Save West Hartford On Call Fire Engine

Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service are proposing to cut one of the three 'on call' fire engines from West Hartford Fire Station in Cramlington to accommodate budget cuts imposed by the Conservative Government.

This will put lives at risk. Please sign our petition now to demand that no cuts to fire services take place, and that all cuts are opposed. The Government must be forced to provide adequate funding to protect public safety.

If the third fire engine is lost, it could mean that the fire crew on scene at your house fire could be waiting for up to 39 minutes before a breathing apparatus team could be sent in to try and save your home or rescue your family. It takes less than ten minutes to die from smoke inhalation. 

Your lives are being put at risk thanks to public services having to bow to the pressure of budget cuts imposed by the Government. Budget cuts, which are becoming increasingly unworkable and stretching public services to breaking point.

We ask that you support your local On Call Firefighters in their fight against this decision. The fight is not only to protect jobs, it is to protect you, the public, the local community.

Lobby your local MP, voice your concerns and join your Firefighters at the Town Council meeting at County Hall in Morpeth at 9AM on the 19th November to urge Councillors to vote against these proposals.

Fight the cuts! You can make a difference. Your Fire Service. Your Community. Your Safety!

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A call to arms for the public, local MPs and Town Councillors to petition against the proposed cuts to fire cover in South East Northumberland, namely Cramlington, Blyth, Bedlington, Seaton Deleval and surrounding areas.

On the 4th November 2015, Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service announced proposals to adapt and change the current Service Model to accommodate budget cuts imposed by the current Conservative Government. These changes include the removal of the On Call fire engine from West Hartford Fire Station in Cramlington. At present the On Call fire engine is one of three stationed there as well as the Service’s Special Rescue Unit and Incident Response Unit.

So what? I hear you say. If the On Call fire engine is removed there will still be two fire engines there, right? Wrong!
The second whole time appliance is consistently sent elsewhere in the County to provide cover for areas unable to maintain their own and therefore is not able to provide emergency response in the area in which it is supposed to be stationed. Unless staffing shortages across the Service can be rectified this will continue to take place even after the removal of the third On Call fire engine. This will leave Cramlington, Blyth, Bedlington, Seaton Deleval and surrounding areas covered by one fire engine staffed by four firefighters. Under current national operational guidelines a breathing apparatus team cannot be deployed with less than five firefighters in attendance.

This could mean that the fire crew on scene at your house fire could be waiting for a backup fire engine from either Pegswood (23 min response time), Gosforth (17 min response time), Tynemouth (24 min response time), West Denton (20 min response time) or further afield, such as Hexham (39 min response time) before a breathing apparatus team could be sent in to try and save your home or rescue your family. It takes less than ten minutes to die from smoke inhalation.

On more than one occasion the On Call fire engine has been the only available fire engine in South East Northumberland. This is the whole and honest truth and one that that the public should be aware of.