Water rescue boat for crew

10:38am Friday 2nd May 2008

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EVESHAM Fire Station is now better equipped to deal with future floods and storms after it purchased a new water rescue boat.

The Swift Water Rescue team went live at the end of March and the boat is being used by both Green watch and White watch at the station.

And it is not just the Vale that is benefitting from the new equipment. Evesham firefighters were deployed to Cornwall at the start of April to help with the severe storms that struck the area.

Adrian Mayhew, a Swift Water Rescue instructor at Evesham station, said: "It is going really well. We drove down through the storm in Cornwall to help the areas that needed assistance."

Three firefighters from Evesham and 11 from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service underwent intensive water rescue training from a team of experts in North Carolina in America in 2006. Now they have the boat, they will be ready and prepared to deal with future high-level risks and danger.

Mr Mayhew added:"Having the boat and a higher level of training is going to make a huge difference because it protects the firefighters so it allows us to deal with situations like the floods last year and recognise and understand the dangers. Now we can manage such dangers more effectively so it will make the Evesham community a safer place."