36 fire fatalities in the last 2 months across the UK

Figures released show that there have been 36 fire fatalities across the UK in the last 2 months.

In a recent press release, CFOA (Chief Fire Officers Association), dated 4 February 2011,  stated that there had been 32 fatalities in the last 2 months:

Strathclyde FRS recently reported a ten year high spike in figures and increases in dwelling fires, fire deaths and injuries have been seen in other areas of the country. Peter Holland added, “Tragically we are aware of 32 fatalities which have occurred over the last two months across the UK in Derbyshire, West Midlands, Lancashire, Cheshire, Lothian & Borders, Strathclyde, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Humberside, Essex, South Wales and Tayside.”

Unfortunately on the day of release, tragically a further 4 fire deaths have been reported; one in North Tyneside (source: A 91-year-old woman has died after a fire at her North Tyneside home),  two women died in a tower block fire in Lewisham, London (source: Two women die in Deptford tower block blaze), with another woman from this incident seriously ill in hospital. The day after, on Sunday 5 February, a pregnant girl, aged 17, died in a flat fire in Newport, South Wales (source: Pregnant girl, 17, dies in Newport flat fire).

Shockingly, this brings the total fire deaths to 36 in just two months.

The Fire Brigades Union recently repeated it’s warning that cuts will cost lives, as response times slow (source: FBU says cuts will cost lives, as response times slow).

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary said: “Every second counts when there’s a fire. Our job as firefighters is to rescue people and we aim to get to every incident as quickly as we can.

“But the public should know that cutting firefighter jobs, fewer fire engines and other cuts will delay our intervention. The planned cuts to the service will cost lives if they go ahead. They must be stopped.”

Related links:

Fire Brigades Union

CFOA

BBC News Online

FBU says cuts will cost lives, as response times slow

The Fire Brigades Union is warning that cuts to the fire and rescue service will put lives at risk, after a spate of high-profile house fires. The union advises the public to “get out and stay out” in the event of a fire and to call professional firefighters to tackle any blaze.

However the union is warning that cuts will worsen the service. Government figures show that average response times to house fires have slowed over the last decade from 5.5 minutes to 7.3 minutes.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary said: “Every second counts when there’s a fire. Our job as firefighters is to rescue people and we aim to get to every incident as quickly as we can.

“But the public should know that cutting firefighter jobs, fewer fire engines and other cuts will delay our intervention. The planned cuts to the service will cost lives if they go ahead. They must be stopped.”

The FBU wants fire services and governments across the UK to follow the example of the Scottish government and investigate how to improve response times to house fires.

Contact:
Helen Hague 07889 792 360

Related links:

Fire Brigades Union

Surrey County Council propose one of the slowest emergency response times standards in the UK

The Fire Brigades Union is urging Surrey County Council to stop misleading the public and set a response standard that really protects the public.

Surrey County Council has released summary documentation to the public, which states: “We aim to have one fire engine at these critical incidents within 10 minutes and a second one within 15 minutes on 80% of occasions.”

But it makes no mention of when that time is measured from. Nationally emergency response times are measured from the time a call for assistance from a member of the public is received, to when a fire engine has arrived at the incident.

Surrey’s proposed standard does not start the clock until the fire engine has been mobilised. This makes a considerable difference.

The average time taken from Time of Call to an appliance booking mobile is;
Wholetime fire engine 3 minutes and 17 seconds
Retained duty fire engine 6 minutes and 25 seconds
(Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Performance Data Report, November 2009)

Surrey County Council are proposing that the first fire engine should be in attendance within 10 minutes to comply with the standard, but in reality the real time could be as much as 16 minutes and 25 seconds and still comply. This is over double the current standards response time.

Richard Jones, FBU brigade secretary for Surrey said: “We have challenged this misleading Emergency Response Standard but there are no plans to come clean and include the call handling and mobilising time in the standard. Since we have already brought this to the attention of the council and they have not made any changes to the proposed standard or clarified the detail with the public we conclude that the standard is designed to be deliberately misleading.

“A Response Standard should measure the time taken to respond with a fire engine to a call from the public and not from when the fire engine leaves the fire station; if that measurement of time had a name it would be a Drive Time Standard.

“We urge Surrey County Council to stop misleading the public who cannot see the vitally important difference highlighted above from the documentation available in the public domain.”

For further information please contact:

Richard Jones 07769 249 097

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