Deliberate St Breward fire as Wadebridge crews near 70 call-outs

Sixty-nine emergencies in seventy-three days is a lot of blue lights for one corner of Cornwall. The crews working out of Wadebridge Community Fire Station have barely had a chance to draw breath this summer, and the last two days kept the run going. One of those call-outs, they say, should never have happened at all.

📷Credit: Wadebridge Community Fire Station

A summer that has not let up

The station has now attended 69 emergencies in just 73 days, a busy spell that shows no sign of easing. It is the sort of workload that keeps fire crews on the go around the clock, and the past 48 hours added two more incidents to the tally.

📷Credit: Wadebridge Community Fire Station

Several hectares alight near Mawgan Porth

The first was no small job. Crews were called to a significant fire near Mawgan Porth Golf Club, with several hectares of scrubland caught up in it. Bringing a fire of that size under control on open ground takes time, people and appliances, all of it drawn away from wherever the next call might come from.

📷Credit: Wadebridge Community Fire Station

A fire set on purpose near St Breward

Then, in the early hours of this morning, came the one that clearly rankled. Crews were called to a fire near St Breward involving several seats on open land, and the station says it was ignited deliberately. They described the behaviour as reckless, noting that it needlessly tied up multiple emergency service resources and could have had far more serious consequences.

📷Credit: Wadebridge Community Fire Station

What the crews are asking

The message from the station is a simple one. Think before lighting any fires on open land, and report any suspicious activity to the police. It is a plea aimed at keeping people safe and keeping crews free for the emergencies they cannot predict, the ones that arrive without anyone striking a match. As part of Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, the Wadebridge team is asking the public to help them keep their communities protected.

Which, on a run of 69 call-outs in 73 days, is not a lot to ask.

📷Credit: Wadebridge Community Fire Station