Cutting size of fire crews 'dangerous', says union
- Published
A firefighters union has criticised a fire service's decision to reduce the size of on-call crews from four to three per engine.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed in December that a 17-month pilot, which saw smaller teams respond to more than 600 incidents, would become permanent with immediate effect.
Bosses said more than 80% of people who responded to a public consultation were happy for the approach to continue.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) described the consultation process as "misleading" and "deeply flawed".
The union said a team of five firefighters was the safe operational standard, and that a crew of three would be unable to safely operate breathing apparatus.
During the trial period, 130 Staffordshire firefighters signed a letter in opposition to the reduction, the FBU said, citing concerns that teams of three would not have the capacity to safely respond to high-risk incidents.
'Reckless policy'
"Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service are putting public and firefighter safety on the line by sending on-call firefighter crews out in crews of just three in a fire engine," said Martin Starkey, Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary for Staffordshire.
He added: "The public consultation cited to support this reckless policy was deeply flawed, with only 1,500 respondents answering a question deliberately framed to elicit a specific answer."
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said firefighters felt the policy to send crews of three was unacceptable.
"Firefighters should never be put in the terrible position of waiting at an incident for back-up, unable to take action safely because there are only three in the team," he said.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said three staff surveys supported the policy, and that community risk management plan documents stated the approach had seen attendance times reduced in some cases by more than nine minutes.
Get in touch
Tell us which stories we should cover in Staffordshire
Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external.
- Published5 days ago
- Published10 November 2024