EVERY fire appliance in the Tavistock area was called out to tackle numerous flooding incidents during heavy rain on New Year's Eve.
Yelverton station officer John German said his crews were working from 5.30pm until 3.15am the following day.
'We started off at Meavy Bourne where water came through the hedge and into the house, about three to four feet,' said Mr German.
After dealing with an incident at the home of firefighter Andy Pawlowski and rescuing women in a car at Yelverton, the team was called to Horrabridge where houses were flooded to a depth of three feet by the raging River Walkham.
'We couldn't do anything about it really — you can't fight the river, much as we'd like to,' said Mr German.
At least eight properties were affected in Horrabridge — Mr German said he eventually pulled the crew out of the village as he feared the river wall was about to give way.
'I wasn't going to put the blokes' lives in jeopardy,' he said.
Yelverton firecrews spent the rest of the evening pumping out properties in Tavistock's Callington Road along with crews from Bere Alston.
Tavistock fire chief Chris Neale said his men spent hours at a property at Middlemoor where most of the ground floor was flooded due to a blocked culvert.
Crews from Okehampton and Crownhill were called to Denham Bridge near Buckland Monachorum to rescue a couple in a car.
Firefighters from Princetown and Tavistock attended a flood in the tollhouse on Parkwood Road in Tavistock — see story page 3.