Wednesday’s four-hour fire service strike orchestrated by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) saw 32,000 of the movement’s 41,000 members downing tools. It affected 46 local fire services across England and Wales.
Thankfully, the London Fire Brigade’s Contingency Service swung into action and coped admirably. Emergency Fire Contingency Crews (EFCC) received 84 calls during the strike; three involved fire scenarios. Two hundred EFCC staff members at 13 locations across the capital were ready for all eventualities.
The fervent hope is that the dispute between the government and the FBU — which centres on an escalating row over firefighter pensions — can be resolved sooner rather than later.
Watch IFSECGlobal.com content and community manager Rob Ratcliff’s video report on the strike action.
Fire Control Rooms in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Maddiston (near Falkirk), Thornton (Fife), and Dumfries may be closed under plans put forward by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Board.
The BBC reported that, if this property rationalisation doesn’t take place, there could be ongoing costs of around GB pound 4.7 million per annum. That equates to 162 firefighter posts.
Fire Control Rooms in Johnstone and Dundee would be kept on under the proposals, which are currently out for consultation. These places would then take on all calls previously routed to the six Control Rooms earmarked for closure.
The Scottish government is leaving the final decision in the hands of the board.
Much debate on IFSECGlobal.com in the past week has focused on Rob Ratcliff’s report about the Basildon Council, in which fire expert Arnold Tarling takes council members to task over cladding set to be installed at the Felmores Estate.
There have been no fewer than 10 fire incidents in this area in the last decade, the most recent being a flat blaze at Bockingham Green last July. In response to residents’ calls for enhanced fire safety, the Basildon Council is set to install replacement cladding, as well as new sprinkler systems and updated electrics, starting next month.
Tarling’s not satisfied, though. He refers to the new cladding as little more than a “rain screen.”
Watch the BBC’s Inside Out for the bigger picture.
The government’s austerity measures could soon bite deep at the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. The Chorley Guardian reports that retained firefighters are now under threat of redundancy as the local authorities look to cut costs.
Retained firefighters crew manager Steve Blackledge is positive that some way could be found to avoid redundancies, perhaps by his men working in tandem with the full-time crews.
Retained firefighters are part-time staff members who answer emergency calls in their local area to ensure a crew is on scene as swiftly as possible.
The Leyland Guardian has reported that, as part of the cuts planned for Lancashire, the Bamber Bridge Fire Station could be downgraded to a part-time operation, with its “wholetime” crew moving on to Chorley.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver certainly felt the heat this week as a blaze took hold in his Barbecoa restaurant on London’s Cheapside in the heart of The City.
Four fire engines and more than 20 firefighters visited the scene near St Paul’s Cathedral on Tuesday morning. The blaze necessitated the evacuation of 150 people from a nearby shopping centre.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, and the good news is that no one was injured.
Ironically, the barbecue steakhouse venture’s website bills the new eatery — which offers a fantastic menu and private dining and is the first of its kind in the UK — as “a cathedral to fire and food.”
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OH NO! I am glad to hear no one was hurt in the fire. I love to watch Jamie Oliver on the food channel, I hope the restaurant is still there if I ever make it to London. 😉
Same here, Stacey. I love Jamie Oliver and watch his show all the time. I hope there wasn’t any serious damage and that no one was hurt. Now it’s time to wait for the investigations to find the cause.
Yes there was a heated debate on fires in Felmores Estate. It is good to read now that work is to start this month for which there was no starting date before. I still have reservations if measures carved out by the Council are enough, but at least we are anticipating the starting of reparations and works. Hopefully they will go on to do whatever is needed.
Good to see London Fire Brigade’s Contingency Service did a good job during the strike but it would be tempting fate if we rely on them too often. That is to say that this row over pensions between firefighters and government should be resolved soon or we may not have very good news at the end of the next strike.
@Hazel Chua
I am sure there is a lot of suspicion pointing at human error…with a slogan like the BBQ restaurant had. =)
Sure he’ll be fine, he’s got plenty of restaurants all over the place!
A cathedral to fire, interesting tagline indeed!
Work to improve the fire safety at Felmores has, for me, been a long time coming. Great to see some progress.
Yes, well, since then we’ve seen 1 cancelled strike and 2 more planned to come in the next week. Fingers crossed the contingencies continue to work, as no one, firefighters especially, wants to see people come to harm as the result of strikes.
@ Rob
I am sure you are right. =)
@ Rob
I am sure he got plenty of publicity from the event, especially with that tag line.