Inside the control room dealing with fires and floods

"In your most terrifying moments, the voice of calm is the control room staff."

Those are the words of Theresa Hurford, who has been working in a fire service control room in Shropshire for nearly 19 years - taking countless calls from the public and deploying firefighters across the county.

"It's worth remembering when the blue lights turn up - before that, there [was] a voice at the end of the line," she said.

Her colleagues around the globe are being celebrated by International Control Room Week, acknowledging the hard work of people who deal with crises day in, day out.

It has been a busy year for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, with fires over the summer putting crews under "immense pressure".

Hurford described "very chaotic" scenes "with lines ringing non-stop".

The major challenge facing control centre staff was working out how to cover the blazes when there were "more incidents than fire engines", Hurford said.

As well as incidents in their own area, Shropshire crews were deployed to help colleagues in the West Midlands and south Wales in August with larger fires.

It was reassuring to know "we can call upon our neighbours and they'll support us", Hurford added.

But in the midst of autumn, with temperatures and rain falling, the control room is now preparing to deal with a very different concern - flooding.

This time of year sees a "constant" high volume of calls, "similar to wildfires," Hurford said.

"The rain keeps coming, the calls keep coming, and we keep mobilising," she added.

"But for us, it's the expected and it's what we train for and what we plan for."

There are "definitely" more weather-related incidents in recent years, Hurford said.

"When I started, we would probably have one flooding season, which lasted maybe a month at the beginning of the year," she explained.

But now, these seasons have steadily increased in length - an issue the fire service is hoping to tackle with specialised training.

"Some of the calls we take can be very stressful, very hard to handle, and those certainly take their toll," Hurford said, though the team had worked to build a sense of "family" to help improve mental health.

Ruth Walkerdine is a watch manager at fire control - who came to the role after serving as an on-call firefighter in Hodnet, Shropshire.

"I think my favourite part is coming into work every day, and you don't know what you're going to be faced with," she said.

Walkerdine explained how her first-hand experience helps her "visualise what incidents look like and what resources they're going to need".

Distressing calls and major incidents are part of the job, but Walkerdine said the team "talks about it together to make sure we are okay."

Facing down high-pressure scenarios is something the team "thrives on", she added.

"I think the pressure is part of what attracts us to the job."

Hurford routinely answers the phone to people experiencing the worst days of their lives - be it a traffic accident or a burning home.

"It gives me a real sense of pride, knowing that I'm going to be able to help somebody," she said.

Dealing with hoax calls, however, is "frustrating" and a "massive waste of resources".

"If we've got a fire engine committed to a hoax call, then there's obviously a risk if a genuine emergency call comes in, it will delay the response," she explained.

To have a week dedicated to celebrating people like Hurford and her team makes her "really proud."

"All calls start with control [rooms] right across the globe," she said.

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