Fire chiefs urged to charge for rescues (From Gazette & Herald)

Fire chiefs urged to charge for rescues

FIRE chiefs in North Yorkshire are being urged to impose charges for pulling people out of car crashes and for pumping out flooded homes.

The Government has written to the county's fire authority "drawing attention" to their powers to bill people for non-fire emergencies.

The powers have existed for decades, but it is believed that only Staffordshire has ever made use of them - and it quickly stopped after protests.

Now guidance sent out by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has alerted every fire authority to the failure to impose call-out charges.

Fire chiefs are allowed to reclaim the cost they have incurred - which could stretch to more than £200 for the worst car crashes.

Bills could also be sent out for actions such as releasing a cat stuck up a tree or in a bid to cut the number of false alarms.

North Yorkshire's fire chief Eric Clark said he had not yet received any notification from the ODPM. But he has concerns about charges for emergency services.

Mr Clark said fire authorities had not ignored the legislation which allows fire chiefs to claim the costs they have incurred but they did not have the powers to make the charges, unlike the NHS and ambulance service.

It could result in a situation, said Mr Clark, where someone could be asked to sign a form agreeing to take responsibility for payment when they were trapped in a car or where their home was underwater through flooding.

However, Mr Clark said, he would welcome powers which would enable the fire authority to pass on charges to insurance companies where appropriate.

He said: "There should be pragmatic means of re-charging."

If individuals were charged for being rescued from car crashes or floods, it was only a short step to charging people for dealing with fires, he said.

"The public has a right to expect the fire service to turn out in an emergency. The alternative is for householders to decide whether they can afford to pay £1,000 or less to deal with a fire, which is totally unrealistic.

An ODPM spokesman said: "These are not new powers. We are drawing attention to them because they are not being used, to encourage fire authorities to do that."

It is feared that imposing the charges will push up insurance premiums, because residents and motorists are likely to claim back the cost.

But defenders of the move point out the NHS already charges insurers for ambulance services and medical treatment following road accidents.

And police forces have also been known to send out bills for the cost of clearing up the road after crashes.

The new guidance accompanied the Government decision to reject a recommendation by an independent review that charges should be made for a wider range of services.

Sir George Bain's inquiry estimated that more than £100m could be raised in this way within three years.

The threat of charges came as the Government pressed ahead with the introduction of legislation allowing it to impose a pay deal on firefighters.

It follows the Fire Brigades Union's rejection of the latest pay offer of 16pc over three years - raising the prospect of a new wave of strikes.

Updated: 13:16 Wednesday, May 14, 2003