How many people can say they have given
Simon Pilling a wedgie ?
FCCL most certain have, we have driven a wedge of transparency into the Fire Authority Door and in 2013 we are going to continue hitting that wedge hard and making sure that every hit on this blog drives home to the Councillors on the board and WYFRS officers and staff that never again will they be allowed just to toe the line that is given to them by Simon and Co.
So lets start 2013 with a demonstration of WYFRS Spin..........
The FireFly Sticker
The WYFRS Version
Firefly is an unobtrusive safety marker system in the form of highly reflective stickers that will fit neatly on the base of the external doors and also on internal doors and door frames, to identify rooms where vulnerable people sleep.
It uses high visibility retro-reflective stickers which are visible to fire fighters in normal or low light levels, as well as atmospheres with high concentrations of smoke or dust.
And The Fire Fighter Version
We are now
replacing fire engines with “glow in the dark” stickers ! Fire fly is a scheme
which has us going into the areas which will have longer response times due to
the cut backs and doing Home Safety Checks.
We now have to put stickers on door
frames/doors at floor level on the ones the occupier is most likely to be in
when we finally arrive. So they are expecting the smoke level to be this far
down before a fire engine even turns up.
Also two Leeds area committees that were asked to fund this scheme refused to do so - these were the Inner South – (Covers City & Hunslet, Beeston& Holbeck, Middleton Park Wards) – and Outer South – (Covers Morley North, Morley South, Ardsley & Robin Hood and Rothwell Wards).
If this system is so good,
what happens in these wards now
But more importantly than that .................... a house fire with persons involved requires the attendance of not one BUT THREE fire engines. Steve Beckley (for more information on him click HERE ) at the fire authority meeting said that second pump attendance at fires would only increase by a few seconds. But if you live in Keighley, very soon your first appliance is going to be 10 minutes further away.......... we doubt the second will be 9 seconds behind it!!!!!
24 comments:
Now you should know that "at a door is not a door when it is ajar". Wedges are the worst possible thing for fire safety.
An experienced firefighter who knew his/her area would know the layout of different property types in their area and instinctively would know in which rooms people were likely to be. Unfortunately due to cuts and the operation of the "Pool", personnel are now expected to cover the whole of West York's, and so any local knowledge is diluted or now none existent. A fact is that when faced with fires, people do not always do what is expected, and especially children, will not always be where they would be expected to be! This is nothing more than a gimmick! You might just as well draw a large cross on your doors!
I think you should perhaps go and talk to the FFs who are involved as you are obviously way out of date
Well if anybody can give us a definitive answer regarding second pumps i for one would be interested to hear it. The "average" time is not worth the paper it is written on. And if you look at their own stats house fires are still featuring heavily. Times by ward are useless - electoral wards are huge - just look at Almondbury as an example.
Way out of date about what?
Having stumbled on this site by accident I cannot help but think there are a lot of people stuck in the past who can't seem to get to grips with the reality of the economic situation we are now in and the simple fact that we can't afford a fire station on every street corner and we can't afford the restrictive practices of a workforce stuck in the days of British Leyland - it might be different if we didn't give billions to foreign countries that squander it and to prop up the EEC not to mention pay benefits to wealthy workers and pensioners who don't need it but hey what's that got to do with the fire chiefs - its not their fault this coalition continues to throw away our money
I think we are all well aware of the economic situation and we could debate the Whys and Wherefores for ever. WYFRS are a public body and are supposed to be open and transparent. Its is clear, as has been shown on this blog, that they are far from that. We understand that there needs to be cuts however we don't accept the arguments put forward by the senior officers. They have misled the public and the elected members at every opportunity. As an organisation, from personal experience, they act more like the KGB or Gestapo. What would you rather have, Senior officers driving around in fancy cars, or fire engines there to respond every they are needed. I know which I would!
Having set up this site on purpose i can categorically say we are all firmly in 2013!
And i can evidence in black an white every statement i and many others have made on this site.
It is about being honest, not doing what many at WYFRS which is feather their own nests to the detriment of front line services. Its blatantly obvious that Simon Pilling could use his own car as could many others, do firefighters get a car allowance? No yet i would argue they are the ones who need decent cars to get to work, (and god forbid if they used them to go to the supermarket on the way home).
WYFRS have massaged figures to the extent they no longer have any validity, and i can prove it time and time again.
Its not about "fault" its about candour - a word you are going to hear a lot of in the coming weeks.
And give me a £28k a year firefighter with integrity any day over a fire chief with no shame or morals - read our post
http://www.firecutscostlives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/morals-dont-pay-mortgage.html
What some people on this site seem to want is to criticise others without providing a workable alternative like keeping clapped out old fire stations which are not in the right place any more and with clapped out arguments based on made up facts which are not real coupled with juvenile attacks on fire service managers - what's wrong with a car allowance for public sector workers - you will be suggesting they should catch the bus next - your argument is with the gang running the government now they do know how to feather a nest
thats the problem too many managers. Wyfrs needs indians not chiefs.
That's the same line the FBU used to come out with when the first big manpower reductions were made in the late 90s - people would die in their beds but what actually happened and this is a fact is that the number of fire deaths went down and down and down and continue to do so because of all the improvements in fire safety - this site is a front for the job creation wing of the FBU and anti management politicos who want to carry on with outdated outmoded and inefficient working practices to feather their own nests
Its amazing that it appears that those who criticize what we are trying to do, also wish to remain anonymous. At least they should have the courage of their convictions and leave their names!
Actually i am a UNISON steward. And have never made a secret of the fact FCCL works with the FBU not for them
And yes, i can prove WYFRS lie, i can prove senior officers do too. But for now i am prioritising creating a database to process the Oracle data we have. I can assure you i will write shortly about this.
time to put up or shut up - so far all you have done is make scandalous unfounded allegations agsinst the people who have done most to improve fire safety and drive down fire deaths - you should be ashamed
Bosshooch now that's a real identity why not micky mouse - I have a question how many fbu reps is the taxpayer paying for ? stopping that would pay for a fire crew - what are you trying to do apart from pursue a spiteful vendetta of malicious abuse against the best performing public sector management team in Yorkshire when you should be campaigning against the most savage attack on the public sector by any government in history - the money is there all right to pay for everything we need and the public are being conned but by Dave and nick not Simon and co
Dear Annoyed Mouse, First of all, If you had worked for WYF&RS over the last 30+ years, then I am surprised if you don't know the true identity of Bosshooch! Not being an FBU rep,I have no idea how many FBU reps the taxpayer is paying for. I do know that there is a legal obligation under H&S SRSC Regulations, to allow time off for Health and Safety officials, not only in the FBU but FOA (Fire Officers Association, and the RFU (Retained Firefighters Union, in fact any other representative body that represents employees. If you were a union member you should know this. They would be representing your interests (So I assume you're not)You refer to a "spiteful vendetta of malicious abuse. I wonder how much time and effort (and money) Senior management have wasted over the last few months, on the harassment and victimisation of a specific former employee, who was only making an opinion as is their right under the Human Rights Act! and how much this may cost them in future litigation costs! Enough to pay for several fire crews, I would think! I agree with your comments about attacks on the public sector we FCCL are campaigning against this at every opportunity. As is mentioned elsewhere on this Blog - "Protected Disclosure - is it time for somebody to blow the whistle?", EX ACO Martyn Redfearn had an ideal opportunity to do so at the The "Communities and Local Government Committee hearing, Funding of Fire and Rescue Services." However, as usual he waffled! along with his counterparts from the other "Met" brigades!. The Fire Authority had the opportunity to increase the council tax precept by a few pence a week which would have avoided this, but No!. As for the best performing public sector management team in Yorkshire, We know how the figures have been manipulated to support the cuts agenda, as the saying goes, Lies Damned lies and Statistics! Its easy to pull the wool over someone's eyes if they don't know the alternatives!
Sounds like the last contributor has a personal axe to grind ,what happened did Simon and co not let you have a maximum early retirement pension , this might explain all the personal vitriol passed off as a campaign against cuts ," concerned local taxpayer"
Thanks for that input, "Last Contributor-concerned local taxpayer", however it seems that you are jumping to conclusions. Where did the issue of "early retirement" come from?, there has been no mention of "retirement" or "pensions" or anyone associated with being a pensioner commenting on this blog, on behalf of FCCL! perhaps you are more knowledgeable in this matter, and we look forward to you providing evidence to support your comment - "Sounds like the last contributor has a personal axe to grind ,what happened did Simon and co not let you have a maximum early retirement pension this might explain all the personal vitriol passed off as a campaign against cuts". Having spoken to the former "employee" mentioned in the earlier comments, They are,as are we, and with consultation with other 'representatives' are of the opinion, that the comments you have made, could only have been based on prior medical/confidential evidence, which would be limited to but a few persons, even though comments are not relevant is this case we have to ask how you would be privy to such information? A breech of confidentiality perhaps?
Bit delusional bosshooch since I have no idea who you are apart from the fact you have told us you are or were a fireman and given the ranting nature of your constant attacks on fire brigade management you obviously have a personal axe to grind and there has to be a reason for that such as being sacked not getting the pay off deal you think you were owed or you could just be a bit barmy. I think its been established this site is a waste of time bye bye
Axe to grind is the understatement of the year! Bosshooch deserves an apology from WYfrs, i would say a sincere one but it will be given through gritted teeth. But all will be in the public domain soon enough even if i have to put it their myself.
Sounds like a lot of people have axes to grind but they should stick to facts not indulge in personal campaigns against bosses
If you compare Wyfrs with other frs you will see they have fewer managers than any similar sized and in some cases than much smaller ones so maybe they should have more managers
They don't need more managers in fact they could probably make do with less and fewer staff all round by changing shift patterns and things like that. I was surprised to discover that under the current system firemen only actually work for about half the year which is why almost all have second jobs , this is crazy. There would be no need for cuts if this was sorted out properly
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