TWO of the most powerful cannons in the world have been shipped into Hampshire.

But these are no ordinary cannons and they don't fire shells. They are foam cannons and they have been added to the huge range of fire-fighting equipment held at Fawley Refinery by its operators, Esso Petroleum and Exxon Chemical.

The refinery itself has not had a major fire since 1985 and that incident was restricted to a build-up of gas bursting into flame through a safety valve which did not injure anyone or damage outside property.

But its bosses have remained constantly on guard against the threat of fire and the latest pieces of equipment to be brought in are American-built foam cannons which have been designed to smother any large surface oil tank fire in the shortest possible time.

Backed by a pump unit which can operate at 6,000 gallons per minute, they were made to the refinery's own requirements and were checked by firefighting experts both from the refinery and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Esso's fire and response group supervisor Jim Rowsell said the project illustrated the refinery's commitment to having the best equipment to deal with any emergency.

"This is underlined by the degree of investment involved, even though there is a very low probability that the equipment will ever be used in anger," he said.

There have also been assurances from Fawley Refinery management this week that the site's standard of safety cover will not be affected by the down-grading of the nearby Hardley Fire Station to part-time, or retained, manning levels.

Esso and Exxon said in a statement: "Safety is the number one priority at Fawley, both the safety of our own employees and that of our neighbours. This must not be compromised in any way by any internal or external changes to fire cover.

"Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has assured the refinery that the organisational changes to the manning structure of local fire services will not change any HFRS roles and responsibilities, as far as responding to an incident at the refinery is concerned.

"Our own fire and response group has an excellent relationship with HFRS and joint training exercises are carried out in the refinery on a regular basis. HFRS senior officers have reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that this high standard of liaison continues within these organisational changes."

One of those recent exercises involved six Hampshire fire appliances pumping water over half-a-mile to supply the foam cannons.

The statement added: "Fawley's FRG are backed up by a number of specially trained personnel on-site, able to tackle incidents quickly and effectively.

"New investment in state-of-the-art fire fighting equipment also confirms our commitment to a highly effective on-site emergency response."

The refinery also has its two purpose-built fire-fighting tugs at the Fawley Marine Terminal and they can deal with problems on board any ships or on the tanker jetty.

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