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Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service is proposing to close eight fire stations, mothball a number of engines and convert fully-manned stations into part-time operations in a bid to save £8.4million.

In what might be the biggest shake-up of the service for half a century, six options will be considered by the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority next week.

Should they agree, the proposals will then go forward for a 12-week public consultation.

The basic option is to close fire stations in Appledore, Ashburton, Budleigh Salterton, Colyton, Kingston, Porlock, Topsham and Woolacombe.

The fire service then proposes another five levels of cuts each building on top of the last.

They would see some stations that have three fire engines reduced to two, some that have two reduced to one and stations such as Paignton and Brixham only be full-time manned for half a day.

The service also wants to create a 'flying squad' of six crews which would be based at areas of forecast highest need.

(Image: Buckfastleigh Fire Station)

"The way the fire and rescue service operates across Devon and Somerset could undergo its most significant change for 50 years," read a Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service statement.

"Some stations attend only a handful of fires each year and have more resources than they need. Elsewhere, more resources are needed to improve the response the service can provide.

"The proposals published today seek to address these issues and also create more flexibility and capability to deliver targeted prevention and protection work to reach the most vulnerable members of society and help keep them safe.

"To fund these changes, the Service will need to consider closing a number of low risk/low activity fire stations, removal of low risk/low activity fire engines and make some other changes to the way in which some fire engines are crewed.

"Demand for Fire and Rescue Service response is reducing, as is the amount of money the Service receives, so important decisions need to be made to ensure the budget is spent wisely and efficiently."

(Image: John Hogarth)

There will be a number of ways in which the public can give their views, including a series of public drop-in exhibitions.

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service is the largest non-metropolitan fire and rescue service and the largest employer of on-call firefighters in the country.

They have 85 fire stations, 121 appliances and 2000 members of staff, including 1500 operational members.

But the numbers show how their role has changed over time.

The number of fires fell by 36% in Devon and Somerset over 10 years from 2008/9 to 2017/18, while last year saw the lowest number of domestic fires ever recorded across both counties at 929.

In 2018/19, 35% of incidents were false alarms and only 28% were fires and 33 of the 121 frontline fire appliances attended on average less than 1 incident per week.

The risk of dwelling fires is concentrated into a very small proportion of the service area, with just 4.6% of the populated areas of the two counties containing 75% of the predicted dwelling fires.

The service has already saved £12.2 million over the last five years, but estimates that it needs to find a further £8.4 million in the next three years.

Chief fire officer Lee Howell said: " We all know that the main way to save lives is to prevent fires from happening in the first place.

"As a Service, we have made great progress but we feel we can and should be doing more to make people and buildings safer. At the same time, we need to improve our ability to respond to emergencies and ensure we better match our resources to our risks. These proposals aim to do just that.

“We do understand that communities affected by these changes will want more information and we will be engaging with them in the coming months to listen to their views.

"This will also be a difficult time for the staff affected and we are committed to working with them to consider how we might provide options as we move forward.”

The six options which will be presented to the Fire Authority are as follows:

Option 1 – Station closures

Station closures at Appledore, Ashburton, Budleigh Salterton, Colyton, Kingston, Porlock, Topsham* and Woolacombe.

*Note: One appliance from Topsham will be relocated to Middlemoor.

Option 2 – Station closures and removal of third appliances

Option 1, plus: Bridgwater, Taunton, Torquay and Yeovil Fire Stations all have three fire engines (two of which are crewed by ‘on call staff’). It is proposed that one of these ‘on call’ fire engines is removed from each of the four stations outlined.

Option 3 – Station closures, removal of third and second appliances

Option 2, plus: Crediton, Lynton, Martock and Totnes all have two fire engines. It is proposed that one of these fire engines is removed from each of the four stations outlined.

Option 4 – Station closures, removal of third and second appliances and change of status to day crewing

Option 3, plus: Barnstaple, Exmouth and Paignton currently have whole time crew on these fire stations 24/7. It is proposed that the station still operates on a 24/7 basis but at night, the fire engines are crewed by ‘on call’ staff.

(Image: Cath Haglington/The Social Group)

Option 5 – Station closures, removal of third and second appliances, change of status to day crewing and to on-call at night only

Option 4, plus: Brixham, Chard, Dartmouth, Frome, Honiton, Ilfracombe, Okehampton, Sidmouth, Tavistock, Teignmouth, Tiverton, Wellington, Wells and Williton Fire Stations all have two fire engines. Rather than take away the second fire engine from these stations, it is proposed that the first fire engine is still crewed 24/7 with ‘on call’ staff but the second fire engine is crewed at night.

Option 6 - Station closures, removal of third and second appliances, change of status to day crewing, on-call at night only and introduction of day crewed roving appliances

Option 5, plus: It is proposed that six day-crewed fire engines (with trained Firefighters on the fire engine) are introduced which will be deployed in areas of forecasted high risk and/or where gaps in ‘on call’ cover is presented. These firefighters will undertake additional fire prevention visits and building fire protection inspections to help make people and buildings safer. They will be available to immediately respond to incidents and improve response times in the area located. Note: these 6 fire wholetime crewed (Full Time Equivalent) fire engines are in addition to the current wholetime fire stations that will be unaffected during the day. These existing wholetime fire stations are: Bridgwater, Taunton, Yeovil, Exeter (Danes Castle), Exeter (Middlemoor), Barnstaple, Torquay, Paignton, Plymouth (Crownhill), Plymouth (Greenbank), Plymouth (Camels Head).