An Assistant Chief Officer called Steve,

An Assistant Chief Officer called Steve*

Has (you'll  find it hard to believe)#

Stopped West Yorks FBU, from emailing you

So we're cross and we need to concede...........  

*Rhodes  
# Ok we are being sarcastic it's been a long day!

 Concede to what you may ask ?

We here at FCCL have a very soft spot for David Williams of West Yorkshire FBU. He has over the past two and a half years risen  from associate, comrade, to  friend and now (poor sod) has achieved the heady heights of being a trusted pal. 

So when FCCL  read the West Yorks FBU facebook page on the 23rd April 2014  FCCL  went from serene to niffed quicker than a CFO discovering a camera might have been left running on a pump during a strike! 

So we are conceding  to our emotions (its a girl thing)  and wish to name and shame ACO Steve Rhodes as FCCL  consider him to be a BULLY  and worse is  guilty of victimisation and harassment of a union official, which is not only inappropriate behaviour for a Director of a Public Authority but in direct contravention of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ! 

ACO Rhodes actions are also of course in direct contravention of WYFRS  Employment Services Trade Union Facilities Agreement Policy (Grey). A copy of which you can find here  

Dave's alleged crime.............to try an email some of his members via his WYFRS email account! 

Now Dave (we happen to know because FCCL were also there) recently attended a TUC briefing on Facility and Recognition agreements,  so he  is fully aware of what he can and cannot do; and what the FBU as a recognised Trades Union is entitled to use as part of their facility / recognition agreement  with WYFRA .

Strangely enough the Chief Fire Officers Association don't seem to be allowed access 

to the above facilities - it would be interesting to  see if they did communicate

 with their members via their  WYFRS email accounts!  

So in closing  we have to award both David Williams and Steve Rhodes 10 /10. 

Dave for showing great courage in outing what ACO Rhodes has done - standing up to bullying such as this takes guts. 

And to 

ACO Rhodes for being our little blogs 

favourite person! 

To date FCCL has had 150,000 hits and 27% of all our traffic has viewed Handbag Gate - so we have a lot to thank him for really ! 

Happy Birthday to Us !

It is an important day for us here at FCCL.

It is a year to the day since we started blogging!

And before we doing anything else we have to say a BIG THANK YOU to the very kind person who sent flowers to Sarah's office this morning. We wrongly assumed  they were from the FBU and tried to say thank you, but apart from a Happy 1st Birthday tag there was no name.  Tomorrow evening we will place them on the Fire Fighters Memorial in Burley, Leeds  in recognition of all the fire fighters who have died carrying out their duties and serving the public without thought for their personal safety but for now they have pride of place in the house.



I think most people know why we started this blog. In December 2011 after fighting hard to try and save both Gipton and Stanks Fire Stations from closure in East Leeds  we read with incredulity the fact that WYFRS were publicly crowing that the IRMP Consultation Proposals pages of their website had had 1,750 hits. We as  the community and indeed the FBU concurred with us, that for 12 weeks of consultation it was pathetic, especially as many WYFRS staff would have taken a peek to see exactly what the website said from their computers at home. FCCL itself had been on the site from at least 5 different IP addresses.

1750 works out at approx  21 hits a day

for an area that has over a million residents!

Pathetic!

So in September 2012 when the next round of cuts consultation was announced, we decided to set up a little experiment to TRY and get 1751 hits to prove to the public how much positive spin WYFRS put on their literature. A little blog with at that time no publicity apart from a few postings in the comments section of the local newspapers.  (we didn't set up our facebook page till later in September).

In the three months of consultation in 2012  the FCCL blog got 41,0001 views. 

We would like to share with you some of our vital statistics to date;

102,480 hits as of 7pm this evening.

Wednesday  7th November 2012 was our best ever day with over 5,500 hits which was triggered by retired Firefighter Joe O'Keefe - Morals don't pay the mortgage post. 

Our Top Three locations are

1. Leeds
2. London (which is indicative of  smart phone usage)
3. Cleckheaton 


Our Top Three Service Providers are

1. IP Pools
2. Business static locations
3.Sky

and way down at  No 53  - West Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority which has visited us 34  times. The last being earlier today (sorry we didn't update the blog in time for you to see).

BUT THE THING WE ARE PROUDEST

 OF IS OUR

BOUNCE RATE  =   14.98%

Most websites expect to get a bounce rate of at least 40% . We have all done it - that "whoops that's not the site we expected"  when you  jump straight off a website because it is the wrong one. A bounce rate of 14.98%   makes us the envy of our friends in the IT world. (and we work in IT remember)  In fact in November 2012 it was less than 6% and even in the wilderness months of January / February  never went past 20%.

 FCCL is without a doubt attracting
its' target audience!


Mind you we knew from day two (and only 56 hits) we were onto a winner. But more about that tomorrow when we will tell you about a very unusual phone call from Hannah Stoneman of WYFRS and follow up emails from CFO Pilling.


BUT AS ALWAYS WE WILL LEAVE THE BEST TILL LAST.....   


We owe so many people THANK YOU's


David Williams of the West Yorks FBU

and all of the WYFBU  team who have taken a great deal of stick for what we have done.


Andy Killingbeck - retired Gipton Fire fighter  who even though he wasn't and isn't responsible for FCCL has undergone a malicious pension review because of FCCL.

All at South Yorks FBU - and their comrades in Doncaster who made us very welcome.


Joe O'Keefe (retired fire fighter Keighley) who has fought hard to bring the truth into the public domain.


Anthea Orchard - ex WYFRS employee 


And perhaps the biggest THANK YOU OF ALL  needs to go to all the people who help us that we cannot ever name.

Without your help this  site would not be as successful
 as it has been.

We look forward to our next 365 days of blogging. 

Fireman Jeff Naylor

As an Aries who  had the (mis)  fortune to be born in the Chinese year of the Tiger it could be said that I  am astrologically pre programmed to be hot headed and  bad tempered  (ok that might be a rhetorical question)  it could also be said that i see things very much in black or white - no  50 Shades of Grey  for me  

BUT some times things are so obvious,  to ignore them is a crime. 

And in my opinion today WYFRS should have had on its news site a mention or memorial  to  Jeff Naylor the last firefighter to die whilst on operational duty in West Yorkshire. Lets hope in  10 weeks time after reading this they mark the anniversary of his actual death with significantly more respect. 

On Saturday a very important event took place, the naming of the last remaining pump

 at Keighley Fire Station  after   Jeff  Naylor a fireman at the station  30 years ago. 

Jeff was on duty on the 27th April 1983 when Keighley Fire Station attended an incident on Broomhill Walk,   a house fire in which 2 of the 5 children rescued died.  Jeff suffered horrific injuries at the incident  and died  aged 31 years ten weeks  later in Pinderfields Hospital , leaving two young children without a father. 

He was commended by the Queen for his bravery, an honour which was collected

 by his young son Mark the  year after. 

Fortunately, the death of fire fighters is a rare occurrence  31 firefighters have lost their lives in the execution of their duty in West Yorkshire, a roll of honour is listed below.

Leeds Brigade Memorial - courtesy of Mrs P  Leach 

It wouldn't have taken 10 minutes to compose a brief tribute to Jeff and post it, or maybe an outline of the events at Keighley on Saturday. Social media is a quick and easy way to transmit information to lots of people very quickly, and although this blog is usually written and published all in one fell swoop, it is possible to  programme it to release information at  certain  time  if we are not about to press PUBLISH. 

And nobody knows of the power  &  speed of social media more than the newest  Assistant Chief Officer Dave Walton. He has a twitter account   @ACOwestyorksfire  which we watch with interest. For example he spent Sunday having a look around Haworth, a spot of shopping perhaps, a pub lunch maybe?

Ever so slightly cultured afternoon stroll through #Howarth -home of the Brontes-liking this #Yorkshire thing twitter.com/ACOWestYorkFir…
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 28, 2013

BUT on   Friday 26th April  he attended the crash on the M62 which resulted in a death and several injuries. 

He tweeted he was on his way  12:04 PM (we do hope he wasnt driving) 

Am attending significant RTC on #m62 huge multi agency rescue underway
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

Then he tweeted he had arrived 12:52PM  

Initial rescue phase on #m62 now over.difficult scene for all agencies.good effort from fire, police & amb - more to do though
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

And then he started to organise his press statements

@skybod @skynews are you still looking for interview?
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

@johnnyianson @bbcleeds okay- doing on scene media at 1500. DM me a phone number
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

And then after a few Thank You's  - he left.

What a day that turned out to be!Thoughts with those affected by #m62 inc today.The poignancy of the hen trip & excitement adds to tragedy
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

Now we dont have a problem with him having a twitter account - but we aren't sure about him using it  to publicly  arrange press meetings and such (maybe thats a job for a discreet text or two)  and we most certainly arent convinced an Assistant Chief Fire Officer should use his account for telling the world about his  Sundays off.  Its either business or pleasure - not both!

We are of course familiar with the WYFRS social media policy - they reissued it to all staff  when this site started to become rather "popular" with WYFRS staff.  And in  that policy it states:-

"Access to social media and networking sites during paid working hours or usingAuthority facilities is strictly prohibited unless authorised at Director level for business purposes." 

We cant find any  paragraph that says its Ok to blog on a Sunday off  from what is essentially a company account. The "Views expressed are my own"  is interesting. Does that mean its a company account that is unregulated by WYFRS in which case surely he shouldn't be using it at shouts" or a company account which means he should NOT be using it for personal slightly cultured events!

Dave Walton

@ACOWestYorkFire

ACO with West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service. Tweeting about fire related issues. Views expressed are my own. In case of EMERGENCY always dial 999

West Yorkshire, UK · westyorksfire.gov.uk

We asked the Fire Brigades 

Union for their opinion  

"I'm saddened and disappointed to see that our Assistant Fire Officer found the time to update his Twitter account during operations at the tragic crash on the M62 on Friday. It's amazing that when WYFRA have a policy of "no phones" whilst at work, even if doing routine duties on station, Dave Walton thought it would be acceptable to organise Tv and Radio interviews via Twitter.

I have previously represented members who have broken the "Use of Social Media and Networking Sites Policy" one individual lost their temporary promotion position after being found to be in breach of the policy, but I'm not sure the same fate will be in store for ACO Walton."

David Williams  - WYFRS - Brigade Secretary 

SO WHAT CAN WE AT FCCL DO TO HELP 

JUST IN CASE YOU EVER NEED TO CONTACT  ACO DAVE WALTON 

(WHILST HE IS AT WORK )

HIS NUMBER IS  01274 655734 

Email Him by clicking   dave.walton@westyorksfire.gov.uk 

OR EVEN BETTER 

Why not contact the 

Senior Information and Communications Manager

Gayle Cogan

01274 655802   |   gayle.cogan@westyorksfire.gov.uk

60,000 and counting

Over the weekend FCCL tipped the 60,000 hits mark. 

Not bad for a little blog site that aimed to get 1,751 hits .....

Why didn't our labour councillors have the guts ????

The Thought of Conservative Boris Johnson Fuming is Something we at FCCL All Relish. 

And yesterday in London, at a meeting of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)   Labour, Liberal and Green formed a coalition which  overturned  the proposal to close 12 fire stations, remove 18 engines and slash 520 firefighter posts in London  in a vote 9-8. 

But Boris its seems will carry on regardless and ignore the decision and continue with the proposals. 

Paul Embery FBU regional secretary said 

“We welcome the decision of the fire authority to reject these reckless and dangerous cuts. It was the right outcome. But Boris Johnson’s intervention is deplorable. It is arrogant in the extreme for the mayor to think he knows better than his own fire authority.
“The mayor’s unprecedented move raises all sorts of questions about democracy and accountability. He should listen to his fire authority; he should listen to the workforce, and he should listen to Londoners, the vast majority of whom oppose these cuts. If he pushes ahead, we will campaign vigorously to defend London’s fire service.

West Yorkshires own  David Williams who attended,  remarked when giving feedback on  lessons learnt in West Yorkshires fight against cuts 

"All i have to say is that these cuts were by a Labour fire authority - shame on them"

FCCL  who have close links with the London campaign sent a message of solidarity to them in  November as our  friends and family were fighting the closure of New Cross Fire Station , you can read what we wrote HERE

As the local campaigns are starting to coalesce and start to gain significant momentum we do not doubt that here in West Yorkshire the councillors who constitute the Fire and Rescue Authority will at some point be called to account for their actions and votes on the 21st December 2012.

We enclose some links to information about the London decision starting with the  Fire Brigades Union . The  London Fire Brigade , the BBC , and  Socialist Party


And whilst browsing sites to write this blog we found this from the London Fire Brigade -

22 January 2013

London Fire Brigade said today it was called out on Friday night after an over-heated massage pillow caused a fire in a flat in Hornsey.

It’s thought the owners left their home to go on holiday shortly before Christmas, accidentally leaving the pillow switched on.

A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said:

“It’s unusual for a massage pillow to cause a fire, but it goes to show just how important it is to switch off electrical items if you’re leaving your home, or even just going to bed.

“The fire caused significant damage to the flat and it’s fortunate that no one was hurt.”

The smoke alarm inside the flat wasn’t working and it’s thought the fire was only discovered when a concierge in the building saw smoke coming out of the flat.

Three fire engines and around 15 firefighters attended the fire. The Brigade was called at 2142 and the fire was under control by 2206. Fire investigators were called to establish how the fire started.

Fortunate - we think is a word that will be much used in the days and years to come. 


And one day  

UNfortunately  


will feature ........

"unfortunately a crew didn't reach the property in time to rescue the people trapped inside"

REMEMBER - Keighley is due to lose a pump by the end of this  month, Haworth Parish Council  is researching how to run a service with volunteers; volunteers who will not be qualified to use the breathing apparatus necessary to enter a smoke and flame filled building. 

Just in case you are concerned we at FCCL  have ensured all massage cushions we might (or might not) own are all unplugged.

For advice on how to stay safe the West Yorkshire Fire site has some good advice, click HERE to access the site. 

We did  however cringe when we read 
"Ensure your electric heaters are properly maintained and in full working order" 


yup great advice if you have the money to do that, but many people in deprived areas don't! 

We also need to tell you of a video that has been doing the rounds of facebook and was added to the Yorkshire Evening Post website yesterday. We have emailed   Hannah Stoneman of WYFRS and she has confirmed that the video is not of West Yorkshire Fire Fighters -  BUT it has been removed by Johnston Press from their website - however it is available on you tube so check out our funnies page HERE

We have broken something !

On Sunday evening FireCutsCostLives broke the  50,000 hits barrier. We are all chuffed to bits as when we started this blog it was our intention to get 1, 751. Seems the site is still as active as ever and we look forward to some excellent posts in the coming months.  

Many thanks to EVERYBODY  who has helped to make this blog a roaring success, with special thanks to David Williams and all at West Yorks FBU  and regional  FBU.  BossHooch and Joe O'Keefe,  without  all of their support, research, great writing and enthusiasm  FCCL would not have had the impact it has.  

There is another reason why we are smiling. As of today  David Williams, firefighter at Stanks became West Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union  Brigade Secretary.   Dave has been a staunch ally of FCCL and did way  back in November (admittedly in a rush of enthusiasm) promise to learn how to blog; we do at some point intend to hold him to that; the occasional guest post at least! But for now want to wish him the very best of  "luck" - not that he will need it. 

David Williams - Brigade Secretary  West Yorks FBU 

The West Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union Page is available  HERE 

Never Give Up

NEVER GIVE UP 

is the FCCL motto (closely followed by  "Don't let the bastards grind you down" ) and this is  the message we would like to pass to our comrades in London who are battling the same as we are to save fire and rescue services from viscous and unnecessary cuts in provision.

Therefore we  would like to publicly send our support and solidarity to those who are fighting the closure of New Cross Fire Station in London. Seems they too are suffering from the fire authority preferring to do things behind closed doors  as this newspaper article demonstrates in the  East London Lines News


Paul Embery the FBU’s regional secretary for London  recently said .............

“The London Fire Brigade is a proud organisation with a fine history. But it is now facing possibly its greatest challenge. Its leaders must do the right thing and tell the politicians these cuts are wrong and dangerous. If they don’t do it, the FBU will.”

Does that sound familiar ---------  a little like  the West Yorkshire Brigade Secretary David Williams who was recently quoted  in The Guardian as saying............

"Firefighters are angry because these cuts will slow response times. Small fires will become big ones. In emergency situations every second counts, a few seconds delay can be the difference between saving a life or failing to save it"

So New Cross - your fight is OUR FIGHT  

because Fire Cuts Will Cost Lives. 

And to help you on your way we have sent you an email explaining how FCCL operates and how we run our very successful blog.  (which obviously we aren't going to publish but have sent to you separately)

And of course there are the mysterious coincidences of our campaigns .............. FCCL has Sam Hirst as one of its members - he is our photographer who took the picture on our front cover and also the ones we have sent to English Heritage for our application for Gipton  to be listed  AND Chloe Hirst his sister is based in London and is writing in East London Lines about the cuts in provision, and an example of her work can be seen  HERE

Then there is Eleanor Covell,  a student and resident of New Cross who is opposing the closure of New Cross who is the daughter  of our very own Sarah Covell. Seems it's a very small world indeed!

AND FINALLY 

And because its Saturday,  and probably  just because we have learnt how to do it .................here is the FCCL motto in jigsaw form.

Can you reassemble it to create our motto?
In less than 2 minutes ....................  ?

(and BossHooch using the autosolve is cheating)

Because in Less than 2 MINUTES - THIS CAN HAPPEN

Plan B revealed - How to Save Gipton Fire Station

For many months now four of us have been working on  PLAN B.

(although many have indicated they much prefer plan C or should that be G   - but that's top secret and we will reveal it  in early December)

After the quite frankly appalling decision that  the West Yorkshire Fire Authority made  in December 2011 to close 10 fire stations and build 5 new ones, we (community activists Sarah Covell and Sam Hirst , retired firefighter  Andy Killingbeck, & FBU secretary  David Williams)  decided that something had to be done about it.

As we at FCCL are all Leeds based we targeted the old lady of the WYFRS estate 

GIPTON FIRE STATION.

Gipton today held a 75th Birthday Party - attended and indeed opened by the fire services chief hatchet man CFO Simon Pilling. And perhaps that party didn't start off exactly as he planned,  as early this morning the BBC slapped it all over the local front page of their website what we had done. We are so proud we wont stop smirking for a week.  We have  applied to English Heritage to have Gipton Fire Station listed as an historic asset.  See the article Here

In layman terms this means

FCCL  HAVE APPLIED TO HAVE GIPTON FIRE STATION GRADE 2 LISTED

This means several things .................

• She will have to remain basically intact and any alterations be approved by English Heritage and Leeds city council planners
• She will not be allowed to be demolished
• She will if sold need special permission for any planning consent

So  what does this mean for WYFRS?  - Well trying to sell a building with a potential  listing hanging over it will be "challenging"  and will without a doubt mean the price of her will be lower than previously anticipated. 

If we are successful  and she does get grade 2 status - what can you do with a 1930's fire station? 

 ....... keep her operational !!!!

London Fire and Rescue we discovered during our research actually value their old stations and sympathetically restore them whilst keeping them operational. They actually write papers in partnership with English Heritage on the subject of fire station restoration. Read the document HERE

We know as  Gipton is closer to the areas of high risk in the area than the proposed site of South Seacroft for the new station is  it  would make sense  (if WYFRS know the meaning of the word) to keep her open and plough the £££££'s   it will cost to buy the land and build  a station into renovating Gipton to a suitably high standard for the staff who work in her,  whilst retaining her historic value for the community.

We will be informing all our local councillors and MPs of our views and will strongly  urge them to support the listing application 

AND  keeping her operational. 

In the  supposed age of austerity why close a 

VERY HIGH RISK  _ LOW COST STATION 

and build a new one? 

If we are successful of course this will also  bring into consideration the stations at Stanks, Moortown and even Garforth and Hunslet   as the predicted response times etc will invariable change - we believe for the better of the people of  East Leeds.  

And below are a few pics of why we think she should be listed 

She has her original tiled walls and door frame that are not altered 

Her parquet floor upstairs is intact 

And her beautiful curvy appliance bay tiles are SO industrial art deco 

We will tell you more about Giptons history  later  on but for now raise a glass of whatever you fancy  and wish   

Gipton Fire Station a very happy 75th Birthday 

and a long and sustained operational life. 

Fire Brigades Union - Letter to Elected Members

Below is a copy of a recent letter from West Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union to local councillors and MPs. If you find the format difficult to read the text version is available HERE

IF THERE ARE CUTS - WILL PEOPLE DIE ?

IF THERE ARE CUTS - WILL PEOPLE DIE ?

Martyn Redfearn, Assistant Chief Fire Officer 

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

 says 

Y E S

In July 2012 the Communities & Local Government Committee held a select committee  to discuss the funding of Fire & Rescue Services. (And at this point we need to say that we are discussing a transcript that non of the attendees have had an opportunity  to correct. We enclose a link to the full document further down this page.)

Below is an article taken from  October issue of Fire Fighter Magazine which is published nationally   by the Fire Brigades Union, in which the above select committee is discussed.  It's a pretty grim read and demonstrates that  many of the officers at the top tables of fire and rescue up and down the country have seriously lost the plot.

The full transcript of the select committee is available HERE    please take the time to read it.

And the BBC news coverage of Martyns "appearance" is here

IRRESPONSIBLE BEYOND BELIEF  ! 

 says David Williams of West Yorkshire FBU.