Peterborough's fire service called to record number of incidents in Cambridgeshire on UK’s hottest day ever

The fire service received over 800 calls across the two-day heatwave
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Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service attended a record number of incidents for a single day in Cambridgeshire on Tuesday – as temperatures soared to almost 40 degrees.

It was called to 92 incidents – which is the highest amount ever for a single day since about 2009, when their recording system was implemented.

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It means there were 67 more incidents than the average weekday in July, which is 25.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue ServiceCambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Fire crews were not only dealing with emergencies from Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, but also from London, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.

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Peterborough fire: Firefighters put out flames in Sawtry after 40C heatwave scor...

The chief fire officer, Chris Strickland, said: "The last two days have seen us face significant challenges and pushed us to the limits of our capacity.

"For long periods in the afternoon, we had almost every available fire engine committed to an incident, which is unprecedented for us.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue ServiceCambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service
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"Our combined fire control was under immense pressure throughout the two days, dealing with many calls for both Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, with both counties having significant fires. At one stage, the duty call handlers were providing mobilising support for other fire services across the country due to unprecedented demand elsewhere."

Cambridgeshire’s fire service received over 800 calls across Monday (July 18) and Tuesday (July 19), with nearly 300 calls being made on Tuesday between 2pm and 5pm.

One of those calls was to a field in Sawtry 40C heat had scorched dry grass

‘Heartening’

Chief fire officer, Chris Strickland (left)Chief fire officer, Chris Strickland (left)
Chief fire officer, Chris Strickland (left)

"In times like these I am so proud of the people we have,” officer Strickland added. “Everyone has demonstrated over the last couple of days their passion for serving the community and giving their best – but also being there to help each other.

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"Everyone pitched in together to make sure we were providing the best level of service we could.

"It’s also really heartening to see residents interacting with us and sending us their praise and thanks. We’ve had more than 600 comments across our social media channels from people appreciating the hard work of the crews out at incidents and our call handlers in our combine fire control.

"They clearly recognise the conditions we’ve been working in and it means a lot to us that people take the time to show us their support."