Save Our Fire Stations

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• published: 21 Nov 2013
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FIRE SPREADS FAST... You have signed the petition, "Save our fire stations" and I am sure that, with around only fifty days to go until ten London fires stations close, you are spreading the word, including forwarding the link below to your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. Thank you for continuing to encourage people to sign the petition. http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-firestations When you mention to friends that the Mayor plans to decimate the London Fire Brigade, you might also want to highlight that, for example, it has been another busy few days for the London Fire Brigade, though - very strangely - it did not seem to make the news. On Wednesday six fire engines and 35 firefighters and officers tackled a blaze in a nine storey block of flats on Blackwall Way, Poplar E14 late at night. A fourth floor flat was completely damaged by fire. Sixty residents evacuated the building before the Brigade arrived. No one was injured. The six fire engines came from Poplar, Shadwell, Bow (due to close), Bethnal Green, Silvertown (due to close) and Millwall Fire Stations. On Friday, Bow (due to close) was involved in a blaze at an engineering workshop on White Post Lane, Hackney Wick. This required cooling a cylinder down to an ambient temperature to avoid explosion after exposure to heat. Thankfully no one was injured. Four fire engines from Tottenham, Homerton, Leyton and Bow Fire Stations went to the scene with 21 firefighters and officers. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Brigade. Also on Friday, eight engines were called to a fire on Fetter Lane in the City. The fire damaged part of a sauna area in a sub-basement gym under an office building. Two members of staff evacuated the gym before the Brigade arrived and were not injured. A Station Manager at the scene said: "The fire was in the sub-basement, which meant it was difficult for the smoke to escape and firefighters worked in very smoky conditions. The crews worked hard to bring the fire under control." This fire required 58 firefighters from Soho, Clerkenwell (due to close), Dowgate, Shoreditch, Homerton, Lambeth, Euston, and Southwark (due to close). The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Brigade. On Saturday, a fire in Parliament Street (Whitehall) required four engines from four stations to deal with it: Westminster (due to close), Knightsbridge (due to close), Southwark (due to close) and Lambeth. Relief was supplied by Clerkenwell (due to close). The fire damaged part of an electrical equipment plant room on the roof of the six storey building. Pictures: http://www.demotix.com/news/3258609/fire-breaks-out-government-premises-no-1-whitehall#media-3258528 On Sunday, a fire on the Tabard Estate in Southwark required four engines to deal with it: Southwark (due to close), Lambeth, Dowgate and Peckham (losing a fire engine). The Mayor and James Cleverly, Chair of LFEPA, say that LSP5 will deliver improved safety for London (and Brutus and Cassius are honourable men). Yet this snapshot of incidents over the past few days shows the clear need for these stations. The Mayor and James Cleverly say that cuts of £28.8 million this year justify the closure of ten fire stations yet the sale proceeds are conservatively estimated to bring in £50 million. Is this about savings or one-off windfall? The Mayor and James Cleverly say that LSP5 will deliver a risk-based approach to fire coverage. Again, these incidents in the past few days show that the risks require Belsize, Bow, Clerkenwell, Downham, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich. And what of LSP5? Please have a look at some statistics from the infamous plan itself which demonstrate increases: pic.twitter.com/ZKzQxoIskq The Mayor promised no cuts to the fire service (read my lips) and yet in one fell blow he will cut more London fire stations than ever before. Is he taking a staggered approach to this in case LSP5 and the "risk-based" modelling upon which it is based are wrong? No. If we do nothing, we shall lose our ten fire stations, 552 fire fighters, 14 engines and 2 FRUs on 9 January 2014. What we can do 1. Publicise the petition please: http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-firestations 2. Write to our representatives: ward councillors, MPs, GLA members and the Mayor with a copy to Save London Fire Stations 10 (SLFS10) (savelondonfirestations10@gmail.com). Try this for links on how to do this: http://www.london-baby.com/2013/11/share-a-5-minute-act-to-save-10-london-fire-stations/ from Bucks FBU