London Fire Brigade has declared a major incident in response to the volume of 999 calls being taken about Storm Eunice-related incidents.
London’s firefighters and Control Officers are having an exceptionally busy day as the storm causes chaos across London, the South East and the South West of the county with winds of up to 100mph recorded in some areas.
Firefighters are still meeting the needs of our communities, but declaring a major incident allows us to focus our resources.
Control staff have introduced batch mobilisation to certain incidents, which means calls where there is a risk to life are prioritised and crews then attend other calls as non-emergencies when they can. It’s introduced so all the Brigade’s resources aren’t tied up dealing with a spate of non-emergency calls in one area.
The Brigade’s Control Room took 550 calls between 1030 and 1300 – which is more than the average number usually taken in a 24-hour period.
The high volume of calls has also prompted the Brigade to reiterate its advice for people to only call 999 if there is an emergency or if there’s an immediate risk to life.
Control Officers have taken a number of unhelpful calls, including to a tent which had blown into a neighbour’s garden and to a trampoline which was blowing around in the garden next door.
While crews will respond to genuine emergencies where they can act to make a scene safer, they will not attend incidents such as the above where there is no risk to life and Control Officers are advising callers of this. They have also been telling callers they need to phone the local council if a tree has come down in the road or speak to their insurance company if a tree has fallen on their property or vehicle.
Some of the more genuine urgent incidents crews have attended this morning include:
Firefighters are reiterating their advice to ensure loose items on and around your property are secured and are also advising Londoners to stay indoors where possible and only travel if it’s absolutely necessary.
The Brigade’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Welch said: "Firefighters are ready and prepared to deal with incidents involving weather, whether that be flooding or high winds.
“We are continuing to work with our partners to ensure that our staff, vehicles and equipment are available to allow us to protect Londoners.
“However, we are here to respond to genuine emergencies so we would ask people to only call 999 in that situation or if there is an immediate risk to life.
“Our Control Officers and firefighters have been incredibly busy today and we want to ensure our resources are ready to respond to people who really need our help.”