A 60 year old man has died as a result of a fire at his home in Lewisham, south London, a stones throw away from the closed Downham fire station – one of 10 fire stations the mayor closed in 2014. The news comes just as Boris Johnson has axed 13 fire engines from the capital, despite objections from the fire authority which runs the brigade.
The fatal incident follows on from two similar incidents over the past few months in Camden and Islington where firefighters missed their attendance time target to fires of six minutes.
Paul Embery, Fire Brigades Union regional secretary in London, said: “If Downham fire station had remained open firefighters would have been mobilised to the scene a lot more quickly. Given that the gentleman was alive when he was rescued, it’s possible that he would have survived had the fire station still been open.
“As he leaves city hall to realise his lifetimes ambition to become prime minister Boris Johnson must take responsibility that his reckless cuts to the London Fire Brigade have cost people their lives.
“If there was anytime to reconsider cuts to frontline services in the capital, it is now. Over the past months we’ve had three fatal emergencies that may have been avoided had fire stations remained open. If Boris Johnson was focused on his mayoral day job, and actually cared about the safety of Londoners, he’d be aware of this. Instead he has ordered more fire engines for the axe. He is an absolute disgrace.”
Raymond Lister, 86, died in a fire at his home in Islington in February after emergency response times were breached. Since 2013, the borough of Islington has lost three of its five fire engines. Two disappeared when Clerkenwell fire station was closed by the mayor.
Earlier this month a coroner recorded an accidental death verdict for Choi Yip, the 85 year old who jumped to his death from his third floor Camden flat as it was engulfed in flames. His local fire station, Belsize, was shut down in 2014 meaning it took longer for firefighters to reach him.
Fully costed alternative proposals put forward by chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) resources committee Andrew Dismore AM, which would see the 13 fire engines returned along with a range of back office efficiencies and further re-prioritisations to meet the budget gap, were ignored by the mayor.
An official London Fire Brigade public consultation over the move found fewer than one in five of the public support plans to cut 13 London fire engines.
