The number of 999 calls related to Storm Eunice made Friday one of London Fire Brigade’s busiest days in two decades.
In total, Control Officers took 1,958 calls* on the 18th – making it the busiest February day since 2000 (when electronic data is available from) and the second busiest day in that time for calls related to strong winds.
A total of 550 of those calls were taken in just two and a half hours – prompting the Brigade to declare a major incident to allow it to focus resources.
The strong winds prompted hundreds of calls to fallen trees, items in precarious positions and collapses of walls and chimneys.
Sadly, one woman died after a tree fell and crushed her car in Hornsey and a man was injured by falling fencing and hoarding in Waterloo.
New data reveals that Friday was in the top 10 for the Brigade since 2000 – ranking eighth for the highest number of calls.
Crews brought a shop's flat roof to street level and made the scene safe on Old Kent Road © Paul Wood.
The busiest day since then was the 20th July 2007, when the UK suffered summer flooding and the rescue efforts were described as the biggest in peacetime Britain at the time.
The busiest days are detailed below, with the reasons for the high volume of calls beside them.
|
Date |
Calls received |
Reason |
|
20/07/2007 |
2,639 |
London-wide flooding |
|
27/10/2002 |
2,438 |
Severe gales across London and South East |
|
12/07/2021 |
2,198 |
London-wide flooding |
|
23/06/2016 |
2,167 |
London-wide flooding |
|
17/07/2005 |
2,152 |
Significant number of outdoor/grass fires with multiple calls |
|
25/07/2021 |
2,113 |
London-wide flooding |
|
30/10/2000 |
2,051 |
Strong winds and flooding - 60mm rain fell in under an hour |
|
18/02/2022 |
1,958 |
Storm Eunice |
|
07/08/2002 |
1,870 |
London-wide flooding |
|
09/08/2011 |
1,829 |
London riots |
The Brigade introduced batch mobilisation on Friday, meaning calls where there was a risk to life were prioritised and crews attended other calls as non-emergencies when they could. It’s introduced so all the Brigade’s resources aren’t tied up dealing with a spate of non-emergency calls in one area.
This plan was well rehearsed during two separate days last year when there was significant flooding across London. Assistant Commissioner for Operational Resilience and Control, Jonathan Smith, said a lot of learning from those incidents was implemented last week.
“The fact we had executed this type of response so recently was one of the reasons we were able to handle Friday so well,” he said.
“These types of occurrences, where we are taking such a high volume of calls, happened twice last year so having that learning allows us to manage such incidents effectively and efficiently.”
In the past on exceptionally busy days the Brigade would look to fire and rescue service colleagues in border counties for support, but as they were all dealing with the impact of Storm Eunice as well, this wasn’t an option on Friday. In fact, the Brigade’s Control Officers were also assisting border services with their 999 calls.
Assistant Commissioner Smith added: “All our Control Room staff were absolutely outstanding on Friday.
“London’s unprecedented red weather warning for wind prompted an incredibly high volume of calls and some staff who were off duty came in to assist their colleagues and they met the challenge with calm professionalism.
“They reassured callers and mobilised crews to where there was an emergency or immediate risk to life, while logging other calls for firefighters to attend when they were clear of more urgent incidents.
“The thoughts of all at London Fire Brigade are with the family and friends of the woman who tragically lost her life on Friday.
“I’d like to thank all our Control Officers and firefighters for their exceptional work on Friday and all members of the public who heeded the advice from our partners and us to stay at home and ensure they had secured their property.”
* between 12am and 11.59pm on the 18th
