A FIRE crew from Ross-on-Wye is off to Brazil after coming second place in a national competition.

The Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service [HWFRS] team from Ross came second in the extrication challenge at UKRO National Challenge.

The team consisting of Shaun Moser, Adrian Phillips, Pat Murphy, Dan Gray, Simon Griffiths and Matthew Richardson will now represent the UK in Brazil next April at the World Extrication Championships.

The national competition saw 44 teams from all over the UK compete at the Fire Service College in Gloucestershire and had four award categories; extrication, trauma, urban search and rescue (USAR), and rope rescue.

HWFRS duo Simon Griffiths and Jayne Collins competed in the trauma challenge and finished in fifth place. They will represent the UK at the World Trauma Championships in Portugal later this year.

For the extrication challenge the crews were given 20 minutes to safely rescue a casualty from a two car road traffic collision scenario and the next day rescue two casualties from a collision between a HGV and a car.

The trauma team also faced some tough scenarios, including a casualty that had been impaled by a stick and a car explosion with seven causalities.

Deputy chief fire officer Richard Lawrence attended the event and said: “Over the two days they were faced with a range of demanding exercises that really put their skills to the test. Both teams did exceptionally well and we are immensely proud to have such talented, professional firefighters within the service.”