The SARA Land Search Team was called out just after 10am, to support Gloucestershire Police with a search in the Nailsworth area.   Team members from SARA stations at Beachley, Tewkesbury, Cotswolds and Wyre Forest were en route to the RV when the missing person was located safe.  The SARA teams were accordingly stood down shortly after 11am.

We were called out to another fallen climber at Wintours Leap near Chepstow, at around 1645.  Two climbers had fallen and were at the base of Great Wall, which is just north of the Viewpoint; one of them was injured and unable to walk.

A combined team from Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS), Ambulance HART and SARA, which included our Team Doctor, attended to the casualty, taking with them a stretcher.  A second team from SARA, with colleagues from GFRS, set up a rope rescue system using the SARA Larkin Frame in case this was needed.

After appropriate assessment of the casualty's situation it was decided to carry the casualty out, rather than haul him up the cliff, and he was duly delivered to an ambulance at Lancaut before 1930.

‍

The SARA lifeboat crew were called out just at the end of Thursday training.  The Coastguard asked us to investigate a report of a yacht drifting under the M4 Prince of Wales bridge.  SARA Lifeboat 1 had just been put away after training so she was quickly launched, at around 2045.

The crew made way to the downstream end of the possible area and searched back up through the area on the Welsh side of the Estuary.  Despite the good visibility there was nothing to be seen and nothing on the radar, so the crew were stood down just after 2130 and returned back to Beachley to recover.

‍

Just after 2pm we were called to launch to support Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, with a search for a horse that had become stuck in the River Severn mud. SARA Sharpness and Tewkesbury were deployed alongside with the GFRS specialist capabilities for rescuing animals of this size.

Our teams launched 2 boats (Sharpness's Rescue 12 and Rescue 15) and quickly located the horse, partially hidden under some trees. A suitable location was found to attempt a rescue and the team successfully got the horse ashore, under the guidance of a vet. The horse was then checked over and handed back to its owners.

‍

Just before 8pm we were called out to support Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service with the rescue of 14 cows that had become stuck in the River Severn at Ashleworth. Boat teams from SARA Sharpness and Tewkesbury attended, and support from SARA Wyre Forest Station was also requested.

Once on scene, our crews launched 2 boats (SARA 18 from South Glos and Rescue 17 from Tewkesbury) and were able to support the rescue efforts to ensure all cows and personnel were safely out of the river, which was completed by 10pm.

‍

The SARA Beachley lifeboat crew were called out just after 1330, to reports of kayakers in difficulty in the River Wye at Chepstow.   We launched SARA Lifeboat 7, and located the kayakers at the mouth of the River Wye, making their way round to Beachley on the outgoing tide.

The lifeboat crew checked the river up as far as the Wye Bridge but there were no other kayakers; we assume this was a false alarm with good intentions.

‍

For just over 72 hours, SARA  provided the first response to all inland water incidents for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.  The Fire Service had requested our support, along with that of fire services from across England and of other volunteer organisations, as they were hugely stretched dealing with the extensive and persistent wildfires.

This has been a magnificent cross-station effort, in which boat teams from SARA stations at Newport, Beachley, Sharpness and Tewkesbury, supported by colleagues from SARA Cotswolds and Upton, have been based at Cardiff Gate Fire Station.  SARA had 1, often 2, boat teams available on site from 1700 on Thursday (13 Aug) through until being stood down at 1900 on Sunday (16th) evening.

This has released firefighters to deal with the many wildfire incidents across South Wales, whilst maintaining the statutory requirement to respond to rescue calls.  During this time the teams responded reports of one person in the water in Cardiff and another in Newport; both were resolved with everyone safe.

We are proud to stand up for the communities of South Wales, and we will remain on standby now that our formal tasking has concluded

‍