THE courage of Tavistock firefighters who assisted in one of Cornwall?s biggest rescue operations following the flash floods at Boscastle has been praised by the mayor of West Devon.
In a letter to Tavistock fire station officer Tim Smith, mayor Christine Grills congratulated all the crew ?for their courage and fortitude in dealing with this devastating incident.?
The crew was part of a combined rescue mission which came to the aid of villagers after the River Valency burst its bank and crashed through the North Cornwall village on August 16 following heavy rain.
Stunned firefighters described the scenes that greeted them as like something out of a disaster movie as cars, caravans, trees, parts of buildings and contents of homes were washed out to sea by a ten-foot wall of water.
Cllr Grills felt compelled to write the letter after reading the account in the Times of the Tavistock firefighters involvement in the incident.
?One has to be more than grateful that such events are few and far between but it does bring to the fore the importance of the day-to-day training undertaken by our emergency services,? she said.
?It is thanks to the emergency services and the professionalism of the crews involved that help was quickly on hand to the residents and visitors of Boscastle.?
Mr Smith said thank you letters of this nature were unusual and it was nice to think the borough council appreciated the part the crew had played.
?The events in Boscastle will stick with us for a long time but fortunately we had all the training and equipment to deal with it, including water rescue gear which is a recent introduction to our equipment.?
The fire officer said it was a miracle there were no fatalities in the disaster: ?When we look at the pictures we still find the scenes unbelievable. It?s one of those days that will go down in history and in years to come we will be able to say that we were there.?