New proposals to Cumbria fire service come under attack

The planned changes put forward by the fire service in Cumbria has been criticised by firefighters in the area as they expect these cuts to affect their ability to respond to flood emergencies.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has reacted in anger to the proposals which would see reduced numbers of fire crews, and could lead to some rescue vehicles to be rendered unavailable. The Major Rescue Vehicle (MRV) and Aerial Ladder Platforms (ALPs) require a minimum number of firefighters to operate them at the same time.

Mally Hind, the FBU brigade secretary, said:

“This ill thought out proposal is based purely on cost and not on risk.

“It’s not that many weeks ago that new Prime Minister David Cameron said there would be no cuts to front-line services. Yet here we are looking at the loss of eight firefighter posts.

“If this proposal is allowed to go ahead, there will be a detrimental effect on public safety.”

These fears have been disputed by the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service as they insist that they have the resources to cope with the changes.

The chief fire officer of the service, Dominic Harrison, has revealed that any reductions in the number of firefighters would be addressed and that additional resources could be made available when needed.