaque.
As she did so, The Princess Royal expressed how much she had enjoyed her tour and meeting everyone involved. Evlyn, aged 8, and Keevah, aged 11 – whose fathers work at the fire station – presented Her Royal Highness with a posy to conclude the event.
New Huntingdon Fire Station and Service training center
Mr. Warren said: “It was a perfect event to officially open our new replacement fire station in Huntingdon and the Service’s new training facility and an opportunity for us to properly thank everyone who has been involved in this project.”
He adds, “So much time, effort and hard work has gone into this new build by so many people and it was fantastic to stand in front of everyone today and collectively thank them in person. Having Her Royal Highness with us to meet everyone, learn more about our fire and rescue service and unveil a commemorative plaque made it particularly special and something that everyone will remember and talk about for a long time.”
