Firefighters praised for 'tireless work' during Storm Christoph

Chief Fire Officer Ian Hayton, from Cleveland Fire Brigade, which serves Hartlepool, said firefighters did ‘fantastic’ work when the area was hit by Storm Christoph earlier this week.

He noted how Redcar and East Cleveland in particular were badly impacted by the adverse weather, along with many other parts of the north, but crews from all areas pitched in to help.

Speaking at the Cleveland Fire Authority Executive Committee on Friday, January 22, he added he has received thanks from local representatives for their work supporting communities.

Mr Hayton said: “On Wednesday from about 3.30pm we had a vast number of calls for support from members of our community.

“The vast majority were in the Redcar and East Cleveland area, we had 67 calls, 35 of which we responded to.

“The calls that we responded to were to carry out rescues from vehicles and to actually where properties were at risk of flooding.

“Certainly our crews worked for nine hours plus to actually protect our communities, undertake those rescues and ensure the safety of our community.

“It’s not only the crews from the local area, it’s right across the service that were engaged with those efforts. “

He said local MPs for impacted areas Jacob Young and Simon Clarke sent their thanks to firefighters, along with Cllr Mary Lanigan, Redcar and Cleveland Council leader, and Cllr Adam Brook, who represents the area on the fire authority.

Cllr Mary Ovens, a Redcar and Cleveland Council representative, speaking at the fire authority meeting, also thanked officers for their ‘brilliant’ response after noting flooding issues on the A174 and in the Yearby area.

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