Storm Dennis: Emergency 999 calls to Derbyshire's fire service up 300%

A DFRS spokesperson said earlier this morning at 3.45am: “Since midnight our 999 calls have increased by 300%.

“Please only contact us where there is a risk to life.

“Widespread flooding is affecting many parts of the county. Avoid travelling where possible. Do not drive into flood water.

“Do not ignore road closed signs. Just 60cm of standing water will float your car and just 30cm of flowing water could be enough to move your car.”

This increase in calls can mean fire control room operators are tied up and could be prevented from dealing with a real emergency.

Joint Fire Control Station Manager, Carly Pointon said: “Control room operators will assess the situation and ensure an appropriate emergency response is put into action immediately, but when it’s a fallen tree on a road, that is not endangering life, then this is the responsibility of the local authority and the fire service wouldn’t attend.

“Similarly we get numerous calls to attend flooding during extreme weather. Unfortunately in

many cases there isn’t much the fire service can do while water is flooding into property, there is simply nowhere for us to pump the water too, so unless there is a threat to life, then people will need to be patient and wait for the water to subside itself. If electrics have been affected,

then the advice is to isolate the electrics and contact an electrician.”

Some examples of who to call:

A fallen tree on a road or property not endangering life is for the local authority to deal with but a fallen tree on a road or property which is endangering life is a 999 call.

Anyone who spots an unsafe structure over a public highway should call 999 and an emergency call should be made when there is flooding with a risk to life as well.