Norfolk Fire Museum rescues itself from floodwater

May 13, 2023

A museum housing vintage fire engines ended up putting one of its newest additions to the test to pump out water when it was hit by a flash flood.

Heavy rain led to Norfolk Fire Museum's storage shed being several inches under water on Thursday.

Volunteers rallied, using their newly-fitted salvage tender - a vehicle equipped with pumps and other items.

"It's ironic that the first time we had to use it was to help ourselves," its trustee Kevin Kiddell said.

Much of the East of England was hit by heavy rain and storms on Thursday afternoon and the museum's storage sheds, near Long Stratton, did not escape.

"Water was flooding off the nearby fields and we were about four inches (10cm) deep," Mr Kiddell said.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service was called out to a number of flood-related incidents that day, but this was not one of them.

"If we'd called them out, we'd have never lived it down," Mr Kiddell joked.

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Many of the volunteers at the museum are retired firefighters and used to work for the Norfolk service.

As well as historical photographs of the county's fire service in action, the museum has a collection of restored appliances, with the earliest being horse-drawn engines from the mid-1800s.

Some of its newer models have been used to support Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service at incidents such as last summer's wildfires, where museum vehicles were used as extra water carriers.

It recently kitted out an engine with equipment making it suitable for use as a fire service support vehicle.

"The salvage tender has water pumps, electric pumps, industrial vacuum cleaners, heaters and other equipment, meaning we can support people in communities hit by fire or flood," Mr Kiddell said.

It had never been used before Thursday's storm, when it was called into action to rescue its fellow fire engines from the water.

Nothing of value was damaged, but there was still a lot of cleaning up to do at the site.

"Volunteers - preferably in wellie boots - are always welcome here," Mr Kiddell added.

The museum site is not currently open to the public, but "pop-up" exhibitions are held in Great Yarmouth and its vehicles are often seen at local shows.

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