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Greater Manchester Fire Service faced 999 call EVERY MINUTE during bonfire night

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service received almost 400 calls in just five hours on Bonfire Night – their busiest night of the year.

North-West Fire Control received 375 calls from the Greater Manchester area with firefighters being sent to 158 incidents between 6pm and 11pm on Wednesday.

On average the call centre answered a call every minute throughout the night.

Most of the calls were for small fires which were causing concern to the public, too close to buildings or out of control.

This shows an increase on last year when 306 calls were answered but 2013 was the quietest year on record.

More than 100,000 people turned out at organised fireworks displays across the area.

Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton said: “Our staff have worked tirelessly this year to ensure people stay safe over the Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night period.”

The force live tweeted the night from Gorton fire station, the GMFRS command support room and the organised display at Heaton Park to keep people updated and give them an insight in to the work that the do.

The #Treacle2014 campaign reached almost a quarter of a million people throughout the night on Twitter.

Cllr David Acton said: “Bonfire Night is our busiest night of the year. Being able to share our experience with thousands of people on social media is a fantastic way of showing people of Greater Manchester how hard their firefighters work to keep them safe.”

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