Senior firefighter insists service is not stretched to the limit

Deputy chief fire officer Gary Phillips has denied suggestions that following a lorry fire on the M40 and a factory fire in Warwick on ths same day earlier this month, Leamington and Warwick were left without cover.

And although he admits there is still uncertainty about how government spending cuts will affect the service, he insists Warwickshire is “ahead of the curve” in its preparations.

Nuneaton firefighters who had been moved to Leamington were first to reach the factory fire on October 4 while Leamington crews were busy at the motorway fires.

Residents questioned how long it took for engines to arrive, but Mr Phillips said the first engine was on the scene six minutes after the call was made.

He added there was a “misunderstanding” about the way the service works and it is normal for the fire service to move engines around to cover all areas.

Mr Phillips said: “We weren’t stretched to the limit. We still had at least another ten or 12 engines.”

“I understand from incidents in the past it can seem a long time before we arrive. I don’t think six minutes from Leamington fire station to Nelson Lane is a long time.”

Readers and Warwick firefighters had campaigned against the closure of Warwick’s retained fire station, planned to close in September 2011, and some suggested the situation would worsen afterwards.

But Mr Phillips pointed out Warwick was not able to send a crew, and that changes left the county better prepared.

He said: “There is a resistance to change in the fire and rescue service.

“I’ve been a professional fire officer for almost 27 years and I would never do anything that would put the public in danger.”

Mr Phillips pointed to plans to stop callouts to automatic false alarms and provide 10,000 free home smoke alarms this year.

According to figures for last year, there were 230 calls about fires in the area covered by Warwick fire station. Of these, 138 were false alarms, 11 were building fires and eight were road accidents.

The fire service is currently only sending one engine to known false alarms. From Monday none will be sent during the day, and only one will be sent between 8pm and 7am to places such as care homes and hospitals where there is a ‘sleeping risk’.

Mr Phillips believes it is the responsibility of the people who own the buildings to ensure their systems do not call fire services unnecessarily.

There are more challenges ahead. Nationally, fire services’ grant from central government will be cut by 25 per cent over the four years until 2015, with most cuts weighted towards the end of the period.

But Mr Phillips said it is still unclear how much Warwickshire’s service will lose, as the spending review document gives a figure of 13 per cent ‘in real terms’.

He says he has written to Bob Neill, the minister responsible for fire services, to clarify what will happen.

He said: “At the moment we have a deck of cards but we don’t know what we’ve been given.

“The fire service is facing challenging times but Warwickshire is ahead of the curve.”