Shropshire rescuers do their bit for victims

Firemen were drafted in as part of a national resilience force, which saw them leave their families to help devastated communities.

Their efforts mean the biggest mobilisation of emergency crews has taken place since the Second World War, as they helped to pump water out of homes affected by flooding.

Crews from Baschurch, Prees, Whitchurch, Clun, and Craven Arms have been involved – dealing with the aftermath of gale force winds and driving rain – with staff working day and night in Reading and Staines over the past week pumping water from flooded homes and helping with the rescue efforts.

And the firefighters have been praised for their hard work nationwide, with retained firefighters giving up their day jobs to help others.

The Shropshire teams were part of a 51-strong pumping crew, and team member Mac Harris was a key adviser as devastating storms hit the UK.

Mr Harris, 56, from Shrewsbury, has 25 years' experience and was one of 12 tactical advisers in the country.

He said: "We identified areas where we could move water out of flooded homes and helped to protect a sewage treatment centre and power station to ensure they were not flooded."

Mr Harris was involved in the top level gold command at Reading fire HQ where he advised Berkshire's Assistant Chief Fire Officer about where to deploy pumps as part of the strategy to deal with the crisis.

He said: "The people of Berkshire were wonderful.

"They were really appreciative of what we were doing and the Army also worked incredibly hard.

"It was amazing that all 51 of the country's high volume pumps were deployed.

"But it didn't matter whether a firefighter was from Prees or Preston, we are all trained to a high level and all worked together extremely well."

On call firefighters from Baschurch, Clun and Hodnet – where fire stations were earmarked for closure as part of budget cuts – have been heavily involved in the operation to pump flood water away from people's homes.

And it was a family effort for the Willis clan, who are all involved with Baschurch firefighters.

Father and son team Glenn and Adam Willis have been working 12-hour shifts as part of the relief effort, and said the pumping was endless.

Glenn Willis, who is an on call firefighter but also works as a diesel fitter in Shrewsbury, said: "You do feel for the people on seeing the state of their houses, we just keep pumping it out.

"But as soon as you switch the pumps off, it starts to rise through the drains again, we will just keep pumping until the levels drop."

Station manager Carl Franks said the water had been up to 5ft deep in homes in Staines but they had been pumping it out at a rate of 7,000 litres a minute.

A second Shropshire appliance with a three kilometre length of hose was also being used to send the water into the Thames.

Adam Matthews, 34, has been in charge of firefighters down in Surrey and left his wife and two young boys in Telford.

He has been ensuring the welfare of all officers involved, and hopes they be sent home by tomorrow.

Mr Matthews said: "I've left my children behind, who are four and seven years old.

"This is the biggest operation since the Second World War and we will help in whatever way we can. We will support the national situation because we've seen first hand the devastation the weather has caused.

"But I would like to thank all the employers who have let people take time out of their jobs and come down here to help."

The estimated £40,000 cost of the Shropshire operation will be refunded to Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

They will be involved with the clean up and decontamination process, but Mr Matthews is keen for Shropshire not to be forgotten.

He said: "Obviously we won't leave Shropshire unmanned, we'll be back when we can."