FIRE Crews at Holsworthy fire station have given a glimpse into a typical ‘steady day’ for their fire crews.

Among the call outs on March 24, were everything from assisting with category one medical emergencies, representing the most severe and including immediate, life threatening medical events or incidents, such as heart attacks, to responding to fires and road traffic collisions.

The importance of the fire co-responders was laid bare when proposals last year surfaced that would have seen funding for their service cut with category one call outs operated by South Western Ambulance Service Trust’s volunteer responders.

In October 2025, the mayor of Holsworthy confirmed that the proposals would not take place in the imminent future, stating: “It appears that the trust have backed down from phasing out the fire co-responders, at least until they have sufficient community responders in place.

“Going by their recent recruitment across the trust this will take a minimum of eight years, so we can still feel safe for now at least.”

At 9.04am, the station’s fire co-responders were requested to assist with a medical emergency near Bude with the crew helping with patient care and assisted ambulance service personnel.

While the rest of the daytime appeared relatively uneventful, that changed as the day turned to evening with three significant incidents in the space of just over three hours.

At 6.18pm, the co-responders were once again called to provide the first response to another category one medical emergency, this time in Holsworthy.

A spokesperson for Holsworthy Fire Station said: “Our Fire Co-Responders were requested to assist with a medical emergency in Holsworthy. Our crew helped with patient care and rendered first aid until the arrival of the ambulance service.”

At 7.42pm, fire crews were requested to assist with a chimney fire in Shebbear, joining colleagues from Hatherleigh Fire Station.

After the successful extinguishment, a spokesperson said: “Hatherleigh Fire Station were first on scene at a chimney fire this evening, they requested a second appliance for extra personal and equipment, our crew was mobilised to support this incident.

“Crews tackled the chimney fire from the hearth and the top of the chimney using hose-reels, 135 Ladder, Chimney Gear, Thermal Imaging Camaras. Crews successfully extinguished the chimney fire.”

The final significant incident of the day involved a visit to Dunsland Cross where the fire crews were asked to assist with providing scene safety after a road traffic collision.

It was a shout which came on the back of the Holsworthy Fire Station crews returning back to base after helping Hatherleigh Fire Station to extinguish the chimney fire in Shebbear. It was a call that came in at 9.44pm.

A spokesperson said: “When returning back from the chimney fire shout we came across an RTC involving two vehicles at a busy junction on the A3072. The crew checked both drivers for any injuries, no persons were trapped and the crew assisted with scene safety until the arrival of the police.”