Scheme to close Birchwood Fire Station at night defended by fire chiefs (From Warrington Guardian)

Scheme to close Birchwood Fire Station at night defended by fire chiefs

11:15am Tuesday 9th February 2010

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FIRE chiefs have been trying to reassure concerned Birchwood residents after a heated debate over changing Birchwood Fire Station from wholetime to being staffed by part time firefighters at night.

Campaigners have been drumming up support to keep the station staffed 24/7 rather than 20 new retained firefighters that will be called from their beds at night when there is an emergency.

Paul Hancock, Cheshire’s Chief Fire Officer, has been trying to ease fears saying that he would not back the plans if he did not think they were safe.

He said: “Part of the proposal is actually how we’re going to put it into action including profiling the area to check there are enough people who could fulfill the retained roles.

“Wholetime firefighters will be accompanying the retained staff for however long it takes for the night team to be totally competent. “Training is the same as the wholetime firefighters, it’s just structured in a different way.”

If given the go-ahead the changes to the station, which also covers Culcheth, Glazebury, Croft, Wooston, Poulton, Fearnhead, Rixton and Glazebrook, will start January 1, 2011.

While Cheshire Fire have said there will be no redundancies, the station will be losing 12 wholetime firefighter positions.

Mr Hancock added: “We’ve given ourselves plenty of time to get them to operational competency.

“As retained firefighters are a part of the community, you tend to find they have a real passion and pride for what they do.”

The changes are being proposed because Birchwood is one of the quietest 24-hour fire stations in the county, risk levels are low and according to statistics, most incidents occur during the day.

A group set-up on social networking site Facebook has more than 1,600 members opposing the plans and is still growing.

Another public consultation has been planned after there were a number of complaints over the timing of the last meeting.

All Birchwood residents are welcome to attend on Friday at The Centre, Birchwood Park from 6.30-8.30pm.

An online comment form is also available at www.cheshirefire.gov.uk before Cheshire Fire Authority make their final decision on March 17.

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