A WITNESS to a fire service rescue attempt which went tragically wrong described their efforts as uncoordinated and "out of control".

Range warden Christopher Wilde watched helpless as firefighter, 40-year-old Sub Officer Paul Metcalf, drowned in a lodge trying to save teenage boy, Reyaz Ali, aged 15.

The tragedy happened at Simon's Lodge, Holcombe Brook, on Sept 5, 1999.

And on Monday Mr Wilde relived the nightmare at a court case brought by the Health and Safety Executive against the Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority.

The executive alleges that the authority failed in its duty as an employer to ensure the healthy, safety and welfare at work of its employees for operations in, on, or near water.

The prosecution told Bolton Crown Court that the failure contributed to Mr Metcalf's death.

The authority denies the charge.

The court has been told that Reyaz Ali and several friends from the Darul Uloom College, Holcombe Brook, had gone to the nearby Simon's Lodge to swim, but Reyaz had got into difficulties and disappeared beneath the surface.

His friends tried unsuccessfully to reach him and found passers by who called the emergency services.

The court was told that Christopher Wilde was on duty as a range warden working at Holcombe Moore Army training camp at the time of the accident and helped direct paramedics from the guard room where he was stationed to the nearby lodge.

He said that on arrival at the scene, he and the paramedics found the teenager's friends who told them that Reyaz had been in the water for around 25 minutes and pointed out the area he had gone under.

Mr Wilde stripped off and jumped into the water, he swam about 20 feet to the area and began diving under in search of Reyaz.

He told the court that the water was cold and murky and that there was zero visibility at five or six feet deep.

After four or five unsuccessful dives he returned to the bank, where firefighters had arrived and were also stripping off to enter the water.

Mr Wilde said that Paul Metcalf entered the water with a rope attached around his waist.

When Mr Metcalf returned to the bank after a series of unsuccessful dives, Mr Wilde attached the rope to himself and swam back to the same area to search again.

On his return Mr Metcalf went out again, this time swimming farther across the lodge to the opposite bank.

It was there that he began to get into difficulty, and despite being pulled to the bank by other firefighters, attempts to resuscitate him failed.

Mr Wilde, who admitted to having no training to deal with water incidents, said: "I was watching what was going on and there just didn't seem to be any control. They seemed to have lost it a little bit and it looked out of control.

"There were a lot of people giving assistance, a lot of people in the water and there didn't seem to be any co-ordination. Everyone was doing what they had to do but no one seemed to be taking control.

"I felt like saying stop, hang on, let's have a look at this for a minute."

The court also heard evidence from other firefighters from Ramsbottom station who had been involved in the incident.

Jason Blockland told the court that he and Mr Metcalf had been instructed by their sub officer Michael Curran to enter the water.

Mr Blockland described being attached to a rope, and Mr Metcalf being attached to a separate line. The ropes were passed behind a tree where they were tied together and held by firefighters on the bank.

He explained that to enable one person to go further into the lodge, the other firefighter had to return to the shore.

Mr Blockland returned to the shore and Mr Metcalf swam out to the middle of the lodge.

Fighting back tears, he said: "I saw him in trouble, shouting and waving his arms, but I couldn't hear what he was saying because the police helicopter circling above and it was very noisy."

Proceeding