FIREFIGHTERS and college staff were today mourning the death of a colleague who drowned in a heroic attempt to rescue a teenager from a lake.

And tragic Paul Metcalf's twin brother Michel called into question why the fire brigade acted as they did despite knowing that 15-year-old Reyaz Ali had been underwater for 20 minutes.

Retained firefighter Paul, 40, of Whalley Road, Shuttleworth, was with three crews of colleagues trying to find the teenager who had disappeared underwater after plunging from a rope swing into Simon's Lodge in Redisher Woods, Holcombe Brook.

When out of uniform, Paul ran his own karate club - Fit as a Fiddle - at Accrington and Rossendale College and was also a joinery technician at the college.

The body of New Zealander Reyaz Ali, a boarder at Darul Uloom Islamic College in Holcombe, was pulled from the water four hours later by an underwater search team.

Eyewitnesses said the firefighter from Ramsbottom Fire Station had a rope tied around his waist and was wading across the water when he became snagged.

Colleagues made desperate efforts to pull him free, but he remained under water for about 15 minutes.

He was eventually winched out by the Greater Manchester Police helicopter and taken to Hope Hospital, while an on-board paramedic attempted to revive him, but was later pronounced dead.

Colleagues at his station were said to be devastated, as were his family.

His distraught brother Michel, 40, said: "The fire crews and Paul did everything by the book. "Yet, the young boy had been in the lake for 20 minutes and I can't see why there was such a rush. It is not as if he had just fallen in minutes earlier.

"The firefighters had to run half a mile to reach the lodge and then a number of volunteers, Paul putting himself forward first, entered the cold water attached to a line.

"They were tired before they entered the water."

Paul, an accomplished swimmer, had been a member of the fire brigade's retained service for eight years and "lived, breathed and slept" his role.

Michel said: "He never took off his uniform. He was always waiting to go on-call and never missed a chance to do so.

"I am not surprised by what Paul did to help find this boy but it cost him his life. He died a hero."

Before the tragedy, Paul was only two weeks away from moving into his new home at Sheephey Farm in Shuttleworth - only a hundred yards from his family home in Whalley Road.

Eyewitness Jason Jones, of Rossendale, who was fishing there, said the 400ft long and 150ft wide lake, which used to feed nearby mills, was well known as a danger spot by local fishermen. With tree roots and even a fence under the water, it is easy to get snared.

But despite the dangers Mr Jones said it was always popular with children in hot weather and the teenager had been there the day before. He said: "The fire brigade were here very quickly. They tied a rope around a fireman's waist and he walked into the water to look for the kid and then it seemed like he got caught on the underwater fence. As they pulled him it seemed like they pulled him further into the snag.

"I got out of the way to let them get on with the job, so I didn't see any more. It's just really tragic to lose two lives in that way."

A single man, Paul Metcalf is survived by two brothers and two sisters and his French-born mother Jacqueline was too upset to speak about the tragedy.

The 350-pupil Darul Uloom college, where Reyaz had studied for 18 months, was in mourning.

A spokesman for the fire brigade said five firefighters and two police officers went in the water to attempt to pull the teenager to safety, as well as using an inshore rescue boat.

He said: "This is an extremely sad double loss of life and our thoughts are with family, friends and colleagues of those affected by this incident."

Underwater teams searched for more than four hours before finally recovering Reyaz's body at 6pm.

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