Plans in place for Fire Service to keep thousands of race fans safe at British Grand Prix

The four-day race weekend get underway on Thursday July 4 and is expected to see over 160,000 people in attendance on race day alone as the weekend culminates on Sunday July 7.

Preparation for the event has been ongoing for the last nine months with a dedicated Silverstone Planning Team created within the Joint Operations Team, which works in partnership with Northamptonshire Police.

The Team works with Silverstone Circuit and partners from Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire to understand and manage any potential risks that could occur during the event.

The Service will also have a dedicated command team for the event which will oversee operational crews co-located with multi-agency partners onsite, whilst continuing to protect the communities of Northamptonshire.

In addition, our Fire Protection Team have been working tirelessly over the months leading up to the Grand Prix with Silverstone and their contractors to offer advice in relation to safety plans and procedures.

The work that the Fire Protection Team does covers a wide range of areas across the racing weekend. This includes safety within the temporary hospitality venues, crowd management at the on-site concerts and liaising with local hotels and accommodation to ensure all fire safety regulations are being followed.

Members of the Fire Protection Team will also be visiting the campsites in and around the circuit, offering fire safety literature from our Prevention Team to provide campers with advice on how to stay safe from fire when at the event.

Matt Butler, NFRS strategic commander for the British Grand Prix, said: “A huge amount of work goes on all year round to help make sure we are suitably prepared and able to respond to any type of incident whilst at attendance at the British Grand Prix.

“Planning for a major sporting event that will bring hundreds of thousands of people into the county is a big task that cannot be completed in isolation and I am confident that, alongside our multi-agency partners, we can ensure fans enjoy the event and go home safely.”