Spalding Fire Station could be set to lose its status as a 24/7 whole-time base and some specialist response teams could also go.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue has announced it wants to change the way it works and this means having only three stations where full-time firefighters are on call at all times, Lincoln South, Boston and Grantham.
Spalding will instead be a ‘day-crewed Monday to Friday station’ which would mean the full-time staff working during normal office hours rather than the four days on, four days off they currently do.
Night cover would come from the retained/part-time crews in the area, including crew members who will still be based in Spalding, Holbeach, Crowland and Long Sutton, as well as the ‘wholetime stations’.
Seven day-crewed day time services would also be created at Lincoln north, Gainsborough and Skegness.
The service also wants to move ‘key specialist response capabilities’ to the ‘whole-time stations’. That would mean Spalding losing specialist water and boat rescue teams.
A formal consultation on the proposals is set to take place and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue states in consultation documents that no final decision has been made.
It does say that its proposal is ‘a direction of travel for developing a more resilient and sustainable response model for the future’.
It adds that the current model ‘does not always make the most effective use of available resources, cannot consistently guarantee 24-hour availability at all locations’ and ‘creates challenges in maintaining resilience over the longer term’.
The consultation documents state: “This means the review is not about where our stations are situated.
“Instead, it’s about how we deliver our services from those locations and how we organise our people and resources to provide the best possible service to our communities.”
“The board (Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue) concluded that the evidence supports the need for change to meet future risks and demands.
“Any changes will be evidence based, carefully planned and fully consulted on.”
The Voice contacted Lincolnshire County Council, which oversees the fire service in the county, to ask how many full-time and retained firefighters were currently at Spalding and what the plan was for the future, but it had not responded with the figures at the time of going to press.
Spalding district councillor Mark Le Sage said: “I’m appalled that the full time fire fighter coverage based in Spalding is being cut.
“They’re building more houses with more planning applications to come, but because of this move we’ll all be less safe.”
South Holland MP Sir John Hayes said he would be ‘extremely disappointed’ with any cut at Spalding Fire Station.
“I’ve not seen the details yet but I was at Spalding Fire Station recently and I talked to the firefighters about the conditions, hours and work they undertakes.
“I was very impressed by the professionalism.
“My constituents need to be safe and fire is not something that’s a 9am to 5pm issue.
“I’m happy to be led by the firefighters and oppose any change they feel will make them less effective.”
South Holland District Council leader Coun Nick Worth has previously been the executive member for fire fighting when a member of Lincolnshire County Council.
“I know the fire service is struggling to recruit retained firefighters so this seems a retrograde step,” he said.
After The Voice went to press, Lincolnshire County Council sent a statement from Mark Baxter, chief fire officer at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “As residents would expect, we regularly review how we deliver our services to make sure we’re keeping them as safe as we can. We need to make the best use of our resources and adapt to the changing risks the county faces.
“Let me be clear; this is not about cost cutting, changing where our stations are, or reducing the number of firefighters in the county.
“No decisions have been made about any changes to our operating model, and any options for change would be discussed with our staff, unions, and our communities. The next steps in this process are set to be discussed by the council later this year.”
