Chief Fire Officer praises emergency repsonse

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service was part of a multi-agency response launched following heavy snowfall that resulted in widespread challenges across the county.

Rick Ogden, Chief Fire Officer, said: “I am immensely proud of the role Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service played, alongside our emergency services and local authority colleagues, in response to the extreme conditions we faced at the weekend.

“Our Firefighters had an exceptionally challenging weekend but, once again, rose to the challenge and worked tirelessly to help those in need.”

Among the many incidents Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service assisted were:

• 9pm on Saturday; a crew from Ambleside was mobilised in a 4x4 to collect and deliver bedding, and to assist the police in providing welfare in the local reception centre for over 200 members of the public
• 11pm on Saturday; at Ings, Kendal, a crew assisted North West Ambulance Service in a time-critical extraction from a stranded vehicle
• 2am on Sunday; on-call crews in 4x4 vehicles assisted the police with locating individuals in stranded vehicles in the Satterthwaite area
• Sunday evening; the service assisted in transporting an engineer to a remote United Utilities plant to prevent loss of water to 400 homes
• Throughout the emergency phase: the service assisted United Utilities in delivering bottled water to areas without supply, and fire stations were used as collection points for water and emergency centres for responders