A fire station in Fordbridge, United Kingdom had to close yesterday, Aug. 31 due to a lack of firefighters to cover the operations.
The Fordbridge facility, which cost nearly 4 million pounds (over $4 million or over P250 million), just opened last week, as per the Staines Fire Station’s post on Facebook yesterday.
According to SurreyLive yesterday, the Fordbridge station replaced the ones in the nearby towns of Staines and Sunbury.
“Fordbridge is an optimal location for providing fire cover and replaces Staines and Sunbury fire stations,” a Surrey Fire and Rescue Service spokesman was quoted as saying.
The new Fordbridge facility was supposed to have two fire engines available at all times. But it was decreased to one, due to proposals from the Surrey County Council.
The Fire Brigade Union claims that the council’s proposal for decreasing the number of fire engines would put the public at risk. The council denies the union’s statement.
The Staines station believes the newly-opened base for operations at Fordbridge had to close because of “years of budget cuts” and “poor top tier management of the service.”
With the Fordbridge facility shutting down yesterday, the Staines station directed questions at the Surrey Fire & Rescue Senior Leadership Team. The station asked the leadership team to choose between two options.
One is to push the Surrey council to “to correctly fund the Fire & Rescue Service paid for by the public” and “ensure all fire stations are fully crewed to help and protect the communities they serve.”
The other is to “propose cutting seven fire engines at night” from seven other locations and use “leftover Firefighters to prop up other fire stations and prop up fire safety departments.”
As per report, a decision on the future of Surrey’s fire service is scheduled to be rendered later this month. Ryan Arcadio/JB
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