999 Emergency call handlers for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have dealt with an increase of over 312%i calls in the 48-hour period since the heatwave began, with calls at one point being diverted to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service iidue to the high demand and call numbers.
Since 00.01 hours on Monday 18 July until 14.30 hours today, 999 call handlers received 906 calls for emergency assistance across the two counties. The average number of 999 calls received in a 24-hour period is 110.
Group Manager Nathan Stevens said: “While our Firefighters dealing with incidents are visible to the public, our 999 emergency control room operators often go unseen, yet do a vital job during any incident. The heatwave has caused a significant increase in the number of emergency calls they have handled for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
“At around 11:00 hours this morning the call volume was so significant that we had to call on our pre-arranged buddy fire and rescue service, Tyne and Wear, to support us with our call handling due to a fire on the embankment of the M1 causing a significant spike in 999 calls.”
Keeping Safe and Preventing Emergencies
The Service has been calling on the communities of Derbyshire to help prevent emergencies and keep safe during the heatwave.
On Monday Derbyshire Firefighters attended 29 fires, the second highest daily total over the past decadeiii. 23 of these were fires in the open. So far today, Firefighters have attended 12 fires in the open.
Group Manager Stevens went onto say: “While the high temperatures are predicted to fall over the next few days, conditions will still be warm and grassland and open areas will still be tinder dry. We therefore need people to continue to help us prevent wildfires, taking a common-sense approach to not having garden fires, not taking BBQs into open areas, and ensuring cigarettes and glass bottles are disposed of responsibly.
“I would also like to remind people about the dangers of open water. With the Schools due to break up, we are asking parents and guardians to ensure young people know that cold water shock and hidden dangers can cause drowning in even the strongest swimmers, and to ensure they know how to float to live if they did find themselves in difficulty.”
Reporting Deliberate Fire Setting
Sadly, some of the fires we are attending are deliberate. Deliberate fires can destroy communities as well as have an impact on our resources being available to respond to other life risk emergencies.
Our communities can help us prevent deliberate fires by reporting any information they may have anonymously to FireStoppers by calling 0800 169 5558 or online at firestoppersreport.co.uk
i Calculated on a 48-hour period average, however the figure will increase as there is still several hours of the 48 hours period remaining.
ii Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service are our pre-arranged buddy fire and rescue service who are set up to deal with any 999 calls that are over the capacity of the joint fire control room for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
iii The average daily total for July over the last 5 years is 9 fires.
