FIREFIGHTING crews from Porlock helped with the rescue of a woman who fell into the rain-swollen East Lyn River on Exmoor at the weekend.

The drama happened on Saturday morning (January 24) when the woman fell 10 feet down a bank into the raging waters on the edge of Lynmouth, near Watersmeet Road.

The location was opposite Lynmouth Coastguard Search and Rescue headquarters which despatched an emergency team backed up by Coastguards from Ilfracombe.

Fire crews from Lynton and Porlock along with a Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue (DSFR) technical rescue team from Barnstaple and a Coastguard rescue helicopter from South Wales were also mobilised.

A DSFR spokesperson said: “Recent heavy rain meant river levels were high, but fortunately for the casualty and for us, they were at the side of the river and not being washed down in it.

“Due to location the casualty could not be winched up by the helicopter as trees covered the scene and can fail with the downwash of a helicopter.

“But the on-board paramedic did attend to the medical needs of the casualty as he was the first medic on scene.”

The firefighters established access to the woman and set up communications support while the technical rescue team helped Coastguards with extraction of the casualty from the river to a nearby footpath using a stretcher, rope equipment, and a ladder.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust sent an operations officer and double-crewed land ambulance to the scene and took the woman to North Devon District Hospital.

The DSFR spokesperson said: “A great effort by multiple services working together for a successful outcome.

“Lynmouth, for a small community, is lucky to have so many men and women who are prepared to respond day and night.”

A Lynmouth Coastguard spokesperson said it was a great joint emergency services operation and positive outcome.