Attleborough: Homes pumped out by museum's vintage fire engines

Museum volunteers have deployed two vintage fire engines to pump out homes flooded during Storm Babet.

Norfolk Fire Museum's 1990s Mercedes salvage pump was one of the appliances and it was used to help six homeowners on Norwich Road, Attleborough, Norfolk.

Trustee Kevin Kiddell, 67, said they got the kit ready to go after a request from Norfolk Fire and Rescue on Friday.

This included "removing water with a wet and dry vacuum cleaner" which "gets the smell out of the house," he said.

"We're not there to replace the fire service - they do a fantastic job, we're the back-up.

"We probably dealt with six properties and three needed quite a bit of work," the former retained firefighter added.

The volunteers helped remove furniture, hosed down homes with fresh water - using a second vintage appliance - and removed sewage-contaminated water using the wet and dry vacuum cleaners.

About 100 properties were flooded in Attleborough at the weekend and firefighters attended on Saturday night to pump water out of gardens.

The Norfolk Fire Museum volunteers spent part of Saturday and much of Sunday helping Norwich Road residents who had requested help.

The museum, based in Great Yarmouth, has an arrangement with the fire service to help when there is a major incident and they also helped with last year's wildfires.

It owns a variety of 20th Century vintage vehicles, many donated by Norfolk fire service, including a salvage pump bought at auction from Devon and Somerset Fire Service.

Mr Kiddell said the fire engine played an important role, despite its age.

"It's a specialised vehicle that holds trash pumps - pumps which can deal with all sorts of debris- as well as a low level submersible and wet and dry vacuum cleaners.

"We also bought a lot of kit for it using a £5,000 Norfolk Community Support grant - so for Attleborough it was the perfect thing," he added.

He praised the local community as "fantastic" for their help with keeping the volunteers fed and watered.

Paul and Amanda Hunter, who were flooded out on Mill Lane, said the water rose incredibly rapidly.

"Absolutely everything downstairs has been ruined - within 10 minutes, it had passed your ankles, the toilet was overflowing, the water was filthy," said Mrs Hunter.

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