Mullion’s fire crew battled wildfires most of all in August

Twenty-eight times last month, the pager went off at Mullion Community Fire Station, and more often than not it was smoke rising off dry ground that sent the crew out.

A month dominated by fire in the open

The station has published its call-out figures for August, and wildfires and other fires in the open made up more than a third of the total between them. Mullion’s crew, based in the village on the Lizard peninsula, attended five wildfires and a further five fires in the open during the month, ten call-outs from a single cause as the ground stayed tinder-dry through the summer.

Alarms, a house fire and calls for extra water

Two automatic fire alarms brought the crew out, along with one property fire. Five of the month’s call-outs needed a water carrier, one of the special appliances brought in when a job needs more water on hand than a standard engine carries, usually a sign of a job that ran on longer or covered more ground than most.

Standby moves and medical calls

Seven of August’s call-outs were standby moves, sent to cover another station while its own crew and appliance were tied up elsewhere. The remaining three were medical co-responder calls, part of the scheme that sees Mullion’s firefighters trained to reach a patient ahead of an ambulance in a medical emergency.

Add it all up and the crew’s fire engine, known locally as Mullion 3.3, was out 28 times in August.

📷Credit: Mullion Community Fire Station