No to fire service cuts!

After the usual sham of 'consultation', Devon and Somerset Fire Authority have decided to axe 25 jobs in the fire service in Devon, despite a budget surplus of £1 million. The jobs will go in Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth and Torquay and will leave these towns and cities and the areas they serve undermanned. In the event that an aerial hydraulic platform is needed for a rescue, firefighters will have to leave their posts either manning another engine or fighting a fire to operate it.

It seems fire chiefs have learnt absolutely nothing from the tragedy in Newquay over the summer, when three people died in the fire at the Penhallow Hotel. Fire cuts in Cornwall meant there were not enough firefighters or working equipment locally to tackle the blaze. Firefighters and equipment had to come from Plymouth (50 miles away).

As with the NHS and the postal services, we must fight to retain adequate levels of fire cover. Cuts kill, and the Devon Socialist Party is campaigning for no cuts in firefighters, engines or equipment, and for firefighters to be properly paid for the dangerous but essential work they do. The Fire Brigades Union is urging people to write to the Chief Fire Officer for Devon and Somerset to protest against these dangerous and unnecessary cuts. Please send your letters of protest (when the postal workers are moving to rolling strikes next week) to:

Chief Fire Officer
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
SHQ
Clyst St George
Exeter
EX3 0NW