News Battle begins to save crew
Goole's firefighters hope to take to the town on Saturday as their campaign to save their second full-time crew hots up.
They will be handing out leaflets asking people to support them as they fight proposals to swap two full-time crews for one full-time and one retained.
Ashley Oldfield, a divisional Fire Brigades' Union representative, said the plan came after firefighters met on Monday.
"It was our first meeting on the changes proposed by Humberside Fire and Rescue," Mr Oldfield said.
'It was just to get everybody on board from Goole and see how we felt it best to get the message to the public. What we're hoping to do is spend some time in the precinct, handing out some leaflets."
The firefighters will first of all need permission from the East Yorkshire Council. Meanwhile, Humberside Fire and Rescue has been explaining why the proposals make sense. Figures for 2006 showed that Goole firefighters were called out 358 times, with some watches being called out just six to seven times a month.
"You have to ask yourself, is that the most effective use of personnel?" said assistant chief fire officer Richard Hannigan.
The assistant chief also said that Goole firefighters were often allowed to go to bed at midnight - although they still had to be ready to respond to an emergency in the same amount of time - simply because there was nothing for them to do.
"They can't train because of the noise, you can't study at night and there's a limit to the amount of maintenance you can do. I'm duty bound to make the best use of the resources we have got."
If the proposals go ahead, the full-time firefighters will be deployed elsewhere, and will continue to work as operational firefighters.
The new retained crew will be recruited from Goole, from an area within four minutes' travelling time of the station.
"Until we've recruited the right number of people and have trained them to an acceptable level, we won't take the whole-time pump away," said the assistant chief officer.
"Any firefighters that come to Goole will be nationally qualified to exactly the same standards."
Operations risk manager Steve Waterson also pointed out that there were 15 pumps within 35 minutes' travel of junction 36 of the M62.
The FBU has claimed the delayed arrival of a second, retained crew would mean firefighters having to choose between waiting for them to arrive or risking their safety by going in without back-up.
However, the assistant chief fire officer said the second crew would be four minutes behind, which would be the time needed for the first crew to set up and organise themselves.
"By that time, the second crew will be there."
Once again, suggestions that the proposals were money-driven were rejected and it was stated that they made better use of resources. It has been calculated that the changes will save £2.8 million, which will be spent on better equipping the firefighters, and improving community work.
Mr Waterson said improvements in car design over the last few years had meant that they were made of stronger materials, so more advanced cutting equipment was needed to deal with them.
Money will also be spent on providing smoke alarms, which are no longer funded by the government, getting involved with young people in the community and providing better firefighting clothing.
"You're not talking to faceless bureaucrats," said the assistant chief fire officer. "We're both still fighting fires and I have no intention of making changes that are unsafe, or that make my crews unsafe."
Consultation on the proposals will run until March 14, and a decision will be made by Humberside Fire Authority in April.
* Anyone wanting to sign a petition objecting to the proposals can do so at the Goole Times offices at 102 Boothferry Road.
Published on 17th January 2008 in News.
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