Latest news with #fireService
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Bolton family's dream Mexico holiday 'ruined by hotel shoot out'
Colin Nulty was lying by the pool on his family's dream holiday in Cancun, Mexico, when moments later he heard gunshots being fired just metres away. He and his wife "dived for cover", hiding behind their sun loungers. Colin's 14-year-old daughter had gone back to the room so he frantically texted her to tell her to lock the door and not to go out on the balcony. "Chaos" broke out, he said, with "lots of screaming" and "people running in every direction"."It was terrifying. You could tell it was gunfire straight away. Everybody dived for cover."When the shooting stopped Colin, who worked in the fire service for 25 years, got up and ran to see if he could help a man lying on the ground who had been shot. However, he quickly realised the man "was beyond any help" as he had been shot in the head and was already dead. "At that point someone came out of the toilet just next to where his body was, and he was pointing a gun and shouting," Colin, 41, said he sprinted back to the sun loungers and grabbed his wife and they ran down a nearby grassy embankment to take cover where a lot of other holiday makers were also hiding. Minutes later pool staff cleared the area and the couple had to walk past the man's body again to go back to their room. They found their daughter there "terrified and shaking", he said. She had heard the gunshots. The Nulty family from Bolton had flown out to stay at the Riu Palace Costa Mujeres on 28 March, a year after Colin's mother had died. He had used his mother's inheritance to fund the five-star luxury holiday in her the shooting on 3 April the hotel went into lockdown with a helicopter circling in the sky said the Navy arrived quickly and they did room-to-room searches as "there were still gunmen on the loose".The family did not leave their room that night. "We kept the door locked. We were still scared," he following day he said he found out from the local media it was a shootout between a cartel and undercover police. The holiday firm TUI, who the family had booked with, organised a transfer to another hotel but there was another dramatic a stop-off at a shop on route to the "safe" hotel, Colin said they saw on the news an "ongoing" shooting there which was also between a gang and undercover were taken back in disbelief to the Riu said: "We didn't even feel safe on the roads; we felt exposed."The family tried to just "make the best" of the rest of the trip but he said they were "on edge" all the time and felt vulnerable. Colin said the hotel did not increase security after the shooting and he felt anyone could have entered the complex from the beach. He said the hotel had felt "unsafe" from the offset with people on the grounds with no wristbands who clearly "shouldn't have been there" but they were on friendly terms with the hotel BBC has contacted Riu for a comment. "The holiday was a disaster from start to finish," Colin said. "It was the holiday from hell."He said the experience had left his family "traumatised".Since returning home, Colin has been trying to recover the £7,000 costs for the getaway from said the company had only offered £3,940 cash and a £1000 TUI voucher as compensation. TUI has been contacted by the BBC for comment. "I just want a refund for what was a disastrous holiday," Colin said he was determined to take the case to the small claims court because the holiday had been a gift from his late mother. "I just feel we've been wronged in a massive way," he Foreign Office said drug-related violence in Mexico had increased over recent years with some areas of the country having a high crime rate due to fighting between rival organised crime said there was a risk of being caught in the crossfire although risks were lower in tourist advised travellers to use reputable companies and seek advice from local authorities or the hotel and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
West Midlands Fire Service needs further improvement
Inspectors have found West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) has not improved enough since its last inspection and "must make greater progress".His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said on Wednesday some areas of the service had got better and recognised it was was facing a turbulent time, but added further improvement was needed to provide a consistently good report follows several changes in leadership at the service since the death of former chief officer Wayne Brown. Current chief officer Simon Tuhill said the findings "provide a valuable opportunity for reflection and continued improvement". "I also recognise the need to improve in areas which have been identified, such as workforce planning, a greater diversity within the service and how we manage our budgets. "We are already working hard to address these through our current plans and will build on this with a new action plan."Inspector Lee Freeman said he was satisfied with some aspects of the service's performance in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks."However, it hasn't made enough progress since our 2022 inspection, and we have seen some areas deteriorate," he said. 'Unforeseen leadership changes' Former chief Wayne Brown was found dead at his home in January 2024, a day after the fire service announced he was under investigation over claims made about his qualifications for the role. His appointed successor, Ben Brook, then withdrew three days after getting the autumn, the interim chief executive of the fire service and the chairman of the fire authority both resigned following a dispute over fire authority former, Oliver Lee, had publicly alleged West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority's (WMFRA) governance lacked "courage, transparency, care and honesty".The inspector said: "I acknowledge the challenges the service faced at the time of our inspection. It was dealing with unforeseen changes in key leadership positions, and media stories that speculated on both the service and its governance arrangements."Our inspection team was still able to apply the same methodology we use for all our inspections." West Midlands Fire Service was graded across 11 eleven areas: four were found to be good, four were adequate, and three were graded as requiring improvement. The fire service was found to consistently meet its five-minute response standard, providing a fast response to the public, and was also prepared to respond to major and multi-agency incidents, working well with other services during the inspectorate said the service had a supportive culture among staff and good welfare provisions were in inspectors added: "They must make sure staff at all levels are demonstrating the service's values and behaviours."They also said the service did not manage staff performance and development effectively. The report added that the service must make sure it has processes in place to manage and develop staff and increase learning and development to meet their inspectorate also said the service had faced financial challenges and needed to make example, it needed to make sure there was appropriate scrutiny, challenge and forecasting in place, to make sure the public gets value for money and the service is sustainable in the future. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Firefighters tackling house blaze in Totnes
Firefighters are tackling a house blaze in Devon which has spread to two neighbouring appliances and an aerial platform have been sent to Rhine Villas in Totnes, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service were tackling the fire with breathing apparatus, three hose reel jets, a safety jet, thermal imaging cameras and gas monitors, said the fire were no reports of any casualties.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Underspends and refunds save Devon and Somerset fire service £6m
The fire service for Devon and Somerset saved more than £6m in 2024 through underspending and unforeseen & Somerset Fire Service said the money had come from a range of departments, including an unexpected £1m refund from its radio system provider Motorola, and a £700,000 saving when lower-than-predicted pay rises were challenges for office-based roles saved about £1m and a further £1m was saved on the use of on-call Furbear, head of finance, said the service welcomed the underspend. 'Reserve fund' He said: "When predicting the usage of on-call firefighters for the coming year we use a three-year average, but the activity in the last financial year was lower than anticipated."Mr Furbear added than in 2022, the service had wildfires during the summer but not in 2024 or so far this year so its on-call costs had service said the £6.1m would be used for various initiatives including helping fund station refurbishments and replacing said £2m would go to the Invest to Improve reserve for new than half of the money will go into a reserve fund for larger capital projects to prevent the need to borrow in future.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Crash shuts A1 near Balderton in both directions
Emergency services are at the scene of a crash which has closed part of the A1 in Highways said traffic had been stopped in both directions between the B1174 Gonerby Moor and the B6326 Fernwood near Newark on fire service said it was in attendance along with the air ambulance and it expected the road to be closed for some have been contacted for further information.
