Release date: 3 November 2025
Station Manager Anton Mezzone was invited to deliver a presentation at Buckingham Palace on 31 October, sharing operational insights from the landmark multi-agency exercise held at Chichester Cathedral last year.
Anton was selected by The Royal Household to be a guest speaker at the Salvage Forum which featured a range of talks exploring salvage incidents and preparedness. His talk focused on the collaborative training exercise which brought together emergency services partners and local authorities to test firefighting tactics, strategic command, and partnership working.
The exercise, conducted in May 2024, saw fire, police, and ambulance crews converge on Chichester city centre to simulate a major incident at the historic cathedral. The scenario featured synthetic smoke issuing from the roof, a casualty rescue operation, and the innovative use of Chichester Canal as a high-volume water supply.
The operation also included a Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) with representatives from West Sussex County Council’s Resilience & Emergencies Team, the Environment Agency, Public Health England, and neighbouring fire and rescue services.
Station Manager Anton Mezzone said: “It was an honour to be invited to Buckingham Palace to share our learning from the training exercise at Chichester Cathedral.
“The cathedral is 950 years old, and the building presents a number of challenges for our crews in the event of an emergency. We have worked hard to adapt our emergency response plans following the Notre-Dame fire in 2019 to ensure this important heritage site is protected.
“During the exercise crews laid almost a kilometre of hose from the canal to the cathedral, navigating the busy streets and a railway footbridge. This alone was a huge undertaking and demonstrated logistical capability and our ability to work with multiple agencies to minimise disruption.
“The Chichester Cathedral exercise will serve as a benchmark for success for years to come as we continue to test our operational procedures and emergency planning for major incidents.”
