Fire Authority makes presentation at Full Council

Ben Norman, a Community Protection manager for the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, made a presentation to Hyndburn Council on 23rd January 2014. The presentation showed various fire statistics in Hyndburn and called on Councillors to visit Hyndburn Fire Station to promote further interaction at ward level on fire prevention.

There are two fire stations in Hyndburn, one in Church and the other in Great Harwood and from the end of March 2014 we will be losing one full-time engine in the borough which will save the Fire authority £1m per year. Ben stated that he is confident that the capacity should still be sufficient as fires have dropped by two-thirds since 2006 and he would rather focus on fire prevention rather than response.

Capacity in Hyndburn from April 2014 will be one tender with five full-time staff 24/7 365 days a year, one aerial platform ladder (one of only four in Lancashire) and one unit with retained staff (also known as auxiliary firemen). Fires have a maximum response time of five minutes but in Hyndburn the staff are averaging just three minutes.

There are four fire crews in Hyndburn covering the 16 wards:

RED WATCH
Rishton, Overton, Clayton-le-Moors and Church

GREEN WATCH
St Oswalds, St Andrews, Immanuel and Springhill

WHITE WATCH
Altham, Milnshaw, Central and Netherton

BLUE WATCH
Huncoat, Baxenden, Peel and Barnfield

All commercial properties in the borough have had a fire assessment and at the moment 30 are classified as Category 2 (some element of risk of wider impact in the outbreak of fire) and 36 as Category 3 (major planning required if fire breaks out). Category 1 is a fire which can be dealt with using normal response measures.

Council Leader (and former firefighter) Miles Parkinson said, "Thanks to the Area Manager and thanks to the work done with the Princes Trust which is now operating in Hyndburn out of the fire station. Hyndburn's Fire Authority is widely regarded as one of the best in Lancashire and it is good that the service is now helping members in the wider community through these schemes."