'Canal collapse sounded like Niagara Falls'

A firefighter who was first to the scene of a major canal collapse said it was incredible that no-one was hurt.

Simon Griffiths, from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, was called to the Llangollen Canal near Whitchurch on 22 December to find water rushing out into a nearby field and narrowboats falling into a large hole.

"The first thing that came to mind was the sound, the sound of the water. I knew it was something big," he said.

The retained firefighter, from Whitchurch, added: "It was just incredible, it sounded like Niagara Falls."

When he first arrived, he was greeted by the owner of a boat, Paul Stowe, who told him he thought there might be people missing, so Griffiths said his first priority was to account for everyone.

At that stage, one of the narrowboats had fallen into a deep hole, created when the embankment at the side of the canal broke.

Griffiths had a torch but said: "It was pitch dark so I couldn't see a lot."

When he got to the breach, he said a second boat was just about to fall into the hole.

He told his fire crew to search both banks of the canal for any missing people and it took them an hour and a half before they found everyone had got out safely and walked into nearby Whitchurch.

"Considering it was 04:20 in the morning and everybody was asleep on the boats, I can't believe that they all got out, it was incredible, just luck I think," he said.

As well as making sure the people on the narrowboats were safe, Griffiths said his other priority was to stop the water, which was still gushing from the canal.

He said there were "thousands of gallons" heading towards Whitchurch and, within an hour of his arrival, his crew told him the water had reached the outskirts of the town and was close to homes.

At this stage a major incident was declared by authorities and Griffiths said the embankment at the side of the canal was "breaking away as we were there, it was getting bigger and bigger all the time".

The fire service was able to put barriers in place to stop the canal leaking any further but Griffiths said, with major incidents such as this, plans were worked out on the spot.

"We have flooding, we have vehicles in water, we rescue people out of water, but something like this was something you can never really train for," he added.

The narrowboats which fell into the breach have since been recovered, along with boats on either side of the breach which were trapped on the canal and unable to travel until it was repaired.

The Canal and River Trust launched an appeal to help pay for the repairs, which it said would cost millions of pounds and take between nine and 12 months to complete.

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