Fire Authority stealth cuts put lives and property at risk

Ashburton area protection downgraded and more to follow

Just a couple of years after Ashburton residents successfully fought to save their fire station, the Conservative controlled fire & rescue authority has stabbed them in the back. In a secret move, Ashburton's properly equipped fire engine has been removed and replaced with a poorly equipped van.

The so called Rapid Intervention Vehicle (RIV) has previously 

been dubbed by firefighters as a 'Really Inadequate Vehicle'. 

Whilst a few fire stations are having their older fire engines replaced with new, fully equipped Medium Rescue Pumps (MRP), others are being downgraded. In recent years, the fire & rescue authority has replaced many proper fire engines with less capable Light Rescue Pumps (LRP). Compared to the MRP, the LRP effectively provides residents with a second class service, whilst the RIV only provides a third class service.

A report told Councillors about these inadequacies nearly five years ago, and the purchase of more RIVs was put on hold after local protests. However, since then they have bought another five, and they seem determined to blunder on and downgrade the protection offered to many communities. The report said: 

"LRP’s and RIV’s do not carry the same quantity of equipment carried by the MRP’s." 

The effect of downgrading from a MRP to a RIV

How many buildings have windows that the 9-metre ladder can’t reach?

I don’t know, but worryingly, neither did the fire & rescue service when they chose the locations for RIVs. They have no idea how many lives are now at increased risk in the Ashburton area, or anywhere else.

DSFRS will claim that not many rescues are carried out with a 13.5 metre ladder (carried on the MRP). How often is irrelevant, they are still carried out from time to time, and no one knows when or where the next one will be. DSFRS excuses will be of no comfort to someone trapped by the next life threatening fire and, if they don't survive, it will be of even less comfort to family and friends of the victim.

Not only less water, but also less ability to obtain additional water for firefighting

As well as having less than half the water carried on a MRP, the RIVs are less well equipped to obtain additional supplies. With only half the hose on a MRP, more fires will see the RIV too far away from hydrant supplies. How many more? Again, the fire & rescue service failed to check, but a lot more buildings will be too far away. 

Without a portable pump, they cannot reach water supplies that are only accessible on foot. It was only last week when portable pumps were used at two fires. Near Staverton, two portable pumps were needed at a fire that could only be accessed on foot, and at Ilfracombe two portable pumps had to be used to boost water supplies at a major fire.

Even if there is access to open water, the 25% cut in the amount of suction hose carried on the RIV may mean it is still too far away to be used. 

Other equipment no longer carried, or reduced, includes

No Roof Ladder - which means firefighters cannot safely access the roof for rescue or firefighting. 

No Gas Tight Suits - no protection for firefighters from hazardous materials.

No Foam - firefighters unable to fight fires involving flammable liquids.

No Winch - this reduces the ability to rescue people trapped in road crashes or in other hazardous situations.

No Positive Pressure Fan - unable to remove harmful smoke from burning buildings to improve visibility for rescue and firefighting.

Beaters reduced by 66% - With just two carried, and much less water available, the ability of firefighters to tackle wildland fires (field, gorse, grass, woodland etc.) is seriously reduced. 

Hosereels reduced by 50% - With just one hosereel, instead of two, this limits the ability of firefighters to stop fires spreading. It also halves the distance that can be reached from the vehicle. On a MRP, the second hose reel can be attached to the first to double the distance that can be reached.

Breathing Apparatus cut by 25% - For safety, firefighters wearing breathing apparatus sets must work in pairs, so the cut from four sets to three is, in practice, a 50% cut in operational capability.

The real risk

Nearly 8,000 people live in the area covered by Ashburton fire station, with many more visiting and travelling through the area on ordinary roads and the busy A38. The Ashburton crew also regularly go to other areas to provide assistance or to provide cover when local crews are committed. 

There was a perfect illustration of the folly of using RIVs last week, when Ashburton's RIV ended up in Plymouth to provide cover when all their crews were attending a serious fire. The RIV is inadequate for protecting people in and around Ashburton, so is totally inadequate for the significant risk in Plymouth. There are many taller residential buildings, where someone could easily be trapped beyond the reach of a 9 metre ladder, and there are significant risks in Plymouth, including the nationally important Royal Navy dockyard.

Will your area be next for 3rd class protection?

After the public outcry about fire station closures and the use of RIVs, all but one of the fire stations was saved and the fire engine replacement scheme was put on hold. It now seems that the Fire & Rescue Authority has secretly resumed replacing fully equipped fire engines with inadequately equipped vans.

A Freedom of Information request has already shown that claims they had properly risk assessed this flawed replacement policy were false. Councillors should have taken action against those responsible for the false claims. Claims that are now putting lives and property in greater danger. 

The 5 RIVs recently purchased brings the total to 20, but original plans were for 45. If that is implemented, there will be very long waits for vital equipment that is not carried on RIVs. The map below shows the original planned locations.

As per the plan, RIVs are now at Ashburton, Chard, Dartmouth, Ilfracombe, Kingston, Okehampton, Princetown, Tavistock, Teignmouth, Williton, Wells, and Woolacombe. Not in the plan, Moretonhampstead and Tiverton have also been allocated a Really Inadequate Vehicle. 

Councillors need to act to stop communities in Devon & Somerset being downgraded to 3rd class protection

Fire & Rescue Service resort to fantasy to defend inept decisions

120 mph fire engine at Yelverton!

In a recent radio interview the fire & rescue service's spokesperson was trying to defend replacing proper fire engines with less effective Rapid Intervention Vehicles. He gave the example of Princetown, which is to receive a RIV that only has a short ladder, and claimed that the nearest station with a longer ladder was "only 8 minutes away".

The nearest station is Yelverton, which is 6 miles away. Call handling time and the time the on call firefighters take to reach the station takes up around 5 minutes, which leaves just 3 minutes to travel 6 miles! So for the claim to be accurate, the Yelverton fire engine would have to achieve an average speed of 120 mph!

Unsubstantiated statements aren't convincing the public, 

so now they resort to utterly ridiculous claims.

How long will those trapped really have to wait?

It also raises questions about the claim that there will "always be a longer ladder a minimum of 20 minutes away". If that is the minimum, how long is the maximum time it will take for a longer ladder to arrive? Is it 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour, or more? 

Proper fire engine availability in coastal North Devon

40% of Fire Engines had no crew

The reality is that 20 minutes is optimistic and seems to be based on the assumption that all the service's fire engines will always be available. A recent snapshot of crewing shortages in Devon & Somerset showed that a total of 48 fire engines were not available. That included 18 fire stations with no fire engine at all.

Snapshot of actual fire engines available in coastal North Devon

There are times when more fire engines are available, but also times when availability is worse. The end result is that the 'within 20 minutes' claim, like the service's target response times, will often not be achieved.

Does smaller justify less capable?

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service keep claiming that with the smaller RIVs they will be able to reach places they couldn't before. Again, that is not true. They have a number of these smaller vehicles that can reach places even the RIVs cannot. 

Not only much smaller than the RIVs but, unlike the RIVs, they also have four-wheel drive so can go off road. They can accompany fully equipped fire engines to incidents and transport crew and equipment to any locations that the fire engine cannot reach.

It should also be noted that the poorly equipped RIVs are about the size of fully equipped fire engines that were used in Devon a few years ago. In fact those fire engines were slightly narrower than the RIVs and had a better turning circle.

Fully equipped, but narrower than the RIV

The service will no doubt say that these are no longer made, but it does show that smaller does not have to mean less well equipped. Modern manufacturers, using the latest materials and clever equipment stowage, can provide fully equipped vehicles that take up no more room on the road than the RIV.

No one expects a tradesperson to work with only half their tools,  

so why force firefighters to cope without the right equipment?

Third class service for some residents in Devon & Somerset

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority is gradually reducing the protection they provide to people in many areas. Worst affected will be those living in rural areas, villages and smaller towns. Those in major towns and cities will also be affected at busy times, when less well equipped vehicles and less well trained firefighters have to be brought in to assist, or to provide cover.

Anyone who sleeps in a property above the first floor will be particularly at risk, if a fire breaks out, as new vehicles only carry a short ladder. Dartmouth, Tiverton, Princetown, and Porlock have been disclosed as the first areas to be affected.

The Authority has embarked on a campaign to persuade people that these cuts are improvements, so this Blog is to help draw attention to the very real dangers. I was born and raised in Devon and my Mother and several other relatives and friends still live in the service's area, which is why I am especially concerned.

It is fundamentally wrong that people in some areas of Devon & Somerset should have less effective protection, just because emergencies occur less frequently in their particular area. The life of someone living on or near Exmoor or Dartmoor is just as valuable as the life of someone living in Exeter, Plymouth or Taunton. People can be trapped in a fire or a road crash anywhere in Devon & Somerset, so it is unacceptable that the first firefighters sent to help some of them will be less well equipped and less well trained.

Fully equipped fire engines are being replaced with less effective vehicles

The Authority is cutting the existing 121 Medium Rescue Pumps (MRP), which are very well equipped, to just 37 Medium Rescue Pumps. The others are being replaced with 39 Light Rescue Pumps (LRP), which carry less water and equipment, and 45 Rapid Intervention Vehicles (RIV), which carry even less water, equipment and crew. In comparison to Medium Rescue Pumps, the Light Rescue Pumps offer a second class service. The Rapid Intervention Vehicles will only offer a third class service.

Rapid Intervention Vehicles carry:

56% less water, 50% less hose reel, 50% less 70mm diameter hose, 30% less 45mm diameter hose, 25% less breathing apparatus sets, and 25% less suction hose.

No portable pump, which can be vital for firefighting in rural areas where hydrants are few and far between and for pumping out flooded properties.

No foam, which is essential for flammable liquid fires.

No positive pressure fan, which is invaluable for clearing smoke to aid rescue and firefighting.

Those are just some of the essential pieces of equipment that are not carried. They will say that some are not used often, but that does not help firefighters, or the public, when an incident occurs where they are needed.

Of greatest concern, they do not carry a rescue ladder 

Previously, every fire station, except Lundy, had a ladder that would reach the third or fourth floor. These plans will see many fire stations only having a ladder that will reach the first floor. Anyone trapped on a higher floor would have to wait for help to arrive from a fire station much further away, and inevitably some will not survive the wait.

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority are also considering sending the Rapid Intervention Vehicles to emergencies with as few as two firefighters, instead of at least four on a proper fire engine. That may help the Authority tick the box for meeting response times, but it will not help those in peril. 

Safe and effective rescue needs not less than four firefighters. 

This idea is based on their unsubstantiated claim that “Over 70% of incidents we attend could be fully dealt with by a crew of two.” When the claim was challenged with a Freedom of Information request, they admitted that they had no documentation to support the claim. In their attempts to explain, they first said that they assessed incidents that could be dealt with by “2 or 3 people”, but then said, "It has been calculated that rapid intervention with less than four personnel may have dealt with 63% of all incidents". 

So there is no documented research or analysis, and no explanation of how “less than four may have dealt with 63% of all incidents”, magically becomes “70% could be fully dealt with by a crew of two.”

They also admitted that over 50% of the incidents they had assumed could be dealt with by less than four firefighters were false alarms. Of course they don't know it is a false alarm until they get there, so this crackpot theory would mean they would need a crystal ball to keep firefighters and the public safe.

They claim that smaller vehicles are quicker, but have failed to provide evidence. This was a particular claim for the Light Rescue Pumps, which have been in service since 2013. Home Office figures for Devon & Somerset show that average response times to primary fires (the most serious ones) have actually increased. 

Even if they could arrive a bit quicker, if they don’t have long enough ladders, the right equipment, enough water and enough firefighters, then the public & firefighters are put at much greater risk.

They claim that they are matching resources to risk, but ignore the fact that the risk to people trapped by fire, or in a wrecked car, is exactly the same no matter where they are in the area. They have been asked via a Freedom of Information request to produce their analysis and risk assessments. No station area risk assessments have been provided, and they have clearly not carried out an assessment of how less well equipped vehicles, with less well trained firefighters, will impact on public and firefighter safety.

Less well trained firefighters

They claim that with less equipment on the Rapid Intervention Vehicles, the training requirement will be reduced. Yet this will result in many firefighters being unable to help colleagues in other areas, as they won’t have been trained to use all the equipment on the remaining 37 Medium Rescue Pumps. It will be a nightmare for those in charge at incidents, when certain equipment needs to be used, if the only firefighters not yet committed have not been trained to use that equipment. They will have no choice but to request another crew, which may have a very long distance to travel.

At busy times, it also means that less well trained firefighters, on less capable vehicles, will be sent to serious incidents in what D&SF&RS class as higher risk areas. For example, crews at Ivybridge and Yelverton are never going to attend a fire on a nuclear submarine in their station areas. However, they could be first to attend such an incident, if they are standing by at Plymouth fire stations, whilst those crews are attending other incidents. 

Not training or equipping them for all potential incidents is simply irresponsible, and may well be unlawful. 

Just remember the Cathedral Yard fire in Exeter, on the 28th October 2016. 95 fire engines from urban and rural fire stations across Devon & Somerset attended that fire, as initial response, or as relief crews. Several others were moved from rural areas to fill the gaps at the main fire stations in urban areas. They were all well trained and none were on poorly equipped Rapid Intervention Vehicles. The Fire Authority's plans will make dealing with such incidents in the future much less effective and much more dangerous for firefighters and the public.

Before starting this Blog I discussed the situation with a number of firefighters in the area, both serving and retired, and they share these concerns. Unfortunately, those still serving fear the consequences if they publicly criticise the changes. I hope this Blog will help give them a voice.