Devon and Somerset FRS

[velbert]

Devon and Somerset fire stations to close under changes


The Devon and Somerset fire service currently has more has 120 fire engines

Up to eight fire stations may close under changes being considered by Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

Currently, there are 85 fire stations, 121 fire engines and 2,000 members of staff across both counties.

The service said it wanted to bring an outdated service into the 21st Century and fire incidents in both areas had decreased 36% between 2008 and 2018.

Unions said closing any stations would be a mistake and expressed concerns about a lack of fire cover.

The service said it had saved £12.2m over the last five years but an estimated £8.4m of savings were still needed in the next three.

It also said some stations attended only a handful of fires a year and resources would be better concentrated elsewhere.


The Royal Clarence Hotel fire in Exeter in 2016 saw 54 of the service's engines involved
It has outlined six options, ranging from the outright closure of stations, through to appliances being removed from stations and changes in staffing.

However, all options involve some station closures.

Stations under threat include seven in Devon: Appledore, Ashburton, Budleigh Salterton, Colyton, Kingston, Topsham and Woolacombe.

In Somerset, Porlock station is also under review.

The Fire Brigades Union said it was concerned about any "potential station closures, the possible loss of firefighters' jobs and cuts in fire cover".

It also said the move may mean increases in response times.

Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell said he understood it would be a "difficult time" for communities and affected staff.

If the fire authority agrees, a 12-week public consultation will be held from July to 20 September.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-48689003

[velbert]

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

Our Facebook page has received a request to publish this letter so please take the time to read it

The proposed reductions in our local fire cover.
Cuts have consequences!

Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service plays a crucial role in making our local community safer. Its role covers both preventing and protecting people from fire and other risks. In its protecting role it aims to respond swiftly and effectively to both incidents and other emergencies as they occur. At least that what they tell us and yet their proposals for the possibility of the CLOSURE of up to eight fire stations, a reduction in the total number of its firefighters, and a scheme to leave Barnstaple’s fire station unstaffed for 15 hours in every 24 puts a very different perspective on how they view the public's protection!

Make no bones about it this is a cost cutting exercise. No matter how the Fire Authority might wish to dress up their “evidence based study”, their consultation document, clearly states they; “need to make significant financial savings.” They argue it is because of anticipated reduced grant funding from the Government. Yet the Fire Authority has in excess of £37 MILLION held as reserves!

Devon and Somerset’s proposals are detailed in their booklet ‘Safer Together’. It makes a number of assertions, many of which are incorrect. They state the location of its fire stations were based on historic standards of fire cover set in the 1930s. UNTRUE. In fact prior to the Brigade setting their own standards, following the introduction of the Fire and Rescue Services Act in 2004, they used the latest standards published in 1998. Strange then that the Chief Officer, the co-author of the report, has made no strategic relocation of ANY fire station despite his argument regarding the changes in both the location of new buildings and the growth and changes in the two counties population density. His only proposal regarding fire station locations is to close some!

My primary concern is with the proposed changes as they affect Barnstaple and its immediate locality. That said I do take issue with the significant reduction in the Brigade’s overall level of fire cover and to its firefighter complement. CUTS ALWAYS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

Barnstaple currently is a whole-time fire station with on-call support. Its whole-time firefighters are highly trained and provide cover 24/7. Barnstaple also happens to be a specialist rescue station. This means that the firefighters there are specially trained to deal with both search and rescue in difficult access scenarios including flooding and swift water incidents in addition to line rescues from height and confined spaces. The station provides this cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week right across North Devon and beyond; or rather it will do until the Chief Officer’s options for Barnstaple are enacted! Then the fire station will only be staffed by whole-time firefighters from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. The station will be empty of its firefighters, covered only by ‘on-call’ firefighters (you might recall they were once referred to as ‘retained’). These on-call firefighters are, of course, trained in all their duties involved in riding normal fire engines but none have the skills, or the training, to undertake line-rescue or water-borne rescue. These two highly specialise fire engines will lay dormant for the night shift. Both North Devon, and the other emergency services, will be deprived of these specialist skills. Rescues from high places; cliffs, cranes and high buildings; those affected by flooding, or needing water rescue-a canoeist for example on a summers evening-will be disadvantaged, or worse, because these special fire engines will be kept at the station!

Barnstaple fire station has a wide range of risks both commercial and industrial. It covers the main hospital for North Devon, protects over 27 care homes, 75 houses in multiple occupancy, 26 schools, 96 hotels and some 450 plus shops supporting local and tourist needs. Immediately outside the town boundary, and within its ‘response zone’, the station also covers an extensive area of rural risks including many thatched homes, open fields, moorland, coastal and woodland areas, which themselves can cause pose significant risks. The demographic of the station area is mixed. It can be identified by the housing provision with pockets of social housing (many privately owned by registered landlords) and owner-occupied private dwellings both within the town are and the rural hinterland.

Now there is a phrase in the fire service which refers to the ‘speed and weight of attack’. That means how quickly a fire engine can get to an incident, be it a fire or maybe a traffic accident, and have sufficient crew present to make an initial attack on a fire, undertake possible rescues if required or, in the case of a collision, make it and those involved safe together with undertaking the release of trapped or injured passengers in concert with ambulance service paramedics at the scene.

Barnstaple’s fire engine, whole-time or on-call crew, are required to get a domestic/industrial fire in its area within 10 minutes from the time of the first emergency call. The requirements are also that nine firefighters are to be at the scene to undertake the necessary roles in the initial stages of a genuine incident. However, this in itself presents a problem as fire engines can only carry a maximum crew of six. Therefore a second fire engine must be mobilised to provide the additional firefighters required. That attendance time and the minimum number of firefighters required must be meet on 75% of occasions in all the fire related calls the Brigade receives. Assuming that all things are equal, Barnstaple’s and its surrounding fire station engines are available, other factors eat into that attendance time. Our whole-time firefighters are both motivated and professional but it still takes time to get out of the station. On a good day whole-time firefighters will turn-out in about 75 seconds although it can take up to two minutes. Therefore Barnstaple’s whole-time can still meet the majority of its attendance times in the eight and three quarter minutes remaining, but not always! But with their normal riding complement of five they still require a further four should, upon arrival, they are faced with a live incident as opposed to a false alarm. The Brigade’s mobilising control will, at the same time Barnstaple whole-time crew is dispatched, order a second fire engine. It may be Barnstaple’s own on-call crew or one from a surrounding on-call station. The on-call crew will first have to reach the fire station, they are required to live/work within five minutes of their station. Their turn-outs are in the region of two minutes, so it can be seven minutes before the on-call crew even leaves the vicinity of the fire station.

Should the Brigade’s proposal to take away Barnstaple’s whole-time be enacted, at night, every night, this will become the norm. It will be only the immediate town’s centre that is able to meet the attendance times. Locations such as Fremington Manor Care Home, Bishop Tawton Primary School, Park Lane Care Home and the North Devon Children’s Hospice will all fall outside of recommended attendance criteria. Should a second fire engine not be available at Barnstaple, it is elsewhere or defective, then none of the surrounding stations’ fire engines will be able the reach the scene in under 20 minutes. Minutes which are vital in the event of a real fire or other life threating emergency-minutes which the loss of the whole-time firefighters will not be there to provide!

So what to do? If you are concerned just don’t do nothing, write or speak to your local MP, contact your town or District Councillors and make your views known. Express your concerns to the Devon and Somerset FRS, do something, don’t just wring your hands, tut-tut and or say zilch. Cuts have consequences-don’t become a consequence.

David C. Pike
Barnstaple resident and former London firefighter.

Follow this link to sign our petition http://bit.ly/StopDSFRSCuts

[bill.advanced]

Signed the petition.

Yet another cost cutting exercise wrapped up in pathetic misleading euphemisms, by people who’s vanity is only surpassed by their ability to lie through their teeth.

If Devon and Somerset came out and simply told it as it is.
That they wish to save money by risking life and property, I would have considerably more respect for them. But leopards never change their spots, do they.

[noisycat]

It’s a similar situation in my home town station where I finished my time. When I left there were 16 on the watch, ( in the perfect world) with a minimum of 11 or sometimes 10, to cover 2 W/T pumps, HP, RT and a FOT. After I left, the watch strength was dropped to 7, to cover 2 pumps, 1 W/T, 1 on-call, a SRU and a WB. Now, if the W/T pump goes to a call, the on call firefighters,haven’t got the skills to turn the SRU out or possibly the WB. I think the right call was made to drop one of the W/T pumps, with the second then to be staffed by on call firefighters, as the station was never really busy enough for 2 W/T pumps and originally was 1 W/T pump and 1 on call pump. Since amalgamation in South Wales, some fire stations have been closed, but 1 or 2 stations were closed, because they were in different brigades before and realistically, there wasn’t sufficient need for the 2 stations to cover relatively low risk areas.

[bill.advanced]

Thank you for signing the campaign: Don't cut fire services in Devon and Somerset.

The more people are behind an issue - the more likely it is that decision makers will pay attention. Each name that is added to a campaign takes it one step closer to succeeding.

Can you help spread the word about the campaign by sharing it with your friends and family?

SHARE ON FACEBOOK
SHARE ON TWITTER
You can also share the campaign by sharing the email below.

Thanks for all that you do.

Copy this text into an email to share with your friends
Dear Friends,

I just signed the campaign: Don't cut fire services in Devon and Somerset

It would mean the world to me if you could also add your name to this important issue. Every name that is added builds momentum around the campaign and makes it more likely for us to get the change we want to see.

Will you join me by taking action on this campaign?

https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/d...d-somerset



After you've signed the petition please also take a moment to share it with others. It's super easy – all you need to do is forward this email.

Thank you!

[noisycat]

I’ve signed the petition.