Firefighters need support

Published on 31st January 2008 in Letters

Sir - I have been a fire fighter at Goole fire station for well over 15 years and find that for the first time in my life I am writing to the Goole Times to tell the truth about the cuts (sorry, modernisation) which the upper management of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service seem to be economical with.

I have not given my name for fear of reprisals. The Chief of Humberside Fire and Rescue says that over the last three years the service has been engaged in the FSEC assessments to evaluate the risks in the area, this is where the justification for reducing fire cover at Goole comes from.

What the Chief fails to mention is that the FSEC system does not include special services or road traffic incidents.

Last year Goole fire crews deployed the cutting equipment 50 times to help rescue people, most of these were attended by both Goole appliances, which is essential when dealing with these types of incidents.

In December the Deputy Chief visited Goole fire station to inform the crew of the proposals. It is fair to say he got a rough ride from all 4 watches. So imagine our surprise when a report was published saying three out of four watches had no opposition to the proposals. The Chief keeps saying not to worry because if Goole's second appliance does go retained it will get to incidents four minutes after the first attendance. Obviously, the Chief does not live in Goole. How many people do you know who can get to the fire station, get their fire kit on and get to an incident in four minutes?

But not to worry, because what they can do is change the attendance times to 10 or 15 minutes until a crew can be mustered. This is not in any way an assassination of retained fire fighters - they are a credit to the communities they serve and I have met some fabulous retained fire fighters in my time.

In December, when the Deputy Chief visited Goole, a question was put to him about the moral pressure that would be placed on firefighters at such incidents as house fires. Under guidelines, firefighters should not enter burning buildings without adequate back up. Can you imagine the moral pressures on firefighters knowing there are people trapped and not knowing when back up is going to arrive? The management knows that we are going to go against procedures and enter the building. Their only response to this was to do a risk assessment (cop-out, or what).

Finally, let me leave you with this though: during the ten years prior to modernisation in 2003, the British Fire Service lost six fire-fighters in active service. In the four years since modernisation 13 fire-fighters have paid with their lives!

To the people of Goole and surrounding areas, we have and always will do our very best for you when the call comes - but now we need your help to keep the fire cover that you deserve.

Concerned Fire Fighter