Blaze reveals firefighter shortage

A PLEA for help has been issued by a fire boss after a lack of recruits meant a station in Wiltshire was unable to tackle a blaze – just 300 metres away.

Crews from Gillingham, Shaftesbury and Wincanton were called to a property fire in Mere yesterday morning as there were not enough firefighters at the local station to deal with the situation.

The firefighters called in from Dorset and Somerset managed to contain the fire to the shed and kitchen roof, saving the house from more serious damage.

Andy Cole, area manager for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said that the blaze, which started in a shed but spread to a neighbouring property, could have been dealt with more quickly if more staff had been on call.

He said: “Firefighters did a great job of saving the house involved in this incident. This fire occurred about 300m from Mere Fire Station but unfortunately, due to lack of available firefighters, Mere was not available to attend. We have (tried) and continue to try to recruit oncall firefighters across Dorset and Wiltshire.

“This type of incident shows exactly why we need these new recruits. It took firefighters from Gillingham 12 minutes from the call to arrive at this incident and if Mere had been available, this response time could have been cut dramatically.”

On-call firefighters are paid staff who respond to their local station when they are required to attend incidents and help their local community. They receive the same levels of training and support as full-time colleagues. The service is particularly interested in hearing from females or those from underrepresented groups.