House fire in Metheringham prompts appeal for more on-call firefighters

It follows an outbreak in the village which came close to falling outside of the time when a fire appliance would have been available at the local station due to crewing.

The blaze took place in Prince’s Street last Saturday, with Metheringham one of four crews to attend.

It caused severe damage to a brick outbuilding, used as a utility room, and its contents, and some damage to the kitchen and the roof of the house next door. The cause was an electrical fault.

In a subsequent post on its Facebook page, Metheringham Fire Station said it was alerted to the outbreak just 25 minutes before its appliance would have become unavailable due to low crew numbers.

If it had happened outside of this time, the post continued, the fire would have ‘escalated, causing more damage, and spread to neighbouring properties’.

The post ended with a link for anyone interested in join the station’s team – www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/lfr

Echoing this message, Deputy Divisional Commander at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Andy Dixon, said: “Like other fire stations across the county, we’re looking for more On Call firefighters to help us have crews available as much as possible.”

“The role is exciting, challenging and rewarding and our firefighters say they really feel like they are giving back to their local area,” he said. “You learn new skills including first aid, trauma training and fire safety, and we can offer shifts around other commitments such as caring responsibilities or other employment.”