North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service revealed they had declared a ‘major incident’ this afternoon.
It came as they faced a large number of serious incidents on the hottest day ever recorded in York and North Yorkshire.
Declaring a major incident “ensures that our partners are aware and lined up to support us if necessary”, the fire service said.
The service said:
This afternoon our resilience plans have been truly tested, with four to eight pumps being deployed simultaneously. We have coped well and maintained the ability to respond to risks and threats to life across the city and county.
“We’re still here to keep you safe and respond to your call if you need us.
“Our resilience plans have been put into action and we’ve responded to a number of large incidents today. We’ve still be able to retain the ability to respond to threats/ risks to life across the city and county.”
The spokesperson paid tribute to all the fire service staff.
“A big shout out to our call centre staff – they are fantastic. If you phone us for help, please be patient, they’ve been very busy today.
“We couldn’t do what we do without the amazing efforts of our on-call fire fighters – all residents of their local communities – who work alongside our full time crews to keep the people of North Yorkshire and the City of York safe, and feeling safe.”
Meanwhile, just over the border in East Yorkshire, this huge fire was spotted in a field behind East Cowick School near Snaith. The picture was taken by NIGEL M on Twitter.
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