Person suffers smoke inhalation after Harrogate kitchen fireMayor praises ‘community spirit’ as investigation into Pateley Bridge blaze continuesNorth Yorkshire fire service improving, say inspectors

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is making “significant steps” after requiring improvement, say inspectors.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services inspected the service in spring 2022 for effectiveness and efficiency.

They rated it as “requires improvement” for effectiveness and “inadequate” for its efficiency in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risk.

However, following a visit in September this year, inspectors said the service was now making progress.

In a report published today, Michelle Skeer, His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire Services, said there was evidence that the service had improved.

She said:

“I am pleased to see the significant steps that the service has taken in response to the causes of concern we issued. 

“The strengthened working relationships between the enabling services have helped to change the working culture and improve staff understanding of the benefits that the collaboration can provide. 

“We saw evidence that showed the improvements made are sustainable and that they will continue to be monitored at a senior level.”

The Stray Ferret has approached North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for comment but not yet had a response.

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The move comes as North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel raised concern last week that the service’s response times had increased.

A meeting of the panel was told that people had to wait for an average of 13 minutes and nine seconds for firefighters to respond to incidents.

This compared with 11 minutes and 37 seconds the year before.

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, described the figure as “worrying”.

However, Zoe Metcalfe, Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said the service had been working “at pace to make considerable progress”.

Questions over future of North Yorkshire and Cornwall’s ‘shared’ fire control rooms

Questions are being raised over the future of a partnership which sees North Yorkshire and Cornwall’s fire control rooms share emergency calls at peak times.

At more than 300 miles apart, the fire services joined forces in 2016 with each call centre able to dispatch crews in the two counties.

It has been hailed as a move to make services more effective as the geographic distance means they are less likely to be affected by major incidents at the same time.

But the partnership is now being brought into question after plans were revealed to close Cornwall’s call centre and merge it with others elsewhere in England.

Cornwall Council, which administers the service, said all options are being considered for the control room and that a final decision would be made next year.

However, it would not comment on what a potential closure could mean for the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

At a recent Cornwall Council meeting, the proposals were met with protests from dozens of firefighters after further criticism from the Fire Brigades Union, which said it is opposing the “ridiculous move” in the interests of public safety.

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The issue has also been raised by Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat who represents Harrogate Fairfax on Harrogate Borough Council. He was contacted by a member of staff at Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service who said the proposals have caused “huge upset and emotional strain”.

Councillor Aldred has since has called on North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to carry out a review into the “critical” service.

In a statement, Conservative commissioner Zoë Metcalfe said the agreement with Cornwall “remains in place with no change” and that she had been reassured that talks would be held about any potential change. She said:

“My chief fire officer, Jonathan Dyson, has provided assurance of the current and future resilience of our control room in North Yorkshire.

“Jonathan is in regular contact with the chief fire officer of Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and the timescales for any decision and potential change to their control room allows North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to explore future resilience opportunities.

“As such, there is no current impact on our control room’s ability to handle 999 calls and to effectively mobilise our fire engines to emergencies.”

New North Yorkshire deputy chief fire officer appointed

Conservative Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe has appointed Mat Walker as the new deputy chief fire officer of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Walker, a 43-year-old father-of-three who has been in the role on an interim basis since June, will receive a salary of £95,294 plus an operational allowance.

He joined the fire and rescue service in 2003 in South Yorkshire before moving to a national role where he was involved in the response to major incidents including east coast flooding and the Salisbury Novichok attacks.

He has since worked in the West Yorkshire service, most recently as an area manager responsible for service assurance and improvement.

Mr Walker was appointed after three candidates were interviewed by an independent panel.

Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe said:

“I am delighted to be able to appoint Mat into this permanent role. He faced a strong challenge from an excellent field of candidates but I’m confident he’s the right person to help lead North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service on its continuing transformation.

“This is also an exciting time to be joining the service as we begin to put in place our refreshed plans on how to keep the people of North Yorkshire safe, and feeling safe over the next two years.”

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Mr Walker takes up the role at a time when unions have raised concerns over cuts worth around £8m a year.

At Harrogate fire station, it means the number of night-time fire engines will be reduced to just one.

At a meeting this month, it was revealed North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s fire engine availability was classed as being at a “critical” level for 10% of the time during May this year.

This level refers to the service having fewer than 32 staffed engines and other appliances available across North Yorkshire. Commissioner Metcalfe described availability as “incredibly concerning”.

Harrogate firefighter brands plans to rely on one fire engine ‘farcical’

A Harrogate firefighter has spoken out against proposals to cut the number of overnight fire engines in the town.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s Office held a roadshow in Harrogate town centre yesterday to discuss its new three-year plan for the county’s fire service.

Its proposals include reducing the number of fire engines stationed in Harrogate overnight from two to one.

The plans would also see the station lose its tactical response vehicle, which would be moved to an on-call station elsewhere in the county.

The Stray Ferret went along to yesterday’s roadshow, which was not attended by Zoe Metcalfe, the police, fire and crime commissioner.

We spoke to Harrogate resident and firefighter of 16 years, Steve Applewood, who described the plans as “ridiculous” and a matter of huge concern.

He said a large fire or a fire that puts lives at risk required two water pumps and therefore two fire engines.

Harrogate Fire Station, Skipton Road.

Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road.

If only one was available at night, Harrogate firefighters would have to wait 10 minutes for a crew to arrive from Knaresborough, he added.

“A 10-minute wait at a house fire is a long time. It also doesn’t give your first breathing apparatus crew a back-up team so in 10 minutes they could have worn down their air supply but with the delay on the second unit there isn’t another crew to take over straight away.

“Or sometimes, tactically, we send two teams in two directions and we wouldn’t have that option straight away.”

Changes are ‘farcical’

Currently one emergency fire engine and a tactical response unit operate in Harrogate overnight, which Mr Appleword accepted did not guarantee two crews with breathing apparatus. But he said the driver of the tactical response unit could become another member of the breathing apparatus crew if necessary.

He said colleagues thought the proposed changes were “farcical” adding:

“I’m against most of them, I think it’s ridiculous they’re looking at cutting the cover in Harrogate by 50%. It’s a real concern for us, a 10-minute wait could be the difference between life and death.”

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Currently, 10 crew members cover each shift in Harrogate and Mr Appleyard said the amount of new housing being built in the town  was an added factor to consider with any planned reduction in service.

Councillors and a firefighter’s union have raised their concerns in recent weeks.

Tom Thorp, deputy monitoring officer for the commissioner’s office, who spoke to people at yesterday’s event, told us:

“It’s been a mix [of opinions], people can see the sense in some of it and for others it’s a concern. For us it’s about explaining the proposals and getting people’s opinions.”

Staff from the commissioner’s office will be holding pop-up roadshows across the county over the next nine weeks, returning to Harrogate on July 19.

People are encouraged to complete a survey on the proposals and share their views.

Focus on preventing fires

Ms Metcalfe has previously said her proposals focus on preventing fires.

“The role of a fire and rescue service has changed and continues to change, with only 26% of our incidents last year relating to a fire emergency.

“We want to ensure we are addressing our current and future challenges and that we have the capacity to prevent and protect to stop incidents happening in the first place and prevent harm before it can take place, while also having the capacity to respond to emergencies when they do take place. We are confident these proposals would do that.

“Inevitably, there are some areas where the setup of the service would change but I’m confident the right people, right equipment and the right support would continue to be available to everyone.”

Cuts to Harrogate fire crews would ‘put money before lives’, says ex-firefighter

A former firefighter and now councillor has hit out at proposals to cut the number of night-time fire engines in Harrogate to just one.

Independent councillor Sid Hawke, who worked as a retained firefighter for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in Ripon, said the plans would “put money before lives”.

Harrogate fire station currently has two fire engines operating 24 hours a day, but this could be reduced to just one at night under the proposals out to consultation.

Last night both appliances were summoned to fires in commercial bins in Harrogate town centre — this will not be possible if the proposals go ahead.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is asking residents for their views on the plans as part of county-wide proposals, which she said would save over £1.5 million a year – yet she insisted they are not cost-cutting measures.

Cllr Hawke, an Independent member of Harrogate Borough Council and newly-elected mayor of Ripon, said:

“You can’t put money before lives.

“It’s a big town is Harrogate. If there were two shouts at one go, what would the fire station do?

“They could call in support, but that would be from Boroughbridge, Thirsk or anywhere, and somebody could lose their life in that time.”

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Cllr Hawke left the fire service around 10 years ago and said it does not receive the financial support it needs to respond to emergencies quickly. He has called on Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative, to scrap the proposals and instead increase the number of fire engines and staff.

Cllr Hawke said: 

“I don’t care how much could be saved – there is money in budgets elsewhere to be dug into without putting lives at risk.

“I think we need more firefighters – I really do.”

Fire service ‘has changed’

The proposals are detailed within a document which sets out how the fire service will deploy staff and equipment over the next three years.

The Risk and Resource Model has been drawn up based on “extensive risk assessments” looking at the likelihood and severity of emergencies including fires, road traffic collisions and water related incidents.

The document is out to consultation until August 14 and Ms Metcalfe said it reflected a changing role for the fire service.

Ms Metcalfe, who is also a Harrogate borough councillor, said there is higher demand for services during daytime hours in Harrogate and that fire-related incidents now make up a small proportion of what the fire service does.

She said: 

“The role of a fire and rescue service has changed and continues to change, with only 26% of our incidents last year relating to a fire emergency.

“We want to ensure we are addressing our current and future challenges and that we have the capacity to prevent and protect to stop incidents happening in the first place and prevent harm before it can take place, while also having the capacity to respond to emergencies when they do take place.

“We are confident these proposals would do that.”