'Downgrading' of Hastings fire station will 'put lives at risk', firefighters fear

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) is proposing to turn The Ridge Fire Station to a day-crewed station meaning firefighters would work on station during the day and respond on call from home during the evening.

But firefighters in town said this would lead to slower response times for Hastings and its surroundings during night-time cover.

More than 1,700 people have signed an online petition, set up by Helena Dollimore, Labour candidate for Hastings and Rye, opposing the proposals.

Gary Russell, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) rep at The Ridge Fire Station, said: "The plans could cause horrifying and disastrous results. These current reckless proposals could see locals waiting for up to 15 deadly minutes before a fire engine arrives.

"These increased response times also have an alarming impact on residents that live in a high-rise block of flats or a tall building. After the disastrous Grenfell Tower fire, ESFRS put in place new procedures to help fire crews tackle similar incidents. These new procedures require at least three fire engines before a crew can even start to tackle a fire and even more fire engines to put it out.

"These dangerous new plans are a complete U-turn on recent proposals made by ESFRS. A risk assessment was taken by the fire service in 2020 and it recommended a second fire engine be placed in Hastings to help deal with incidents such as fire and floods, though the new plans stops this from happening.

"Downgrading The Ridge Fire Station and no commitment to provide a second fire engine at Bohemia Road ignores the fire service's own risk data and places the importance on saving money over the importance of saving lives."

Leo Cacciatore, FBU representative at Bohemia Road Fire Station, said: "These proposals will be brought to the fire authority on February 9 and will mean the significant reduction of firefighter posts in Hastings and could potentially lead to firefighter redundancies across the service.

"These further cuts go far deeper than we have ever known or expected and will represent significant challenges to us when dealing with incidents and when providing a resilient and effective service and are down to central government budget cuts.

"We saw the service struggle in the response to recent incidents in the town such as the floods and fires we have just seen.

"To further reduce the fire cover in Hastings will have a huge impact and only puts lives at risk."

Helena said: "With more extreme weather events like the recent devastating flooding, more storms and the heatwave last summer risking wildfires, our local firefighters and the service they provide has never been more important."

Cllr Phil Scott, East Sussex county councillor and fire authority board member, said: "As a Hastings-based ESFRS Fire Authority member I know only too well what any reduction in fire cover from The Ridge Fire Station will mean. It will mean the northern flank of the borough and beyond will receive a diluted service which will see vital minutes lost in attendance times for areas such as Fairlight, Guestling, Icklesham, Winchelsea and Rye. Lives could be lost in the name of saving money. That is not acceptable and I will oppose any such move."

An ESFRS spokesperson said: “By law the service must produce a balanced budget. This means it cannot spend more than it receives. The service is not alone in facing pressure on its budget primarily from inflation, pension costs, unfunded pay rises, future funding uncertainties, and the cost-of-living crisis.

“As part of our annual budget setting process, draft savings proposals have been drawn up to address the potential identified funding gap. These proposals have been assessed against community risks, such as fire and flooding.

“In 2020, the Fire Authority agreed to move The Ridge to a different duty system. At the time the Fire Authority also agreed the introduction of an additional fire engine in Hastings. One of the new proposals would defer this previous decision to introduce the additional fire engine, but the duty system change is going ahead. This new proposal additionally defers previously agreed changes to Bexhill Community Fire Station in order to provide additional emergency cover in the Hastings area.”

The petition can be found at www.helenadollimore.com/saveourfireservice