A senior fire officer...

A senior fire officer has told Auto Express that rescue teams sent to release drivers trapped in cars after accidents are threatened with serious injury or even death. The reason is that they don"t have up-to-date information about how to work with the technology, including modern fuels such as LPG, airbag detonators and complicated electrical networks. All of these can endanger lives if not handled properly.

Tim Woodfield, who teaches instructors at the road traffic collision centre of West Midlands Fire Service, revealed that the only resource he has to train people about dealing with LPG cars is an old BBC video clip!

He added that thousands of his colleagues have never been trained to deal with the risks posed by innovations such as petrol/electric hybrids - like the Toyota Prius - and aftermarket LPG systems. "How can we be expected to isolate the dangers and make the vehicle safe before helping the victim if we don"t have the information?" he warned.

Special training courses are being run for rescue workers in America as sales of hybrid models rise, but most British firemen get no such help.

Hybrids can pose special risks. The Prius, for example, has a 274-volt backbone that could endanger rescuers and victims if severed by standard cutting tools while live. In one crash we heard of involving a Prius, fire crews sprayed the car in foam, even though there was no fire, as a precautionary measure.

But Toyota hit back, claiming that the problem was caused by the fire service. "I"ve spent years explaining the Prius to every emergency service in the country," said the firm"s field technical engineer Brian Tester. "But I"ve got no influence at all about how they circulate the information to officers. It"s so frustrating."

Woodfield is equally annoyed. "The information is probably sitting on a desk somewhere in headquarters," he blasted.