A union official has said Harrogate firefighters are being used as guinea pigs in a shake-up of fire services in North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe confirmed her three-year blueprint for countywide fire services last week following a three-month consultation.
The changes include reducing Harrogate fire station to one appliance between 10pm and 9am, which would increase the town’s nighttime dependency on on-call firefighters in Knaresborough. However, the station will have enhanced cover during the day, when most fires occur.
The same changes will be implemented in Scarborough in three years time if the Harrogate pilot scheme proves successful.
Steve Howley, secretary of North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union said the changes lacked support by firefighters and councillors and would endanger lives.
Speaking on BBC Radio York, Mr Howley said:
“The Fire Brigades Union represent about 96% of firefighters in North Yorkshire and I can tell you now that none of our members are in support of these proposals
“We all think they are dangerous. We all think they will put firefighter and public safety at risk. Lives will be put at risk.
“They are using Harrogate as guinea pigs to trial these cuts because they are not confident that these are safe and these will deliver what they say they will deliver. It will lead to a real detrimental impact on public safety.”
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Mr Howley said the data behind the decision was “fundamentally flawed” because it was based on there being 100% availability of on-call firefighters. He added:
“For the last 15 to 20 years there hasn’t been 100% on-call availability. That number has dwindled and got worse in recent times.”
He said the union did not oppose better fire prevention initiatives but was “vehemently opposed to the removal of frontline public services to reinvest in some of these areas when it should be centrally funded by government”.
Ms Metcalfe said last week the changes were about a better way of operating rather than cuts, and savings will be reinvested in fire prevention work and boosting on-call fire stations. Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, Masham, and Summerbridge have on-call stations in the Harrogate district and there is a volunteer-run station at Lofthouse.
Her changes, which will be phased in, will see Harrogate have two fully operational appliances during the day but only one at night.
The station currently has one fully operational appliance and a smaller tactical response vehicle staffed, which are both staffed 24 hours.
Announcing her decision, Ms Metcalfe — a Conservative who was elected commissioner last year — said:
“Some areas of the service will change, and I know change can be unsettling, but I remain confident that the right people, with be in the right place, with the right equipment at the right time, to support everyone in North Yorkshire and York.”
“I have made these decisions to support the transformation of our fire and rescue service based on extensive evidence and from listening to what is important to you, which you said was increasing and enhancing prevention and protection work to stop incidents from happening in the first place”
Jonathan Dyson, chief fire officer for North Yorkshire, said Ms Metcalfe’s proposals provided the correct strategic approach to resourcing fire risk.
He said:
Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine“Our strong focus on prevention and protection activities are the primary way for us to reduce risk in our communities.”
North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has today confirmed Harrogate fire station will be reduced to one fire engine at night.
Ms Metcalfe’s decision comes after a three-month consultation that saw the proposal criticised for putting lives at risk.
The move is expected to save £180,000 in the Harrogate district, which will be used to fund fire prevention work, and could see five Harrogate firefighters redeployed to new prevention roles.
The Harrogate changes will be piloted for three years and then could be copied in Scarborough.
Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative who was elected commissioner last year, published her three-year blueprint for fire services in the county in May.
Today’s announcement will also see Huntington full-time fire station reduced to on-call, leaving North Yorkshire with just four full-time fire stations: Harrogate, Scarborough, York and Acomb.
Change is coming to Harrogate fire station, on Skipton Road.
It follows a consultation that included 12 public events, three resident focus groups and an online survey which received 1,300 responses.
Me Metcalfe said:
“Some areas of the service will change, and I know change can be unsettling, but I remain confident that the right people, with be in the right place, with the right equipment at the right time, to support everyone in North Yorkshire and York.”
“I have made these decisions to support the transformation of our fire and rescue service based on extensive evidence and from listening to what is important to you, which you said was increasing and enhancing prevention and protection work to stop incidents from happening in the first place”
How Harrogate fire service will change
Currently, Harrogate fire station has one fire engine which can respond to all emergencies and a smaller tactical response vehicle. Both operate around the clock.
The smaller vehicle will be replaced by a larger fire engine but it will only be crewed during the day.
Ms Metcalfe’s risk and resource model said more fires occur during daytime, and having two fire engines at Harrogate would provide better daytime protection at key times.
But the second Harrogate appliance won’t be staffed between 10pm and 9am, meaning greater dependence on on-call firefighters in Knaresborough when a second fire engine is required at major incidents.
Jonathan Dyson
Jonathan Dyson, chief fire officer for North Yorkshire, said Ms Metcalfe’s proposals provided the correct strategic approach to resourcing fire risk. The service has a £31.5m annual budget for core spending.
He said:
“Our strong focus on prevention and protection activities are the primary way for us to reduce risk in our communities.”
Mr Dyson told the Stray Ferret second appliances from outside Harrogate were already mobilised to tackle major fires in Harrogate because they were better equipped to do so than the tactical response vehicle.
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But he acknowledged the change could “potentially” cause a delay when the main Harrogate fire engine attended an incident and requested back-up, which would now have to come from Knaresborough rather than Harrogate.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service does not have target response times and no calculations have been done on how long delays brought about by the changes could be.
Job talks to start with Harrogate firefighters
Asked about the impact on Harrogate firefighters, Mr Dyson said:
“We now start a phased approach to the changes because we now need to discuss and engage with the trade unions, we need to discuss and engage with the crews that are affected by this because people are at the centre of this.
“No current staff or jobs are at jeopardy in any form. We are transitioning resources from response into prevention and protection.
“There are a range of duty systems that can introduced to meet the demand that the service requires under the commissioner’s decision.”
Mr Dyson added today’s overall measures had the “potential” to save £1.5m a year across North Yorkshire by 2025 although the calculation was done before recent high inflation.
He added the decision “isn’t about cuts, it’s about transition of funding from response into prevention” and savings would also be spent on improving on call stations in rural areas.
Harrogate firefighters issue smoke alarm warning after house fire
Harrogate fire station has urged people to ensure they have working smoke alarms after attending a fire this morning.
Fire ripped through the roof of a bungalow but fortunately nobody was hurt because the alarm sounded.
The incident took place at 2am in York and the aerial ladder from Harrogate was required to help firefighters from York and Huntington tackle the flames.
An investigation is underway.
Harrogate fire station said the blaze, at a time when most people are sleeping, served as a warning to everyone to check their smoke alarms.
It said in a Facebook post:
“In the early hours of today, we were at a house fire. Luckily the occupants had working smoke alarms and got out safely.
“Please make sure yours work if you have them and if not you can contact you local fire station to see about getting some fitted.”
Smoke alarms are free. You can book for them to be installed here.
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Fire destroys BMW on A1 near Boroughbridge
A BMW was destroyed by fire on the A1 near Boroughbridge last night.
Firefighters from Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge were called to the blaze at 9.16pm last night.
They used two hose reels and two breathing apparatus to douse the flames.
It is not believed anyone was injured but in a tweet last night North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said:
“Vehicle totally destroyed. Two hose reels and two breathing apparatus used. Believed to be due to an electrical fault.”
Plumes of smoke rising above the carriageway. Photograph: @NorthYorksFire, Twitter
It was one of two car fires in the district last night.
A crew from Boroughbridge was called when a Skoda Fabia caught fire in Minskip shortly before 8pm.
The cause is again believed to be a faulty engine.
The Skoda engine suffered fire, heat and smoke damage.
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Fire Brigades Union ‘seriously concerned’ over cuts to Harrogate service
The North Yorkshire branch of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it’s seriously concerned over proposed cuts to the service in Harrogate and warned public safety will be put at greater risk.
The warning from the FBU comes after the proposals were made public by Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, last month and include halving Harrogate fire station’s overnight capacity.
The station, on Skipton Road, currently operates two fire engines 24 hours a day. But under new plans, it would have just one appliance from 10pm to 9am when fewer incidents usually occur.
Ms Metcalfe said at the time that she was confident “the right people, right equipment and the right support would continue to be available to everyone”.
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A public consultation was launched last month to gather the community’s views on the proposals.
The union is urging firefighters and the public to have their say, and make their concerns heard over the impact the plans will have on emergency fire cover across the region.
North Yorkshire FBU Brigade Secretary Steve Howley said:
Hotspots cause second fire in days at old rectory near Ripon“Firefighters urge that the public reject these proposals and call on people to visit the PFCC’s website to strongly oppose all cuts to emergency response. The PFCC needs to fight for the correct funding from government, not simply mask underfunding by slashing services and providing the public of North Yorkshire with a second-rate emergency response service that will put lives at risk.”
“North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has been promising these IRMP proposals for the past two years, and time after time we have been given delays and excuses. For a chief fire officer to table cuts of this magnitude to emergency fire response in York, Harrogate and Scarborough just weeks before retiring is quite frankly appalling.
“We need Zoe Metcalfe to stand up for her communities and reject these proposals rather than put their safety at risk.”
Firefighters were called to the old rectory at West Tanfield yesterday for the second time in three days.
The building, next to the parish church of St Nicholas, suffered major damage when the roof caught fire on Tuesday.
But fire crews from Ripon, Bedale and Harrogate were summoned back to the site, near Ripon, at 8.50am yesterday when smoke was seen.
Firefighters discovered the smoke was coming from the roof space above a first floor bedroom.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log says:
“This was believed to be caused by hotspots from the previous fire.
“Crews used one hose reel jet to cool the beams and set up an aerial ladder platform to carry out observation from above and check for further hotspots.”
Read more:
- Roof fire causes ‘serious damage’ to old rectory near Ripon
- Five Harrogate firefighters could lose jobs in plans to reduce service