An elderly woman had to be freed from her car by firefighters after a crash in the Harrogate district last night.

Both Harrogate crews were called to reports of a two-vehicle collision at Spring Lane, Kearby at about 8.20pm.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log, two elderly occupants of a Volkswagen managed to get out the car but returned to the vehicle to await the emergency services.

A man in his 20s, who was also involved in the incident, was out of his BMW when the firefighters arrived.

The incident log adds:

“The elderly male then exited the car and after assessment the ambulance crews requested the roof removal of the VW to extricate the elderly female due to suspected injuries.

“All occupants were transported to hospital for treatment mainly for minor injuries. Fire crew used 2 sets of e-draulic cutters, stabilisation blocks, windscreen cutter, sharps kit and crew power.”

Kearby is near Kirkby Overblow, between Harrogate and Wetherby on the fringes of the Harrogate district.

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Five Harrogate firefighters could lose their jobs under plans to halve the number of fire engines operating in the town overnight,

The Stray Ferret revealed yesterday proposals for the station on Skipton Road to operate just one fire engine at night, as opposed to the current two.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe has suggested the move as part of a three-month consultation on proposed changes to fire and rescue services.

The station would continue to be resourced for two fire engines during the day but it would have just one appliance from 10pm to 9am, when fewer incidents usually occur.

The move would also see the station lose its tactical response vehicle, which would be moved to an on-call station elsewhere in the county, and a self-rostering staffing system introduced.

At a commissioner public accountability meeting today, Jonathan Foster, interim chief fire officer at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said the reduction in posts would come from either retirements or redeployments.

He said:

“We would look towards the retirement profile, we would look towards redeployment opportunities and we would look also towards the growth opportunities in prevention and protection areas.

“I must also say that this is a progressive approach. There are some really good opportunities for our firefighters to advance into other areas if they chose to. If not, that is fine.

“There are a range of different alternatives there which will help and we will work very closely with representatives bodies to manage this process in the best way that we can.”

Read more:

• Masham Police House to be sold as officers relocate to fire station
• Harrogate set to have just one fire engine at night

Mr Foster added that the changes were justified as the service’s modelling showed peak times were between 9am and 10pm.

The changes are part of Ms Metcalfe’s Risk and Resource Model 2022-2025, which sets out how the fire service will deploy its people, equipment and resources.

Fire officials told today’s meeting that the proposals would help to save £1.5 million a year from 2025.

Mr Foster said:

“I stress this very much so, this is about reinvestment back into the on-call duty system to improve overall availability and then also to reinvest in protection and prevention activities so that we can protect the people of North Yorkshire and City of York in a much more effective manner.”

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has warned people to discard of cigarettes properly after a fire on Penny Pot Lane.

Crews from Harrogate were called to a fire to a gorse bush in the area yesterday.

The incident is believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette.

The fire was put out on arrival, but the service is urging people to dispose of cigarettes carefully.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“A reminder if you’re heading out today in the countryside to please take care. Dispose of cigarettes carefully, don’t leave glass bottles lying around and don’t light bbqs or camp fires on or near dry grass/moorlands. Call 999 if you see a wildfire.

“Grass fires like these can tie up our fire crews meaning they’re not available to attend other incidents.”

Read more:

• ‘No suspicious circumstances’ surrounding Brearton house fire, say fire service
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North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue say there are “no suspicious circumstances” surrounding the cause of a house fire in Brearton which left one woman dead.

Lynda Greenwood, 67, was identified locally as the victim of the fire, which gutted the village home late on the evening of Saturday, April 2.

The fire service and North Yorkshire Police launched a joint investigation following the fire.

Emergency services from Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Ripon were called to the scene at around 10pm but, despite their best efforts, Ms Greenwood was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said that the service cannot confirm the cause of the fire until a report has been accepted by the coroner.

They said:

“While there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the cause of the fire, we cannot confirm the cause until the report has been accepted by the coroner – which may take several months.”

Read more:

• Woman dies in Brearton house fire
• Local solicitor identified as victim of fatal Brearton house fire

Ms Greenwood grew up in Knaresborough, attending King James’s School while it was still a grammar school in the 1960s. She went on to complete a law degree at Kingston University and practised in Surrey, where she became partner in a law firm.

After having her daughter, she set up Greenwoods Solicitors in her home town. She specialised in commercial property, lasting powers of attorney, wills and probate.

A battery in a pile of scrap metal is believed to be have causes last night’s fire at a specialist Ripon recycling company.

Nobody was injured in the blaze at K. A. Anderson metal recyclers on the Dallamires Lane Industrial Estate.

In its incident log, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service says this morning:

“Two crews from Ripon responded to reports of a fire in a scrap yard involving 2M by 4M of scrap.

“Crews used four breathing apparatus, three forty five mm jets, a thermal imaging camera and lighting, as well as a digger, to extinguish the fire.

“This was believed to be caused by a battery within the scrap pile.”

The fire was spotted shortly before 8pm.

Two Ripon fire crews attended the fire

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A member of the K.A Anderson management, who was on the main gate to the premises to give fire crews access to the site, told the Stray Ferret:

“Nobody has been injured, it’s simply a fire that has started in a skip.”

The blaze was quickly brought under control by the fire crews

They quickly had it under control.

K. A Anderson, a specialist in all aspects of metal recycling, is a third generation family-run business, operating for almost half a century,

On the company website, it says that the recycler has built a professional reputation for scrappage, processing and raw metals supply throughout the UK.

The company provides a complete metal recycling service, for many businesses and its major clients include Google and Lord’s Cricket Ground.

A team of dedicated knitters are creating Ripon’s royal miles of bunting to wrap around the city in celebration of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

The all-woman Knit and Natter Club has combined needlecraft and design skills to make masses of red, white and blue bunting emblazoned with golden crowns and  the initials E:R.

With less than two months to go until the extended June bank holiday jubilee weekend, organiser Hazel Barker told the Stray Ferret:

“We have received hundreds of requests from shops, businesses and other organisations in Ripon, who want to decorate their buildings to mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

“We’ve still got a little way to go, but we are getting there.”

Collectively, thousands of hours of unrelenting effort has gone into this proud production line.

Mrs Barker, who was made a Freeman of the City of Ripon, for services to the community, said:

” At our homes we are spending every spare minute beavering away making the various elements of the bunting, from flags to the emblems of the four UK countries.

“A group of us then meet on Mondays to create the displays in readiness for them to go on everything from railings to retail premises, the town hall and the entrance to Spa Gardens.”

The knitters meet weekly at Hazel House, in the grounds of Community House

The weekly meetings are at Hazel House – a building in the grounds of Community House, named in honour of Mrs Barker for her work with the Girlguiding Association.

In addition to this, other knitters work from home, with regular supplies of wool provided for them.

The team, totalling 30, is also responsible for the countless hours of behind-the-scenes work that creates Ripon’s Remembrance displays.

They are part of the Ripon Community Poppy Project, founded by Mrs Barker and Councillor Stuart Martin, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War  in 2018.

Funding for the project

The community project is funded by donations from members of the public and businesses and supported by organisations such as the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and an army of volunteers who put up the displays.

For the platinum  jubilee display, £2,500 of the sum used to buy the wool, netting and other materials was raised from the sale of decorative covid masks with Christmas designs on them.

And it comes as no surprise to discover that those whose painstaking work will be seen on the city streets in June, are the women behind the masks as well.

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Firefighters were called to reports of a fire at a pub in Knaresborough last night.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the incident took place at 9.47pm at a pub on Thistle Hill in the town.

The only pub with an address on that street is The Cricketers, which is in the Calcutt area of Knaresborough.

The incident log says:

“Crews from Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and an aerial ladder platform from Harrogate responded to reports of a fire to a public house.

“On arrival this was a fire confined to the chimney hearth. Crews extinguished the fire in the hearth and inspected the rest of the building for hotspots.”

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A retired Harrogate firefighter has volunteered to go to Ukraine to help firefight in the war against Russian invasion.

Bruce Reid , who worked in the field for over thirty years, got in touch with the Ukrainian Embassy after seeing the crisis in the country to see if his skills could be put to use.

After successfully applying to join the war effort, he booked his own flights to Poland where he will meet with international assistance to be stationed wherever he is needed in Ukraine.

Mr Reid is due to fly tomorrow afternoon.

Despite retiring two years ago, he wanted to use his skills to aid people;

“I have no idea what I’ll be doing until I get there but I just wanted to use my thirty years in the service to offer aid.

I’m going into the unknown really.”

He is currently unsure how long he will stay in Ukraine but has reassured his family that he will only carry out his duty as a firefighter;

“I can’t be sure that I’ll get there and they’ll ask me to firefight, but if they ask me to fight I’ll be saying no.

I told my family that if I’m not needed as a firefighter I’ll be coming back home.”

He announced his decision on Facebook alongside this picture of his old kit;

Friends and family in the comments expressed their admiration for his decision;

“That is an amazing thing to do Bruce, your family must be proud and scared in equal measure”

“What a fantastic thing to do. Well done and stay safe out there.”

“You are a remarkable person Bruce! We will all miss you but know it’s what you need to do!”

Read more

• Harrogate college students march for Ukraine
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In 2015, Mr Reid was awarded an MBE for his services both as a firefighter and for charity.

In 2020, the Stray Ferret reported on how he and fellow firefighters in Harrogate cooked over 50 meals for residents in need. 

The Stray Ferret will be in touch with Mr Reid as much as possible to report on his volunteering work and let you know how he is.

Emergency services are dealing with a crash on the B6164 at Knaresborough.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was dealing with a crash involving two cars on the junction with the A658.

North Yorkshire Police and Yorkshire Ambulance Service are also at the scene. Drivers are urged to avoid the area.

#Knaresborough & #Harrogate crews dealing with a 2 vehicle road traffic collision at the junction of #B6164 & #A658 at Knaresborough. Hydraulic cutting gear in use. @NYorksPolice & @YorksAmbulance also on scene.

— North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (@NorthYorksFire) February 23, 2022

The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.

We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.

The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.

Update: Bond End is now open to traffic once again.

Police have closed Bond End in Knaresborough due to structural problems at a building next to the road caused by strong winds this afternoon.

Firefighters from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue are on scene trying to remedy the issue.

Pictures from the police show guttering close to falling. It is unclear if there are any other issues with the building.

Traffic Alert: Bond End in #Knaresborough is currently closed in both directions. Our colleagues at @NorthYorksFire are currently dealing with a structural problem. The road is expected to be closed for the next 30 minutes. Traffic around #Knaresborough is currently building. pic.twitter.com/UE123Y0pt3

— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) February 5, 2022

North Yorkshire Police tweeted at 12pm that the road is due to open to traffic again at 12.30pm.

Traffic is Knaresborough is currently building. Avoid the area if you can.