Dear Ed and Councillors .............

Dear  Mr Balls ,

We understand that  you are meeting with the Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling to discuss the proposals  that Morley Fire Station is "day crewed"  from January 2014.

So FCCL as concerned individuals would just like to share the following information with you all of which we believe will demonstrate that WYFRS senior management are not using sound management techniques but lurching from pillar to post in the management of WYFRS.


LETS START WITH A WORD MENTIONED 23 times in the 2012/13 IRMP

re·sil·ience

  [ri-zil-yuhns, -zil-ee-uhns]

noun

1.

the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, overstretched; elasticity.

2.

ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.

On Thursday 18th of July WYFRS 

 were so overstretched  their 

resilience plans were invoked. 

WYFRS required FIVE RESILIENCE PUMPS 

TO BE OPERATIONAL 

Recall to duty is purely voluntary. They send everyone available a text message saying that if they want the overtime  they are then to get to a certain destination within an hour ready to go. (remember too every appliance MUST HAVE a qualified driver and crew manager) 

All 5 resilience pumps were mobilised, although none where mobilised within the allocated 1 hour

First resilience pump mobilised within 1 and half hours       the fifth one took 3 hours!!

Some pumps also were running 

with just 4 crew !

So Mr Balls we at FCCL think that closing fire stations and removing crews  is wrong, if it takes THREE  HOURS to staff resilience engines that WYFRS rely heavily on in their documentation. Its all talk ....... 

AND HERE ARE A FEW MORE INACCURACIES THEY HAVE WRITTEN .........

.........Further proposals will be presented to WYFRA in future years, however it is not anticipated that these will involve any further new builds prior to 2016.   

(SO WHY DID HE DECIDE TO CLOSE 3 MORE STATIONS    (including Morley) and build 2 new ones  a year later? 


And about Moortown in the 2012 /13 IRMP 

...........WYFRS’ commitment to providing an excellent and efficient service has informed the proposal to introduce an innovative way of providing an emergency response service within the area of Moortown and Leeds District. Instead of continuing to provide two front line fire appliances WYFRS will replace one of them with a Fire Response Unit which will be capable of providing a faster response to smaller incidents across Leeds District. This will maximise the availability of front line fire appliances for life and property incidents.

YET IN JUST ONE YEAR  MOORTOWN GOES FROM BEING A KEY "HUB"  TO CLOSED. 

(we have firm opinions of FRU's read them  here) 

ROTHWELL Fire Station  ---- April 2012 

 “It is unnecessary to stress the operational advantages and the need for speed in responding to emergency calls as in many situations even seconds count when lives and property are in danger. The current proposals for Rothwell are operationally more desirable as it contains all the activities associated with the fire station within the site, and ensures that staff are located as close as possible to the station to ensure fast response times.”


Yet in September  2012 it seems Rothwell was to close ( we blogged about the proposed close call plans in October 2012) And then they suddenly decided it could be day crewed!


And what about Day Crewing? 

Day Crewing

Day Crewing is a duty system contained within firefighters' national 

terms and conditions, however, any move on to this system is 

voluntary, as it requires staff to live within  5 minutes of the station.  

Firefighters are suitably recompensed with an on-call allowance, 

turnout fees and rent/fuel allowance.  In theory, there are sufficient staff  living within the 5 minute zone at all stations proposed to change to the Day Crewing system but further work is required to establish interest in working this duty system.

We are told time and time again that crews are not willing to day crew and we understand that volunteers are not queueing to sign on the dotted line. So what WYFRS say in theory cannot be transferred to practice. We wrote about it here 

So Ed we wish you luck in your dealing with CFO Pilling -  and whatever you do take detailed notes as you will  no doubt need them to remind Simon of what he has said. Because if we the community don't win this fight we think at some point our words written way back in September 2012 will come back to haunt him. 

Kindest Regards
FireCutsCostLives 

Simple Simon* met a fireman looking at a fire

Said simple Simon* to the fire man, “those flames are getting higher”

Said the fire man to simple Simon*  “we haven’t got a hope

Those IRMP plans you passed are really not a joke”

 Said simple Simon*to the fireman –“ I don’t know what you mean

These cuts in staff and engines, it will make us slick and lean!”

Said the fire man to simple Simon* – “oh no you’ve got it wrong

With increased tavel time and less staff too –  soon it will go all wrong”

This fire will spread,   we have no staff to help us  put it out

These cuts you love will kill a child,  the politicians shout

“It wasn’t us it, was that man – he told us what to do

And Simon* got it wrong it seems  – and now what shall we do?”

If Simon* wasn’t simple but a decent man with faith

We  wouldn’t have to write this poem  (And our homes would  all be safe!)