Fire control “puts lives at risk”

Posted: July 31, 2014

Posted in: Personal Injury 

Following the opening of the new North West Fire Control Centre, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has complained that lives are being put at risk as a result of their failings.  The new centre opened in May to answer 999 calls from Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire. The FBU said that they are constantly swamped with complaints about the new centre, with computer systems and contact issues playing a major role.

The FBU said that they have had to deal with numerous problems since the opening of the new centre, mainly to do with contact issues.  On one occasion a fire crew were sent from Carlisle to a fire near Bolton.  The secretary from the Greater Manchester branch, Gary Keary, said: “One of the most frightening from our point of view is operational crews not being able to contact control once they are mobile – this is potentially life threatening.”  He said that the technology was mainly to blame for the problems.

Emergency crews dispatched within 15 seconds

A spokeswoman from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, however, said that there are “no significant issues” as emergency crews are still reaching life critical incidents in their required times.  Figures highlighted that 10,000 calls have been answered at the centre, and emergency crews have been dispatched to life critical incidents with 15 seconds of a call being received.

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