Number of fire appliances 'will not be cut' (From Gazette & Herald)

Number of fire appliances 'will not be cut'

A RYEDALE fire officer has defended changes to the emergency service in North Yorkshire.

Divisional officer and Ryedale group manager Danny Westmoreland said: "North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has set an ambitious target to have 125 more people alive (who would have otherwise died in fires) through the work of the fire and rescue service by 2014."

He was responding to comments made by a retired senior fire officer, Pat Lane, from Wombleton, who last week warned that new fast response vehicles would turn up with only two firefighters at incidents.

He said: "There would be further delays in getting a full-scale turnout, which could result in the loss of life."

But DO Westmoreland said the fast-response vehicles would not replace fire engines. "The fast response vehicles will be mobilised to incidents that they are near to and able to respond to; however this is not instead of a fire appliance, but in addition to," he said. "The number of fire appliances is not being reduced in Ryedale or North Yorkshire. The fast response vehicles are additional units that will enable us to improve public safety through education and prevention activities, particularly in remote rural locations."

The new vehicles will probably be Mercedes vans, equipped with fire alarms and a speed matrix for use on the county's roads as well as some form of extinguisher and cutting equipment for use at accidents, and literature on fire prevention.

The vehicles, which will be crewed at Scarborough, York and Harrogate, will be deployed on the roads across the county. They are part of the brigade's draft integrated risk management plan. "Traditionally, we have been an intervention service dealing with incidents after they occur. In Ryedale over the last few years, we have carried out education and prevention activities without the infrastructure to support these activities," said DO Westmoreland.

He added: "Our target now is to attend incidents before they occur, therefore saving both public lives and money. A fire appliance can take some time to reach remote rural locations, so it is vital we can deliver prevention measures to these areas to prevent incidents from occurring in the first place."

For further information contact Danny Westmoreland, Ryedale group manager, on (01653) 692626 or 07710 378492.

Updated: 12:21 Wednesday, January 12, 2005