Museum's fire engines pressed into service to deal with heatwave blazes

Tim Edwards said in his 34 years with the service he had never known so many wildfires in a single day, with blazes destroying 17 homes and damaging 19 more.

As temperatures pushed 40C on Tuesday and tinderbox conditions fuelled fresh fires, the service was forced to declare a major incident, meaning it not have the resources to meet demand.

Amid a series of radical measures taken by the service was the pressing into action of three old fire engines from the Norfolk Fire Museum.

Tim Edwards, interim chief fire officer at Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service (Image: Norfolk County Council)

Mr Edwards revealed that through the course of the day:

* The service received 4,688 calls and attended 280 individual incidents, with all its engines sent out;

* Crews had to accept they could not save all properties from destruction because pumps were being used elsewhere;

* Firefighters, control workers and support staff worked round the clock - and no lives were lost;

* Firefighters and eight engines from Avon, Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, West Midlands, Shropshire and Warwickshire came to Norfolk to help;

* Five firefighters were injured - one was treated in hospital.

Mr Edwards warned there could be more wildfires to come, with temperatures due to get back above the 30s at the weekend and into next week.

The most damaging and severe fires were at Ashill, Ashmanhaugh, Poringland, Brancaster Staithe and Snettisham, where Wild Ken Hill, known to millions of viewers for hosting BBC Springwatch, caught alight.

Acres of scrub were destroyed in the fire at Wild Ken |Hill (Image: Chris Bishop)

Mr Edwards said: "I have done 34 years in the service and I have never seen a day like that for wildfires."

He said the declaring of a major incident was because the sheer number of calls being made meant the fire service did not have the resources to meet that demand.

Mr Edwards said it meant the service was not able to send as many fire engines to major incidents as it would on days when it was under less pressure.

So, fires where the service would usually have sent 10 pumps, only eight were able to go - with the service prioritising life, then properties, then the environment.

A field fire destroys homes in Poringland during the heatwave. (Image: Archant)

He said: "I drove to Poringland yesterday afternoon and saw the sheer devastation there, with people's homes and garden sheds alight.

"We had limited fire resources and had struggles with the water flow.

"As a firefighter, you want to protect people's homes, but in some circumstances, you simply cannot. We could only do what we could do. That was the same situation at some of the other fires."

Mr Edwards said, under the national support system, eight fire engines and crews were brought in from areas which were under less pressure.

He said the engines had come from areas as far afield as Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle and had been been used to relieve Norfolk crews and damp down at fires.

The service even made use of old fire engines in the care of Scottow-based Norfolk Fire Museum.

They are generally now used only at events such as fetes, but were pressed back into service.

Mr Edwards said: "They were serviceable and roadworthy, so the museum service rang us and offered them, so we used them to carry water around."

He said recently introduced 4x4 tactical response vehicles, which cost Norfolk County Council £187,000, had been invaluable in fighting fires - enabling easier access than traditional engines.

Mr Edwards said: "Everyone in our service, control staff, firefighters and support staff have responded incredibly.

"Without all of them, Tuesday would have been incredibly difficult.

"It is incredibly sad that people have lost property and the extent of the environmental damage has yet to be fully seen.

"But, in Norfolk, we did save lives and, for me, that is an outcome I wanted."

Mr Edwards said five firefighters were injured battling the blaze - one of whom was taken to hospital as a precaution and later released.

The other four were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation or heat-related conditions.

And Mr Edwards warned there could be more wildfires to come, both in the short and long term.

He said: "We are seeing temperatures forecast for the weekend of 30C again, so we are now planning for further wildfire events in the coming days."

While the major incident was rescinded on Wednesday, Mr Edwards urged people to "refrain" from having garden barbecues, to be careful when discarding cigarettes and to be vigilant, reporting fires when spotted.