Engines withdrawn over shortage of firemen

Fire engines in the West Midlands are being withdrawn from duty as there is no-one to man them amid a recruitment freeze, it has emerged.

Firefighters say a staffing shortage means at times trucks are sitting idle at stations across the region putting lives at risk.

At the weekend, Halesowen's Hagley Road station's only engine was out of use, meaning other stations had to cover jobs in the area.

A firefighter with more than 20 years' experience said response times were inevitably being affected due to the problem.

Stations which have two engines including Fallings Park in Bushbury Road, Wolverhampton in Merridale Street and Dudley in Burton Road, have all had to operate with a single truck in recent weeks as resources have been stretched.

And firefighters who have booked leave less than two months in advance have faced having days off cancelled to cover.

A fire service source, who did not want to be named, said: "They have been knocking appliances off the run when we don't have enough staff.

"They usually take an appliance from a two engine station. They don't, or rather can't, bring standbys in to cover because of shortages so the engine will simply go empty all shift and in the case of Halesowen the station will be closed."

Firefighters due to be on shift with an engine which is taken off the run are reallocated to engines elsewhere in the region. Sickness absences often lead to the service becoming overstretched.

A firefighter who has worked in the region for 20 years added: "You can't argue with the fact that if there is a fire in Halesowen when the engine is off the run a machine is going to take minutes longer to get there."