FIREFIGHTERS returned to the disused floors of the Swindon Advertiser's Victoria Road offices on Friday afternoon as they continued their search for a "casualty".

The crew from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was carrying out a simulated training exercise in which they had to find a casualty somewhere within the Victorian building.

This was done using a breathing apparatus guideline exercise, where a 90kg dummy was placed in the middle of the floor and left for the three firefighters to decide on the best way of saving it.

Using a sweep technique, where their left hand was on the wall and their right hand and leg was used to sweep for any danger, they had to negotiate their way through stairs, tight spaces and doorways, not knowing what was ahead of them and with all three firefighters linked to one another via a lead.

Watch Manager, Terry Crawford, who oversaw the exercise, said: “We would usually do this drill for large complex building layouts and something like this old print room is fantastic for us because it’s a big open space for us to conduct our search.”

Firefighter Robbie McPherson, who lead the other two firefighters, said: “Following correct guideline procedure and communication is key to us being able to work as a team, training here helps us harness this skill.”

Firefighter Greg Kelly said: "When you have a good middle man, who communicates throughout it makes it very easy. If you don’t have good communication, it can easily become an issue within that environment.”