The volunteer crew was called to a fire, a search operation and a night-time incident on the Humber this weekend
The Humber Rescue volunteer crew had a busy Bank Holiday weekend(Image: Humber Rescue)
An “exceptionally busy” 24 hours saw Humber Rescue’s volunteer crew called out three times – adding up to more than 12 hours responding to incidents on the Humber. A rescue effort, a yacht fire, and a late-night response in the early hours ensured the crew were busy on the Humber this bank holiday weekend.
At 6.26am on Saturday, Humber Rescue was paged by HM Coastguard to carry out an extensive search on the River Humber. The search lasted more than two hours, with the crew finally returning home at around 10am.
At 5.20pm, the pagers sounded again, this time to a yacht which had suffered a serious electrical fire near Spurn Point. Alongside colleagues from RNLI Cleethorpes, the crew spent several hours towing the stricken vessel and its crew along the Humber, navigating extensive commercial traffic and the outgoing Pride of Hull ferry before eventually bringing them safely into Hull Marina. Following washdown and refuelling, volunteers were relieved of the job at 11pm. But, as a post on Humber Rescue’s social media says, there wasn’t much time for sleep.
At 1.26am on Sunday, the pagers sounded for a third time for another incident on the River Humber. The crew responded with the incident not concluding until around 5am. In less than 24 hours, volunteers had spent more than 12 hours on the water. The incidents were “long and challenging” according to Humber Rescue,with one taking place through the night.
Sunday was due to see the annual Humber Swim take place, with Humber Rescue providing safety cover for every swimmer crossing the estuary. Humber Rescue said: “Despite many of the crew offering to return and continue with the event, the difficult decision was made to postpone today’s swim. After the demands of the previous 24 hours, the safety and welfare of both our volunteers and the swimmers had to come first. And while our crews hopefully get some well-earned rest, Humber Rescue remains fully operational and ready to respond should the pagers sound again.”
Humber Rescue has three lifeboats that attend more than 130 incidents a year and is run by volunteers.
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