Fire chiefs delay vote on ‘dangerous’ three-man crew policy

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has postponed a vote on “dangerous” proposals to cut crew numbers after firefighters rallied in protest.

Firefighters rallied outside the fire authority’s Bootle headquarters yesterday ahead of a vote to reduce crew numbers to three per fire engine in “non-life risk” incidents. The Firefighters’ Union (FBU) said a minimum of five firefighters are needed to respond to incidents, particularly in cases where breathing apparatus is required. A fire engine with only three firefighters on board cannot deploy breathing apparatus and must wait for backup to arrive to do so, they said.

FBU representatives, including general secretary Matt Wrack, attended yesterday’s meeting to voice their opposition. They also opposed the Community Risk Management Plan, which outlined the removal of on-call managers from fire engines and the reintroduction of “small fire units”, which the union said would put firefighters at a higher risk.

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The vote has been postponed and the proposals will be discussed at the fire authority’s next meeting, which will be held after the General Election.

Ian Hibbert, Merseyside FBU brigade secretary, said: “Merseyside firefighters are proud to support the safety of the public and firefighters. Gathering outside the fire authority meeting today, we made clear the strength of our commitment. Saving lives and homes is our priority and we will fight against any degradation of our service.

“If the fire authority brings this up for a vote again, we will mobilize in even greater numbers to ensure that this policy is not enacted.”

Firefighters Union general secretary Matt Wrack said: “Firefighters everywhere will welcome Merseyside Fire Authority’s decision not to vote on this dangerous policy. The safe and professional standard is five firefighters to one engine. Sending three teams to an incident puts lives at risk.

“The firefighters of Merseyside have come together, showing loud and clear that they will not accept this threat to firefighters and public safety. Instead of risking lives by cutting corners, we need urgent investment in our fire services.”

A spokesman for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: “It is misleading to the public to suggest that the service intends to respond to house fires and other such life-threatening incidents with three firefighters.

“This is absolutely not the case – our plan makes it clear that we will not send frontline fire engines with three firefighters to life-threatening incidents. It goes on to say that our response model will remain as previously detailed in our Integrated Risk Management Plan 2021/24. .

“However, we have been clear throughout the consultation process that if a firefighter becomes unavailable due to sick leave or a last-minute emergency, we will keep the fire engine available for low-level incidents – redefining- l as a small incident unit until we move/detach. personnel at the station to allow them to be redeployed to life-threatening incidents.

“What we’re proposing actually protects our ‘risk-to-life’ response because it avoids sending a front-line fire engine with four or five firefighters from a neighboring area to deal with a low-level incident like a trapped person or to gain entry for the ambulance service – which would leave two station areas without a front line fire engine to respond with should a life threatening incident occur – this is totally unacceptable and avoidable, and despite the service adjusting its resources accordingly, would undoubtedly lead to a slower response to “life-threatening incidents – where seconds can cost lives.”

They added: “As indicated at the authorities’ meeting yesterday, community risk management plans will be discussed in the coming weeks. Where the Fire and Rescue Authority will consider all proposals, including anything that can improve our response times to incidents in Merseyside. The safety of the public is of the utmost importance.”

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