31/10/2006 - Cabinet asked to put prevention on an equal footing with cure : Cumbria County Council

A package of measures to boost fire prevention work in Cumbria and provide a better match of resources to risk will be considered by Cumbria County Council’s cabinet when it meets in Kendal on 7 November.

The proposals pave the way for the biggest single investment in fire prevention work ever seen in Cumbria with around £500,000 earmarked for new safety initiatives and the securing of retained fire cover across the county.

A twelve week public consultation on Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service’s latest risk management plan ended last month.

All Fire and Rescue Services have to produce regular Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs) that put prevention on an equal footing with cure and make sure the right people and equipment and are in the right place at the right time.

The key elements in the Fire and Rescue Service plan which Cumbria County Council’s cabinet will be asked to approve next week are:

- Changes to crewing arrangements at Kendal fire station to reflect risk patterns in the town and free up more investment for fire prevention work which has already helped bring about a two thirds reduction in fire injuries across the county over the last three years.

- The introduction of Cumbria’s first ever road traffic collision response target with a fire appliance required to arrive at the scene of a serious accident anywhere on the county’s roads within 15 minutes.

- The replacement of underused second fire appliances at fire stations in Keswick, Windermere, Millom and Grange-over-Sands with new four wheel drive vehicles. Each of the new all-terrain vehicles will have a water carrying capability, breathing apparatus, first aid equipment, and cutting edge technology in the form of a newly developed water fogging system.

- Boosting the recruitment of retained firefighters, who crew nine in ten of the county’s fire appliances, through the introduction of a new salary scheme. The new scheme will, for the first time ever, pay retained firefighters in Cumbria for the actual hours they are on call and provide them with a pension.

Around 3,700 responses were received during the consultation period, which ended on 11 October. More than 95 per cent of responses were standard pro-forma letters produced and distributed to members of the public by the Kendal branch of the Fire Brigades Union.

Councillor Geoff Hodgson, cabinet member responsible for the Fire and Rescue Service, said: “These changes are about one very simple thing: saving more lives.

"If approved next week, these proposals herald a huge expansion in fire and accident prevention work across Cumbria which is already beginning to pay dividends with fewer people injured in property fires.

“The plans are the next step in one of the biggest transformations of the service since 1947 and are designed to make sure Cumbria has a flexible Fire and Rescue Service which is as equally adept at preventing fires as it is responding to them.

Cumbria's Chief Fire Officer Bernard Dolan says the status quo is not an option. “Change is always difficult, but we would be failing in our duty as guardians of the public's safety if we did not recognise that a Fire & Rescue Service cannot carry on providing fire cover designed for the world of 1947 while willfully ignoring the very different set of risks and challenges we face today." he said.

Mr Dolan continued: “At the heart of these proposals is the Fire and Rescue Service’s ability to continue responding to different emergencies within existing call-out standards which will not change as a result of these proposals."

Media enquiries to Mark Graham, Media Officer on 01228-606337

Notes for Editors

1. A copy of the papers to be considered by Cumbria County Council’s cabinet on 7 November can be found at the link below: