Harrogate district firefighters tackled four “significant incidents” in the space of just over an hour last night.

Two fire engines from Harrogate were mobilised, along with appliances from Knaresborough, Ripon, Boroughbridge and Summerbridge.

The number of overnight fire engines at Harrogate is due to be reduced from two to one under plans by North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe.

Firstly, crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough were called to a fire in the basement of a pub at Bond End, Knaresborough at 2.24am.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log said:

“This was caused by spontaneous combustion of warm laundry in a basket and caused fire damage to the laundry only, there was smoke damage to the entire property.

“Crews used four breathing apparatus, one hose reel jet, a thermal imaging camera and a positive pressure ventilation fan to extinguish the fire.”

Because Harrogate and Knaresborough firefighters were still dealing with this, crews from Ripon and Boroughbridge had to be drafted in at 2.58pm to a house fire on St Leonard’s Road in Harrogate caused by an electric heater which was too close to combustible materials.

One man had got out of the property by the time they arrived thanks to the smoke alarm going off. The incident log said:

“Crews used four breathing apparatus, one hose reel jet, thermal imaging camera and a backpack sprayer to extinguish the fire which was caused by an electric heater too close to combustible materials.”

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The firefighters’ night was far from over.

At 3.11am, firefighters from Harrogate and Summerbridge used hydraulic cutting equipment to extract a man from his car following a single vehicle crash on the B6161 at Beckwithshaw.

Then at 3.38am, an officer and a crew from Knaresborough attended a single vehicle crash on the B6161 at Leathley. A man, believed to be drunk, had broken his nose and was out of the vehicle where he was left in the hands of police.

A Harrogate Fire Station spokesperson said:

“Fire crews in the Harrogate district last night had four significant incidents all at the same time.

“Resources were stretched but able to assist in all incidents.”

The spokesperson said “smoke alarms really do save lives” and the fire  caused by the electric heater “is not unique”. They added:

“Firefighters nationwide are warning of the increased risk of fire due to unsafe use of electric heaters as people try to keep down costs during the winter.”

Safety advice from Electrical Safety First if you have an electric heater

• Ensure the device is on a level surface, well away from anything or anyone that could knock it over
• Ensure it is is well away from combustible materials, such as paper, furniture or curtains
• Ensure it is never used to dry clothes
• Ensure it is never left unattended for long periods while in use, or while you are asleep
• Don’t use an extension lead to power a heater as they can easily be overloaded
• Regularly inspect the heater for damage and deterioration

The absence of police custody facilities in parts of North Yorkshire is taking teams of officers out of action for up to four hours at a time while they drive detainees around, a meeting has heard.

Members of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel have asked commissioner Zoe Metcalfe to provide a report amid concerns over the length of time it takes officers across the north of North Yorkshire to travel with those arrested to custody suites in Harrogate and Scarborough, due to the closure of cells in Richmond and Northallerton.

Custody suites are areas within police stations where people are taken when they are arrested.

The issue has been repeatedly raised as a concern by community leaders, particularly following outbreaks of antisocial behaviour as pandemic lockdown restrictions were eased.

Councillors had claimed the distances involved in arresting people is serving as a deterrent to functional policing in parts of the county.

Panel member Martin Walker, a former judge, told Ms Metcalfe he had received various reports that police officers were “not arresting people that perhaps they should” because of the length of time it was taking to travel to custody suites. He added:

“I can’t see there’s any other reason for doing it than saving money.”

The meeting heard the Northallerton custody suite had been closed since the town’s police station moved into the police and fire service’s headquarters at the former Rural Payments Agency offices.

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Conservative councillor Peter Wilkinson said the commissioner at the time, Julia Mulligan, had promised a report into the effectiveness of the closure and gave reassurances that Darlington and Northallerton police stations would be used for custody when required.

He said it had since emerged that the force was using Harrogate’s custody facilities, which took up to four hours’ of officers time. Cllr Wilkinson said:

“This is having a detrimental effect on response times in Hambleton.”

£15m savings

In response, Ms Metcalfe said when the decision to close Northallerton’s custody suite was made in 2017 the force estimated the average cost of building custody facilities was £15m.

She said she would monitor and review the situation with the chief constable, but the demand for custody facilities in the Northallerton area, similarly to Ripon, did not support a custody suite.

Mrs Metcalfe said the force had instead invested heavily in creating “voluntary interview suites” across the county.

She said a government inspection of the force’s custody system earlier had raised no concerns about the transporting of detainees to custody suites. Ms Metcalfe said:

“I do hope this provides members with some assurance that these arrangements have been based on extensive assessments and the recent inspection.”

“The public quite rightly expect the police to maximise its assets to use public money effectively.

“Offenders are only brought into custody when it is a necessity and proportionate to do so.”

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.”

A councillor has claimed the majority of people in his ward now support a 20mph speed limit — but enforcement issues mean any change is unlikely.

Paul Haslam, who represents Old Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council, raised the issue with Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Speaking at a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny committee last week, Cllr Haslam asked Ms Metcalfe:

“In my area, Bilton and Woodfield, I would say the majority of residents want the whole area to be 20mph. At what stage will police enforce this?”

Campaigners across the country are calling for a speed limit of 20mph to be normal on residential streets and in town and village centres as part of the 20’s Plenty initiative.

Ms Metcalfe said the police and the council “don’t have the resources to be constantly enforcing a 20mph zone”, adding:

“I don’t necessarily agree with 20’s Plenty because for every one person that says they want 20mph there is one who says they don’t.”

She added she could see 20mph limits working “in certain circumstances, like outside a school,” but not as a general measure.

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Tom Thorp, assistant chief executive at the commissioner’s office, said “police enforcement of 20mph limits is difficult”. He said:

“The types of road that want to go 20mph are very residential urban roads and it’s simply not possible necessarily to do the enforcement on those roads easily.”

Mr Thorp and Ms Metcalfe agreed that although police enforcement was problematic, local authorities could introduce more targeted speed restriction measures, for instance speed humps and chicanes, in specific areas, such as near schools. Mr Thorp said:

“There’s an awful lot that we should be doing around prevention before we get to actual enforcement.”

He added North Yorkshire County Council already did this through the  York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, which is a partnership of agencies working tp reduce road deaths.

More speed cameras?

Cllr Haslam questioned why Bilton and Jennyfields appeared to have different approaches.

“If you go to Jennyfields you will see the whole Jennyfields estate is 20mph and I don’t see any reason why the residents of Bilton and Woodfield can’t have the same scenario.”

Cllr Haslam said “camera enforcement works” in 20mph zones in London, adding “I don’t see why we can’t look at that”.

But Mr Thorp said:

“There’s a significant cost to camera enforcement and if we were looking to do that across the piece I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to what that would cost.

“In terms of managing expectations, sometimes putting in 20mph makes it worse.”

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:

“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 pledged to tackle the county’s “woefully low” prosecution rate for rape.

According to government figures, just nine rape allegations reached court in North Yorkshire between April 2021 and March 2022.

Ms Metcalfe told a meeting this week she planned to visit the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit in Leeds to learn how North Yorkshire could improve its prosecution rate.

The unit consists of lawyers who are specially trained in dealing with allegations of rape, serious sexual offences and child abuse.

Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative who was elected commissioner last year, was responding to a question from Victoria Oldham, the Conservative councillor for Washburn (pictured below), at this week’s Harrogate Borough Council overview and scrutiny committee. Cllr Oldham asked:

“Are you satisfied with the percentages taken through to prosecution?”

Ms Metcalfe replied:

“No I am not. It is woefully low and it needs to get a lot better.”

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Ms Metcalfe said she frequently raised concerns with the Crown Prosecution Service and that violence against women and girls was one of her key priorities.

Cllr Oldham asked whether underfunding was the cause of the problem.

‘Myriad of factors’

Tom Thorp, interim assistant chief executive at the commissioner’s office, replied there were a “myriad of factors involved”, such as collecting evidence, victims not wanting to participate and being unable to locate suspects. Mr Thorp added:

“Then they have to meet evidential thresholds, which can be difficult and even if they get through to prosecution there is no guarantee they will convict.

“Our conviction rate when we get to prosecution is really good – about 80%. That’s one of the highest in the country. Once we get through we know the quality of our cases is good for those that we do take to prosecution so yes, it is about getting more prosecutions.”

Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader in Harrogate and Knaresborough, said she was “shocked to learn violence against women and girls is very high”.

Ms Metcalfe said she had launched a strategy to address violence against women and girls that identified gaps in provision and how to work in partnership better. She added:

“I would like more safer places and there will be investment in that going forward.”

The majority of people support controversial changes to the number of fire engines based in Harrogate, according to consultation documents.

North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe confirmed yesterday Harrogate fire station will be reduced to one fire engine at night as part of a three-year blueprint for countywide fire services.

However, the station will have two fully operational appliances during the day rather than the current model of just one plus a smaller tactical response vehicle.

Ms Metcalfe’s decision followed a three-month consultation in which concerns were expressed that the loss of a second appliance from 10pm to 9am could put lives at risk.

But her 207-page consultation report, published yesterday, said 46% of respondents to an online survey supported the changes to Harrogate fire station whereas 40% oppose them.

The report, however, also said 53% of respondents whose closest fire station is Harrogate disagreed with the changes. Additionally, it highlighted opposition within focus groups held as part of the consultation.

It said:

“Those who supported the proposals did so on the grounds that they are evidence-based and represent a better use of resources in offering better capability during the day when needed.

“However, even if they understood the rationale behind it, most focus group participants ultimately opposed the proposals.

“The main worries were around the ability to provide an adequate nighttime response, especially to incidents requiring two or more appliances. Related to this, many questionnaire comments centred on the potential for more severe incidents at night, including house fires.”

Zoe Metcalfe and fire officials answer questions about her proposals.

Ms Metcalfe also suggested some people over-estimate the number of fires in North Yorkshire. She said:

“There is also some very different views of what and how high is the service’s demand versus the reality.

“The fact is that in North Yorkshire we are lucky that our service’s demand is low by comparison to the rest of the country. Moreover, what they attend has changed significantly, with fires making up a smaller proportion than before.”

The consultation, which ran for 12 weeks from May 23, 2022 to August 14, 2022, cost £30,000.

Savings made by the changes will be used to fund fire prevention work and boost on-call fire stations in rural areas.

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.

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner has said she would still consider proposed changes to Harrogate’s fire crews “even if the service had millions of pounds in the bank”.

Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is due to announce her decision on the plans to cut the number of night-time fire engines to just one on Thursday.

She has argued that the changes would allow Harrogate fire station to have two better-equipped fire engines during the day when emergencies are more likely to occur.

Commissioner Metcalfe has also said the proposals – which are part of a new risk and resource model – would allow for investment in fire prevention.

Asked at a council meeting last night whether she would still consider the plans if the fire service was better funded, commissioner Metcalfe said she “would still be doing this” and that she was “very assured” residents will be “kept safe”.

She said:

“We are always looking at different ways to get additional money into the fire service.

“We have this juxtaposition where North Yorkshire Police is what I would call well funded, but the fire service has just only got a balanced budget.

“As far as I am concerned about the risk and resource modelling, I would still be doing this even if we had a lot of money in the bank.”

Currently, Harrogate fire station has one fire engine which can respond to all emergencies and a smaller “tactical response” vehicle that both operate around the clock.

Under the proposals put forward by the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the smaller vehicle would be replaced by a larger fire engine, but it would only be crewed during the day.

The plans have drawn criticism from North Yorkshire’s Fire Brigades Union which said the changes along with similar proposals for Scarborough and Huntington would leave the county with a “second-rate emergency response service that will put lives at risk”.

Commissioner Metcalfe has repeatedly insisted that the proposals have been based on “extensive” risk assessments which look at when and where emergencies are most likely to occur.

She also said the changes would allow for improvements in other areas including the fire service’s on-call model which means only five out of 38 fire stations are currently crewed 24 hours a day.

These are Acomb, Harrogate, Huntington, Scarborough and York fire stations.

Commissioner Metcalfe told last night’s meeting: “It is really important to realise that our community risk profile makes sure that we identify where the risks are and that the right amount of resources are in place.

“It is also absolutely right that we invest in prevention and protection, as well as our on-call model which desperately needs attention.”

Firefighters and councillors have called on Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner for North Yorkshire, to tackle the long-running issue of Starbeck crossing holding up emergency vehicles.

As many as nine trains an hour can pass through Starbeck Station heading to Leeds or York.

It means when the barriers are down there are waits of several minutes for all vehicles, including fire engines, police cars and ambulances.

At a Harrogate Borough Council meeting last night, Liberal Democrat councillor for Hookstone, Pat Marsh, asked Ms Metcalfe if she’d had feedback from firefighters about the problem as she believes delays could potentially be costing lives.

Cllr Marsh said:

“It worries me, that a five minute wait can be the difference between doing something and not.”

In response, Ms Metcalfe said the problem has been raised to her by both firefighters at Harrogate and Knaresborough fire stations.

However, she said firefighters “know exactly what times trains come and go” and can also use other routes to avoid the crossing.

Ms Metcalfe said:

“I went back to the fire service and they quite rightly said that out of Knaresborough fire station you can also turn left out of the fire station and go into Harrogate via Morrisons. They can also go into Starbeck and can turn right into Bogs Lane.

“There’s not just one way into Harrogate. Even if they did get to a crossing they can call ahead (to Network Rail) to let them know they are coming down.”

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Her response didn’t please fellow Conservative and councillor for Old Bilton, Paul Haslam, who also chairs Transport for the North‘s scrutiny committee.

Cllr Haslam told Ms Metcalfe he was “a little disappointed that you weren’t upset about the crossing at Starbeck”, particularly as it’s an issue that was raised to her by the firefighters themselves.

He added:

“I’ve tried for five or six years to get Network Rail to improve technology that would reduce waiting time to two minutes but they’ve refused to do it at the moment.

“I feel if your firemen had been upset that could have been leverage. I’m concerned about it for lots of reasons. The cars are just idling.

“Network Rail have told me all the reasons they can’t do it but they’ve also told me what technology they need.”

Ms Metcalfe promised Cllr Haslam that she would raise the issue with Network Rail.