We have posted many times now about Morley Fire Station and WYFRS wish to turn it to a day crewed station in January 2014.Morley on Saturday night attended a fire where sadly a death occurred.
Without the required number of staff residing within the 5 minute radius and the logistics screaming out it is not a practical option Stubborn Simon will plough on and Morley will be day crewed next year. Adding to fires like the one below an additional minimum of FIVE MINUTES to the response times.
Morley consists of two areas.. one high and one low risk. This particular fire was in the adjoining ward of Ardsley and Robin Hood which is also categorised as low risk. But as we have demonstrated in Keighley which has a similar risk demographics Fire is no respecter of these boundaries.
On Saturday evening in East Ardsley a man in his 60's died in a house fire. Two engines were sent in the first instance as it was not known until they arrived at the scene that the fire was a "persons reported" incident and a third engine was dispatched to Laburnum Close (WF3 2HZ) which looks to have been built originally as social housing.
Our sincere condolences go to his family.
This incident was not reported on the WYFRS incident logs and as of 10am Monday morning we can see no trace of it in the papers. We have never questioned WYFRS about their adhoc use of the public incident logs on their website; perhaps we should as it most certainly do not reflect the incidents their crews attend. A bird stuck up a tree may get a mention but most often a death is not likely to feature.
Is this because they wish to shelter the citizens of
West Yorks from the devastation fire can deal out?
Surely not, does not a month will go by without some TV soap having to dial 999 and engines
turn up to either dramatically rescue people or stand and watch a ceiling collapse so a long running actor can be permanently dispatched to TV heaven!
We can therefore only assume it is to continue the
gross manipulation of fire and rescue figures in our area.
But
as the Fire Brigades Union now has a mandate from its members to strike and the scab "operatives" are being trained to stand in for them when the strike is undertaken we cant help but think that if this death were to have taken place during the strike the newspapers would be queuing up to accuse the FBU of murder! It will actually be interesting to see how the reporting of incidents changes in particular on the WYFRS site during the legal industrial action ( which is always a last resort )and we sincerely hope that the negotiating teams can resolve the matter and that it does not have to take place.
But we hold true to what is being said by fire fighters the length and breadth of the country, this strike is necessary now to save lives in the future.
We will close with a BRILLIANT statement made by a fire fighter from Hertfordshire FBU. Which we re posted on our facebook page and got our best ever response for a plain and simple post with over 1,300 views in less than 24 hours.
By Herts FBU
Please help educate as many people as possible about the facts and in this day and age we are able to have a big influence on the media machine!!!
Over the next few weeks, the public are going to hear stories in the media about 'greedy, ungrateful, lazy firefighters' that want to strike over their 'gold plated, expensive to the tax-payer, generous pensions' that are 'given' to them by the government, and that our pensions are the 'best around'.
The facts are these, I pay 14% into my pension, £400 per month (feel free to compare that to what any of you pay). The Gov are changing my pension and are going to make me work an EXTRA 10years to receive a LOWER pension, making me work until I'm 60. Over that 10years ill pay an EXTRA £45,000 into MY pension, and receive less per year than I would of under the current scheme! If I'm lucky to live until I'm 80 then this change will cost me PERSONALLY over £100,000!
Would you want a 60year old male or female firefighter coming into your home to rescue you and your family?
On top of this, they are bringing in a new scheme, that if I don't meet their fitness standards at 50-60, they can dismiss me and keep ALL my pension until I'm 67. So the 40odd years of paying £400 a month into the scheme, they would keep! The Gov themselves had an independent review done that found it would be highly unlikely for FFs to carry out the duties or meet the fitness standards at age 60. They are now ignoring their own review!
It's true that under my current scheme I retire at 50 having worked 30 years. They might seem early to many people, but it's because I pay in the 14% and accumulate enough money to be able to retire at an earlier age. Maybe its a small perk for working Christmas Days, family Birthdays, Weekends and Evenings, and New Years etc for the 30 years as well as putting the publics safety before my own.
This Government are obsessed with tearing the public sector apart, this is the start. Mark my words that in a few years there will be talk of privatising the Fire Brigade and other public services. A way for the Government to make money off people's misery.
Firefighters need support, please ignore the medias spin on the facts.
Firefighters DO NOT want to strike. But the Gov have us against the wall and are unwilling to listen to our concerns.
