TAVISTOCK firefighters were kept busy Saturday evening. One appliance, was sent to Okehampton as relief because of flood calls in the area. However en route it was diverted to deal with an overflowing cesspit.
An hour later Tavistock's second fire appliance was called to Callington Road. Three terraced houses were under threat from a suspected collapsed storm drain. Firemen spent several hours lifting floorboards to avert flood damage.
Tavistock fire chief Chris Neal said the original appliance that was sent to Okehampton was called back to Tavistock.
'Within minutes it was sent to assist Princetown firefighters who were dealing with a difficult chimney fire at Merrivale,' he said.
On Sunday evening Tavistock Fire Service was called out by the police to deal with a car that had spun off the road and was suspended 20ft above a river.
'It was dangling in a serious position just below Blackdown on the A386 where the road crosses the River Lyd,' said Mr Neal.
'No-one was injured. They were very lucky because the road was treacherous. The car ended up with one third of it over the edge of the bridge.'
More drama caused by the bad weather resulted in retained leading fireman Karl Hockridge, a partner in the Hockridge and Stacey electrical goods shop in Tavistock, being involved in rescuing passengers from a marooned minibus.
Karl, 32, who lives in Launceston, was on call with the Launceston Fire Service in the early hours of Sunday morning when they received an emergency call to rescue 14 people at Polson Bridge.
The minibus was engulfed in an overflowing Tamar while returning passengers to Plymouth after a night out at Jethro's Christmas Cabaret at Lewdown.
'Two of us went across a heavy torrent of water to get to the minibus. We were supported by our colleagues,' said Karl.
'They were difficult to get to. At one point we were waist-high. It was one of the worst flooding incidents I have been on involving transport.'
He said the people in the minibus remained 'calm considering the situation they were in'. Eventually, they were winched up by a naval helicopter.
Flooding struck twice at the Warren House Inn on Saturday night.
Landlord Peter Parsons, who runs the pub high on Dartmoor with his wife, Jane, said water began coming in during the early evening.
'We thought we'd defeated it, but it wasn't to be. By 8pm it was lurking out the back to surprise us,' he said.
'Half a dozen customers took their shoes and socks off, ordered a drink and then helped us mop up!'
But Mr Parsons said they were losing the battle and called the fire brigade who were there pumping for about an hour.
'At its worst it was a foot deep in places. It was clean water running off the moor. The kitchen was the worst hit, the floor has lifted and the tiles by the bar have come loose.'
Mr Parsons said an escape pipe takes water running off the hill behind the pub under the road and on down the incline but it could not cope.