New fire chief vows to ‘reshape’ service
HE may well have the hardest job in emergency services in Greater Manchester.
Jim Wallace, the region’s new County Fire Chief, on a salary of £155,000, is facing a tough task after a controversial and exhausting 12 months for the brigade.
He has vowed to ‘reshape’ an organisation whose culture and management is under review following criticism in the wake of the Manchester Arena bomb.
The owner of a fulltime pilot’s licence, he hopes he can get damaged morale among crews to soar again.
The last year has seen the brigade’s leaders subjected to scathing public criticism. Yet frontline crews won deserved praise for tackling moorland fires over many weeks.
In March, the then acting Fire Chief, Dawn Docx, apologised unreservedly on behalf of the service for letting down the region in its ‘darkest hour’ after a review into last May’s Arena bombing found leadership failures had stopped crews from attending the scene.
Lord Kerslake, who published a report in March, was critical of the fire service’s response after the blast, which killed 22 people, describing the failure by those at the top of the organisation as ‘extraordinary’ and ‘incredible.’
The County Fire Officer in charge on the night on the attack, Pete O’Reilly, went off work in September 2017 and did not return before his retirement date in February this year, aged 51.
Last month, Mr O’Reilly said he will ‘always regret’ the delay in firefighters attending the aftermath atrocity.
But he laid the blame at the door of the police for failing to ‘have a conversation’ with the fire service about the threat level amid reports of a gunman.
In the wake of the Arena attack, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and his deputy Bev Hughes started a review into the brigade in March and this is ongoing.
In July, it identified ‘really serious issues’ with the state of the brigade’s buildings.
Mr Wallace was previously in charge of North- of the ern Ireland Fire Service. He has also previously worked in the Police and Fire Reform Team in the Scottish government and as Assistant Chief Officer in Hertfordshire.
He said: “I’m delighted to have taken up the role. This is an ideal opportunity to get in and reshape the organisation and I want to capitalise on the loyalty and commitment of staff.
“The resilience of the organisation and of the staff here gives us a platform to take the service forward with the capability that I know exists.”