Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat crew join firefighters to tackle undergrowth blaze

Firefighters from Lyme Regis, Seaton and Colyton were sent to the scene under Pinhay cliffs west of Lyme.

Some were able to get down to the fire using ropes, but the lifeboat crew were asked to take a portable pump and hoses by sea for the firefighters to use.

Because the area was shallow and rocky the lifeboat crew used their X-boat – a large dinghy – to ferry the firefighting equipment ashore.

Once the fire was out, the lifeboat crew made two journeys to Pinhay and back to Lyme Regis with four firefighters and equipment aboard on each trip.

Alan Ellis, crew manager with the Lyme Regis firefighters, said: ‘Once the lifeboat was involved the whole operation went very well. The lifeboat crew were brilliant, in fact a Godsend’

Lifeboat helm Seb Cope added: ‘We were just pleased to help, and it was a real team effort.’

The lifeboat crew launched at 6.30pm and the operation to bring back the two groups of firefighters and their equipment ended four and a half hours later.

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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.

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