Over 300 fire fighters offer to fight Winter Hill blaze
London Fire Brigade has today sent a team of firefighters to help assist colleagues at the Lancashire moorlands fire. Almost 300 firefighters from fire stations across London offered to travel to Lancashire and 36 members of staff were selected to represent the Brigade after a mutual aid request was submitted. Six fire engines from the Brigade’s reserve fleet, which are not frontline appliances, left Finchley fire station at 12pm to travel to Chorley. They will support firefighting operations around the Winter Hill area in the Greater Manchester and Lancashire region. London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said: "Within a few hours of the request message being sent we had almost firefighters 300 offering assistance. "I wasn’t surprised when we were inundated with offers of support but I am grateful that so many put their names forward as large grass fires are tough and technically challenging jobs. "All fire brigades and blue light services share the common goal to save lives, property and the environment so of course we work together when there is a crisis. "Thank you to all firefighters who offered up their time to help our emergency service colleagues in Greater Manchester and Lancashire with what is a challenging incident." Mutual aid agreement London Fire Brigade often helps other fire and rescue services, working together to resolve an incident, sharing expertise and equipment. Firefighters will be deployed for four days and a decision will be made at a later date as to whether further assistance is required. The Brigade regularly assists other fire and rescue services across the country as part of a mutual aid agreement. In recent years we sent specialist crews to assist in the severe flooding in Lancashire and Cumbria and assisted colleagues on the London borders with large fires. The six fire engines sent to Lancashire will each be crewed by six firefighters and have equipment including hose lines, hand control branches, water backpacks and beaters. The deployment will not affect coverage in London.
