Firefighters’ Union Alleges “Immediate Risk” to Public and Crews Following Dorset Station Cuts

A union has asserted that reductions at one of Dorset’s busiest fire stations are exposing both emergency personnel and residents to “immediate risk.” Poole fire station now operates with a single fire engine staffed around the clock, following the removal of its second such vehicle on October 21. An additional, third fire engine relies on retained, on-call firefighters for its staffing. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) reported that some full-time firefighters from Poole have been reassigned to address staffing deficits at other facilities, consequently increasing Poole’s dependence on its retained personnel. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue (DWFR) indicated that these adjustments were intended to tackle its “financial challenges” while simultaneously enabling an expansion of fire coverage in other areas. DWFR had previously announced these modifications in August, which encompassed the withdrawal of fire engines from four additional stations during September. The FBU stated that in the four-day period immediately following the removal of Poole’s fire engine, its retained crews responded to 15 incidents, a figure described as “five times more than predicted by the fire service.” Val Hampshire, an FBU Executive Council member representing the South West, commented: “The sudden removal of Poole’s second fire engine has immediately put the public and firefighters at greater risk.” She added: “Slashing resources from one of the busiest fire stations in the county has already proved reckless and dangerous, pushing on-call firefighters beyond limits to respond to incidents.” Hampshire concluded: “This week of chaos has made the impact of cuts all too clear.” A spokesperson for the fire service stated: “This is also a programme of work that includes some reinvestment and will enable us to improve fire cover by increasing the number of wholetime firefighter posts at Westlea fire station and upgrading Amesbury and Dorchester fire stations from on-call only to on-call and wholetime.” The spokesperson further noted: “Dependant on our financial settlement for 2025/26 we will review the proposal to remove the second fire engine at another three on-call stations – Sherborne, Portland and Wimborne.” They confirmed: “This review will happen in early 2025.”