Warning over fire services in England

Should this country be struck down by a flu pandemic or industrial action the fire service would find it hard to cope with such emergency situations, an Audit Commission study has found.

The findings of the study which looked at the 46 fire authorities in England warned that public safety would be at risk in circumstances like strike action or widespread power failure. This is because specialist equipment could not be guaranteed to be ready in these instances.

However, most areas may still be able to provide a level of service due to a loss of staff.

The Audit Commission Chairman Michael O’Higgins said:

“It is reassuring to find that most areas have robust plans in place to cope with loss of staff. Of concern, though, is that public safety may be at risk if major disruption occurs across several fire and rescue authorities and lasts for a long time.

“In these circumstances we also discovered that specialist equipment designed to deal with the aftermath of terror attacks or major natural disasters is less likely to be deployable because of demands on firefighter resources.”

This news comes in the wake of budget cuts which are affecting fire and rescue teams throughout the United Kingdom.