Summer heatwave sparks rise in Shropshire fires

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service were called out to more than 500 fires during July – a 38 per cent increase on 2017 when there were fewer than 400 incidents.

So far in 2018 there has been a 14 per cent increase in fires compared to last year.

Chief fire officer Rod Hammerton will this week present the figures to the Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority.

He said the hot weather had made it hard for the service to reach its performance targets.

Mr Hammerton said: “As noted by members when this year’s targets were set, meeting them is expected to be very challenging .

“It looks like the fine weather we have experienced over the past few months could possibly be adding to that challenge.”

He also said the weather could be a reason why the service was not set to meet its target of arriving with 15 minutes on 89 per cent of the calls it received.

The current rate is 86.8 per cent – down on last year.

Mr Hammerton said: “We are continuing to look into whether the location of the increased number of incidents has significantly changed, with perhaps more incidents now happening further away from the stations.

“This work is in its early stages and members will receive more information as results become available.”

Other targets not being met include the number of accidental fires, reducing injuries to staff through firefighting, and fires being contained in the room of origin.

However, the number of deliberate fires, fire-related injuries and deaths, and value for money, had been achieved.

Meanwhile, recruiting on-call firefighters remains a “constant challenge” according to a new report.

Figures show there have been improvements since the start of the financial year with the current availability for on-call firefighters – or retained (RDS) crews – rising by 2.2 per increase to 97.7 per cent in July 2018 compared to the same month last year.

Since April 2018 availability has risen by 0.7 per cent to 97.8 per cent.

Wholetime firefighter availability remains at 100 per cent putting the average availability for the service as a whole at 96 per cent.

A report by Mr Hammerton to Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority says work is ongoing to bring overall availability up to 100 per cent.

Mr Hammerton said: “When compared to other services across the United Kingdom, SFRS continue to lead the way in terms of availability of on-call appliances.

“To improve on the overall level of performance, the service remains focused on those fire appliances/stations that are currently failing to meet the service average.”

Deployment

There are 23 fire stations across the county, with 19 crewed by retained firefighters, three having wholetime and retained firefighters. Telford Central Fire Station is crewed by wholetime firefighters.

The report noted the deployment of retained support officers (RSOs) to help availability.

It said primarily Albrighton, Bishops Castle, Bridgnorth, Craven Arms, Cleobury Mortimer, Market Drayton, Minsterley, Oswestry, Prees have been supported since the start of April.

Baschurch, Hodnet, Ludlow and Much Wenlock received less than 10 hours of RSO support and remained above the 96 per cent average.

But the total number of support hours in July 2018 for the service as a whole was 297.25 – 40 per cent less than July 2017 – and the lowest monthly figure for the current financial year so far.

Mr Hammerton said improvements in availability have been demonstrated at Cleobury Mortimer following successful recruitment, with further work taking place.

He added: “All aspects of the recruitment campaign, including the use of social media networking as a method of attraction, continue to impact positively on the service’s desire to achieve 100 per cent availability.

“In June 2018 the Service Management Team approved a paper outlining how an On Call Sustainability Project will be carried out in 2018/19. This project will involve extensive consultation with our on-call fighters looking to the ever changing future of our rural communities and how we can best support their needs and maintain our high appliance availability.”

Work is also ongoing to recruit female firefighters, while a national recruitment programme launched in August.

By Emily Lloyd, Local Democracy Reporter