There are over 1600 Fire Stations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and just under 400 in Scotland (including volunteer stations). But in Brigades up and down the country considerable numbers of retained fire engines are unusable every day because of staff shortages – “off the run” as it is known.
A widespread shortage of Firefighters working the Retained Duty System is one of the reasons behind this. The problem reflects serious, long-term recruitment and retention problems that urgently need to be addressed.
