The Fire and Rescue Unit of the Sri Lanka Air Force carried out a fire drill with the assistance of WTC Fire Rescue Team, the Colombo Fire Brigade and the Sri Lanka Red Cross at World Trade Center, Colombo this evening. More than 5,000 personnel from the World Trade Center participated in the fire drill.

43 highly skilled SLAF personnel participated in the fire fighting and rescue exercise which was carried out under the instructions of the Officer Commanding of the SLAF Fire Unit, Squadron Leader C.P Hettiarachchi.

This evacuation drill demonstrated rescue operations relevant to high-rise buildings never seen before in Sri Lanka. It included a roof top rescue where people who had fled to the top of the WTC to escape the notional fire and were brought down 38 floors along the exterior of the building using special ropes and harnesses, the use of a special sky lift to rescue people trapped at the skylight level of the WTC. The personnel in the lower floors were afforded a smooth landing by use of the ‘jumping sheet’ (an inflated landing pad) which was placed on the ground. There were also live demonstrations on the use of high-pressure fire hoses to put out fires and providing first aid to victims of the fire.

The Chief Fire Officer of the SLAF Group Captain Chinthaka Dias was also present at the demonstration.