Cumbria’s fire crews say their campaign to stop the axing of the County’s only fire control centre will go on. The union says the plans are ill-thought out, a bad deal for council tax payers and could increase risk to the public and local fire crews.
Ade Kevern, FBU brigade secretary and a local firefighter said: “The council scrutiny panel rubber stamped the plans on 12 October but our campaign goes on. Our control centre has never failed when called upon to protect our communities at major incidents and the other 999 emergencies we deal with.
“These plans remain ill-thought out, a bad deal for council tax payers and could increase the risk to the public and fire crews. It’s a blow to the County with the loss of 12 highly skilled jobs that will never be replaced.
“The control centre is at the heart of what we do as a fire service. They are the critical point of contact between the public of Cumbria and the firefighters trying to assist them in real emergencies.
“The control is critical to managing the resources of the Cumbria fire service at all emergencies, especially major ones such as flooding. No one who does this work and understands it thinks that can be done from Cheshire.
“We are not convinced the technology will be in place if the move goes ahead to deal with all the work our fire control does. If the county council has it, we’d like them to demonstrate how it will work to those who currently work in our control.
“There is nothing we have heard to suggest that axing the control and shipping the work off to Cheshire is going to enhance our emergency response. This is slash and burn cuts and we may live to regret this if it goes ahead.
“The plans are a stepping stone for a further move from Cheshire’s control to a regional control centre which has already run into problems. Merseyside has already pulled out of the move, leaving the other fire services with at least a £1 million hole in the budget.
“We are not convinced the county councillors truly understand what they have signed up for and the cost which may hit them down the road. They must wake up and think again.”
