Near Miss in Bingley !!

On Friday evening we read in the Telegraph and Argus that an elderly woman was rescued from a burning flat in “medium risk” Bingley. By Saturday,  we had discovered quite how burnt she nearly was!    It was actually reported on the WYFRS incident log an adult female was rescued by 105 ladder, the bit they missed out was by the time the first pump got there the elderly lady was hanging out of the window!

Courtesy of Telegraph and Argus

 

 

 

 

Bingley was (obviously) the nearest station to the incident BUT they were off practising their water training so weren’t available. The nearest stations to Bingley are Shipley, Fairweather Green and Keighley.

Bingley could have got there in less than 2 minutes (as per RAC route finder) but as we have said, the pump wasn’t available.

 

The pumps deployed were from :
 

Bradford (7 miles away, 19 mins normal driving)
Keighley (3.8 miles away, 7 mins normal driving)
Leeds (a whopping 13.7 miles away and 33 minutes normal driving)
Shipley* (2.6 miles, 7 mins normal driving)
and Idle* (2.7 miles and 7 minutes normal driving)

*Don’t forget Shipley and Idle are both to close under the IRMP approved in 2011and will merge and lose a pump.
Keighley has already lost a pump earlier this year. Fairweather Green is also to close.

Also remember if it is a “person reported” incident

it needs the attendance of a

minimum of THREE PUMPS!

BUT IT GETS WORSE………………. They needed an aerial ladder platform (ALP).

 

Under normal circumstances this would have been provided by Bradford BUT required the tactic known as “cross jumping” where a crew drive back to the station, hop off the “bog standard” pump and drive away again in the ALP (or in some cases CARP- combined aerial rescue pump) but Bradford did not have a qualified driver for the ALP, so had to call for assistance from Leeds over 13.7 miles away. We have quite a lot to say about ALP and CARPs but will save that for another day.

This incident brings together things

we have talked about in the past year at FCCL.

Reducing pump (and fire fighter) numbers is foolish  as when the need arises there are insufficient pumps to attend an  incident within a decent response time – the gold standard being 6 mins. Less pumps and crews will inevitably mean that fire fighters however professional will  be tempted to take risks.

We assume the fire fighter who went up the ladder and rescued the elderly lady was physically fit and  under 55 and operationally fit.  With the proposed “reforms” that may soon not be the case. As well as insufficient engines you may end up with a rescue,  such as was executed on Friday resulting in the ending of somebodies operational career. Injuries increase with age and as WYFRS hasn’t recruited for many years, fire fighters are getting older with no young blood coming through the ranks. The fire fighter going up that ladder is getter older............

And just a thought………….. IF  the old lady had jumped, broken her back and died she wouldn’t feature in the death column of the fire statistics. Only if you die IN A FIRE  do you feature. Sad but True.

There is no mention on the incident logs of a working, disabled or not fitted smoke alarm. Bradford Areas  strategic plan states it is to


"deliver a proactive fire prevention and protection programme. Stopping fires before they occur is our first priority. To date, our actions have delivered significant success and we want to build upon this. We believe our successful community safety strategy lies in the links we maintain with our partners and we plan to strengthen and increase these to deliver a professional and resilient emergency response service"

We here at FCCL aren't convinced this is so. Neither are we optimistic about their claims to provide

 

"effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money in managing resources".

Value for money, managing resources -

no mention of saving lives , just money !

We think WYFRS had a very miss on Friday ………………

2 Days - 2 Fires - 2 Deaths

It is with great sadness we  have to report that in the last two days we have read of  two fire fatalities in Leeds,  West Yorkshire. 

The first was in Bawn Vale  in Farnley where fire fighters found the body of an elderly man at 3.30am  on March 5th.  The fire was so severe that neighbours have had to be evacuated as the  building is structurally unsafe. Bawn Vales postcode reveals to us that it was in an area designated "High Risk"  by WYFRS. 

More details of the incident can be found  here  on the BBC news website 

Bawn Vale _Courtesy of the Yorkshire Post 

The next fire was also in Leeds, Harehills to be precise. Again an elderly person was the victim, who sadly died after being rescued by fire crews.  Brownhill Crescent is currently designated a "Very High Risk" area and was a back to back house (a subject on which we blogged many moons ago - see here  for details) 

Brownhill Crescent _ Courtesy of the Yorkshire Evening Post 

A firefighter who attended the scene told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “Once the fire was brought under control, firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and located a female and brought her out. She was unconscious and was taken to hospital.”

Please note it was a qualified and experienced  firefighter who rescued the lady concerned

 NOT a smoke alarm!!!!  

Both as FCCL and COVEN  we have repeatedly told of our concerns regarding the closure of Gipton Fire Station as the areas of Very High Risk are  closer to it than the proposed new "superstation" at Killingbeck. 

We are now hearing of ways and means that may allow WYFRS to legitimately increase response times across all West Yorkshires Very High Risk Areas and we will shortly  reveal  these to the public, but until noon Friday our lips are sealed. 

Will you be shocked - YES 

Will you be disgusted - YES 

Ironically  the Harehills fatality was in the Burmantofts &  Richmond Hill Ward  of Cllr Ron Grahame, who in  2011 voted to close Gipton and Stanks fire stations.  We wonder how you are feeling now Ron, because  you can be guaranteed fires in your ward will eventually go up, smoke and mirrors can only last for so long.

As ACO Martyn Redfearn said to the select committee - people will die because of these cuts in service. The post  is available HERE

Poverty is rising, the population is ageing - both of these increase the risk of fire. It has not gone un noticed by FCCL that   both of these fatalities were elderly people living in socially disadvantaged areas of the city. 

When FCCL first  set up, and was less than 24 hours old we were phoned by Hannah Stoneman of WYFRS who tried to tell us that the death of  James Whitburn of Chapeltown was "nothing to do with the IRMP"  So we can only assume that were we to ask them WYFRS would say exactly the same about the two fires above. 

Another Cat - Another Story !

Our  ears pricked up this morning when another cat  in the WYFRS estate spilled the beans on what was happening on her patch. 

The picture she sent gave us a bit of a hint.

Leeds Station Cat


It seems that firefighters based at Leeds Station on Kirkstall Road are being paid
to paint the interior of the station

(whilst on duty!)

Obviously we hope this is being paid legitimately via the payroll  system, although we are not sure how?

Overtime maybe ? 

This raises many issues, including that of equality.
Do all fire fighters at all stations get the opportunity to tart up their stations ?
Was a proper procurement exercise undertaken?
Health and Safety also springs to mind, although FCCL arent too worried about their ability to use ladders. 


BUT 
and its quite a


BIG BUT 
(yes i can imagine all the snide comments thank you very much) 

WHY AREN'T  THEY ENGAGED IN OPERATIONAL DUTIES?

You know the run of the mill stuff like Home Fire Safety Checks, SCRI's,

The risk banding for Leeds in 2012 is VERY HIGH the projected risk band for 2013 is also  VERY HIGH. 
Is this because instead of doing their proper jobs, staff there are wielding paintbrushes?


 Leeds areas for performance improvement are


Road Traffic Collisions

Malicious False Alarms

Actual Rescues


As the same document  we obtained these figures from states that Leeds FS will be utilising  staff and resources from Moortown and Cookridge to enable them to achieve their targets, we don't understand  why qualified fire fighters are being allowed (and indeed paid ) to decorate a fire station!

We wonder if the councillors on the Fire Authority know and condone this practice?

For information the Leeds District Risk Reduction Plan is available HERE

Oh What a tangled Web!

Oh what a tangled web we weave,

When first we practise to deceive!

It has become apparent that In order to "Sell" their Cuts proposal to the Authority and Public, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, have not exactly been telling the truth. 

Data supplies to FCCL by WYF&RS Clearly shows that they have deliberately been massaging the figures

Information supplied by Front line Officers also supports this.

There have many comments left on the FCCL Blog regarding the "Deliberate v Accidental" reporting,

Here is what one Officer said to us recently

Senior management have given instructions to fire crews on how to record "deliberate or accidental" fires. 

Officers in charge of fire engines have been told to record such fires as bin fires, bonfires, rubbish fires and even shed fires as accidental, 

One senior officer has been telling operational fire crews that they cannot record a fire as deliberate unless it has been verified by a fire investigation officer,  or someone is seen lighting a fire by the crews. 

I am not sure how many bin fires, bonfires etc are lit by accident, I would guess very few - 

but statistics tell a different story. 

Are these the same statistics being used to close fire stations? 

Another comment left on the FCCL  blog said:-

 One West Yorkshire Fire Station has been informed by

management that it has reached it's monthly "allocated total"

 of deliberate fires, and that wherever possible the causes of

 these fires should be re-classified as unknown. 



Since when

was there an allocated total of any kind of

 fire?

If someone wanted to close a fire station, they would need to show it was not required any more. One way to try and show this would be to show that the amount of calls had dropped! 

-But if fire fire calls are still being received how could you do this?

EASY

Just send appliances from another station!

As an example, We at FCCL have been looking through the data supplied by WYF&RS. 

In the case of Gipton, which was ear-marked for closure last year, it has been noticed that there were in excess of 180 calls that were attended by appliances from Leeds Fire Station into the Burmantofts area, mainly to St James' Hospital.

Using the AA Route Planner - the favourite software of 

Mr Barnes, 

WYF&RS's  

Director of Corporate Resources

We concluded that the distance from 

Gipton Fire Station to the Hospital, was 1.80 miles 

whereas from 

Leeds Fire Station the distance was 2.80 miles.

As we all know seconds can make the difference  between life and death!

Another example was that of 

Garforth Fire Station 

being sent to 

Temple Newsam House! 

35 times!

again an AA Route planner was used.

Garforth to Temple Newsam 4.8 miles

Gipton to Temple Newsam 2.5 miles

Now don't forget, The Statistics don't lie

OR DO THEY?