Chief Fire Officer, Roy Wilshire has provided written answers to questions put to him by the Fire and Rescue Safety Plan Topic Group, which directly contrast with information he has provided to the public and his own firefighters.
The County Council Topic Group asked the Chief to respond to evidence provided by the local FBU which challenged the “new” 10 and 13 minutes attendance standards
Chief Fire Officer, Roy Wilshire stated: “Measurement of attendance time has always been and will continue to be from the time the station was alerted.”
However, the Draft Community Safety Plan, including the Fact Sheets for Royston, Radlett, Bovingdon and Watford clearly state that the 10 and 13 minute attendance standard “include call handling and turnout time” (www.hertsdirect.org/fire).
The Chief Fire Officer needs to make his mind up, either the proposed new attendance time of 10 minutes for the first fire engine includes 3-5 minutes call handling and turnout time as stated in the Draft Document, or as he now states, “from the time the station was alerted”. It can’t be both!
The FBU contends that even the 10 and 13 minute attendance times are too long for members of the public to wait for fire engines to arrive from the time they make their emergency call – in our line of work, seconds and minutes are the difference between life and death!
If the Chief Fire Officer’s latest answer is true then in reality the “new” attendance times he proposes for the arrival of fire engines in an emergency will be nearer 15 and 18 minutes, rather than the 10 and 13 minutes he has put out for public consultation.
At the same meeting, held at County Hall on the 24th January 2006, the Chief Fire Officer was forced to provide evidence that clearly showed more Emergency Calls and more Property Fires on Watford Station Ground during the night shift than during the day. Watford faces a reduction in night time fire cover under the proposed Community Safety Plan.
