A LEADING member of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has warned there is a “definite, 100 per cent” chance lives could be lost under cuts to the fire service brought in this week.
Frontline firefighters have been cut by 12 in Coventry while some fire engines could be manned by just three staff, two short of the normal figure, reports Matthew Bates in this weeks Coventry Observer.
West Midlands Fire Service said it had identified £2.85 million of savings and that, after analysing its fleet, had found it could make significant savings while maintaining high standards of service.
But FBU chairman Roger Moore said the changes implemented on Monday would leave some fire engines unable to visit sites where property or life was at risk.
And in Coventry – where just one fire engine covers the whole of the city centre between 10pm and 10am – he warned the results could be tragic if all the potential problems from the changes came to fruition.
“Fire engines would need to come from further afield and response times would be a lot longer,” he said.
“If all the potential problems under these changes came together at the same time, there would be a definite, 100 per cent chance that loves could be lost.”
A further change union members are unhappy with sees the hydraulics platform – used to access high-level fires – only manned when required, instead of having a 24-hour team on standby. It was used just 33 times last year.
But Mr Moore said staff would have to move from elsewhere to man it – leaving just three people with the fire engines.
“It won’t be able to visit any jobs which include property or life. It will look like a fire engine, smell like a fire engine, but it won’t be going to put out fires,” he said.
In the last 18 months, 70 staff in Coventry have been lost through natural wastage but chief fire officer Vij Randeniya said he was confident the changes would not impact on the service delivered.
Story from: Coventry Observer
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