Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service - a vision for the future
Graeme Smith, the new Chief Fire Officer has been in post for just a few weeks.
When he joined Warwickshire County Council, in early October, the public were already being consulted on his predecessor’s Improvement Plan to modernise Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. The heated debate is ongoing and the new Chief Fire Officer is certainly listening to what people have to say.
Graeme believes modernisation is necessary if the Fire and Rescue service is to maximise available resources for the greater good. “The role of firefighters has widened since significant changes were last made,” he said. “We need to restructure to make sure the service provided is the best it can be for modern times.”
Graeme endorses the Fire and Rescue Improvement Plan he inherited. His vision for the service is informed by 26 years as a firefighter and by his work, at a national level, on behalf of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association and Her Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate
“Rightly, we do a lot more preventative and educational work nowadays,” said Graeme. “As our name suggests, rescue is a big part of our work. In recent years, for example, we have been rescuing people and animals from floods and water related incidents.
"In addition, increasing traffic means we attend far more road traffic collisions and the consequences of that including chemical spillages and handling hazardous materials.”
Graeme would like the service to do more preventative work in the future. Although smoke alarms have made a big difference, he thinks more could be done to raise awareness and help people to keep themselves safe.
A big issue for Warwickshire and other Fire and Rescue services is the number of false alarms and hoax calls they receive. Although steps have been taken to screen incoming emergency calls more effectively, Graeme believes that more can be done.
He said automatic fire alarms, going off when there is no fire, currently account for around 23% of all call-outs. These occupy fire engines that might genuinely be needed elsewhere, and carry the additional risk of crews speeding to attend when there is no emergency. Graeme wants the Fire and Rescue service to help people to manage their own alarm systems more effectively, and to take responsibility for them.
New vehicles for specific purposes are also part of the Improvement Plan for Warwickshire, with specialist vehicles to attend small fires instead of sending key resources such as fire appliances to small bin fires. Better specialist equipment for road accidents and other transport incidents will also feature.
Trials in the Nuneaton area have already shown that these smaller units can be used to combat the anti-social behaviour responsible for many small fires. They can tour an area more easily, giving firefighters the opportunity to talk to young people who might get involved.
Graeme believes firefighters are the right sort of role models for young people and admits to having quite a passion for their potential to make a difference. “We are role models within our communities and can help young people understand the importance of working as a team to help improve the lives of others.”
Graeme would like to see the expansion of the Young Firefighters’ Association, which operates around ten cadet schemes in Warwickshire, training young people in teamwork, giving them life skills, and promoting fire safety amongst the next generation of householders.
Since his arrival, the new Chief Fire Officer has stressed that the Improvement Plan is not about cutting resources but shifting resources to use them more effectively. That said, he understands people’s concerns about the proposed changes and is listening intently to what local citizens have to say.
Throughout the process we have been talking to communities about the different ways we can keep people safer, this includes increasing the amount of home fire safety checks we carry out for vulnerable members of our communities including the elderly and families with young children, investing in a new boat unit for the south of the county, increasing firefighter training and increasing the number of firefighters we have available, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
Although the last public consultation meeting will be held in Studley tonight, the consultation process runs until the 8 December 2009. So there is still just over two weeks left of the consultation for residents to have their say. Further information is available on-line at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fireandrescue