HUNDREDS of people were evacuated and a huge pall of smoke hung over Grays on Wednesday (28 March) — in the virtual world anyway.
Thurrock Council officers, volunteers police and fire officers were taking part in Operation Jutland, an emergency test.
It concerned an “explosion” and fire close to the town with between 200 and 300 people “evacuated”.
Council officers set up a rest centre at All Saints’ Church, Drake Road Chafford Hundred — the virtual smoke was being blown in a different direction — and this is where volunteers congregated.
Council workers, who are all volunteers ready to be called out in a real emergency, staffed the rest centre and others were joined by other volunteers acting as evacuees, some of them quite awkward!
The council’s head of public protection, Lucy Magill, said: “We check out our emergency responses quite regularly and also, of course, sometimes have to react to real events — such as the fire in Tilbury in February.
“But we always learn something from these events and it is important that we are as ready as possible for any potential emergency threat we could face.”
