‘We could not cope with fire like Grenfell’ West Midlands Fire Brigades Union: Service ‘lacks resources’ after cuts
WEST Midlands Fire Service would not be able to cope with a fire of the magnitude of the Grenfell Tower horror that befell London last week, it has been claimed.
At least 79 people were killed in the Kensington tragedy which was tackled by 250 London firefighters.
Their heroic actions have been credited with saving the lives of countless residents.
But West Midlands Fire Brigades Union secretary Steve Price-Hunt said cuts had left too few firefighters and not enough equipment in this region to cope with a similar incident.
He said since 2010 the UK Fire Service had lost 10,000 firefighters and “dozens of stations have been closed and large amounts of fire engines scrapped”.
“Attendance times to incidents are increasing and fire deaths are going up,” he said. “In the West Midlands we have also lost hundreds of firefighters and fire engines have been downgraded or removed. Over 250 firefighters attended the tragic Grenfell incident in London. All cities in the UK have similar high rise towers.
“But in Birmingham, like every other city, we would not have the capability to mobilise that amount of resources – we would not have that many firefighters to cover the whole of the West Midlands let alone Birmingham.
“For high rise incidents aerial appliances are vital. Birmingham now only has one aerial appliance and this is at times not even immediately available to respond due to cuts in firefighter numbers at the station.
“And the appliance is not always crewed and could take a considerable amount of time to be made available.”
Mr Price-Hunt added: “At the London incident, fire control operators would have handled hundreds of calls, and mobilised resources as required whilst giving the public vital lifesaving advice.
“Up and down the country fire controls have been merged and, just like firefighter numbers, control operator numbers have been dangerously reduced.
“At times controls do not have the minimum required amount of operators – this is dangerous.”
The current death toll from the Grenfell Tower disaster has been put at 79, but is expected to grow much higher.
Councils across the UK have moved quickly to assure tower block residents they are safe in their homes, despite new figures showing just one per cent of the local authority-owned flats having communal sprinkler systems.
The Government has pledged a public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower tragedy but unions want more resources now.
There are fears the West Midlands Fire Service could fall below its agreed ‘establishment figure’ of 1,168 firefighters on call at stations, because of cuts and recruitment delays.
Mr Price-Hunt added: “My understanding is that we are now below the agreed minimum establishment figure.
“When incidents like Grenfell Tower happen you need the resources. In London over 600 firefighters have been lost, ten stations closed and 27 fire engines slashed.
“At the height of the London fire, 250 firefighters responded. I don’t believe we would have 250 firefighters on duty in the West Midlands on a night time.
“Response times are going up, there are less firefighters, it is taking longer to get there and the weight of attack is not as strong as it used to be. The cuts to the fire service are not fair, they are not right and they will put lives at risk.
“Enough is enough.”