The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall while in Cornwall, meeting firefighters and multi-agency responders at Helston Community Fire Station, to thank them for their work during and after Storm Goretti, as he visits Cornwall for St Piran’s Day. he also delivered a box of pasties from Gear Farm which he had visited earlier(Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
Prince William has heard first hand from firefighters and other emergency service what it was like dealing with the chaos and destruction brought on by Storm Goretti.
The Duke of Cornwall was in the county today on a double public engagement, first at Gear Farm on the Lizard peninsula where he met owners David Wells and made some pasties before taking an order from a customer, then at Helston Community Fire Station where he spoke with the heroes of Storm Goretti.
Kensington Palace said the visit will provide an “important moment to highlight community resilience and the hard work of those who responded during and after Storm Goretti, one of the most severe storms to impact the county in recent years”.
During his visit to the fire station Prince William, who also delivered freshly baked pasties to the crew, thanked firefighters and multi-agency responders who worked tirelessly during and after Storm Goretti.
Helston’s on-call team was heavily involved throughout the storm response, supporting residents affected by falling trees, dangerous conditions and the fatal incident in Helston.
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A round-table discussion will follow to “bring together senior leaders and responders to reflect on lessons learned and the cohesion shown across Cornish communities during the storm”.
He heard from Craig Peters, crew manager at st Keverne’s station who told him about the tragic death of 50-year-old James Southey who died when a huge tree came crashing down on his caravan.
Mr Peters told Prince William how the crew did everything they could on the day the tree came down but couldn’t safely do their own job because of the danger posed by the fallen tree, live wires and strong winds. He told the Duke how they had to come back the next day.
Cornwall fire service boss Kathryn Billing told him some 20 tonnes of materials were removed from the caravan.
The Duke of Cornwall also heard from Assistant Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Police Dave Thorne. He told the Prince: “We were not sure who or what was in there so that was a real tense moment to try and save lives. The crews were busy.”
Prince William said: “I hear tree surgeons were in high demand. It’s something you hear often, a cry out for tree surgeons. It’s on the Isles of Scilly as well. Why would there be many tree surgeons there. We got hit so hard we had to get those tree surgeons to come over from the mainland to help.”
ACC Thorne said it had been a full collaboration work between the fire service, police, Cornwall Council and other blue light services.
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