Firefighters protest decision to allow crews of three

The demo took place outside a meeting of the Cambridgeshire Fire Authority at New Shire Hall in Alconbury Weald.

Since January 1st 2023, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) has cut the number of on-call firefighters attending incidents in Cambridgeshire to three per crew.

A minimum number of five firefighters are recommended to respond to incidents where lives are at risk.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has condemned these lower crewing levels, with 88% of members who are on call firefighters in the region signing a letter to the service opposing the new practice.

A crew of three firefighters in a fire engine means there is one driver, one officer overseeing operations, and one crew member.

Firefighters are trained as crews of four or five, with roles assigned within these larger teams. 

Callum Hodgkin, FBU Cambridgeshire brigade organiser:

"Fires can change quickly, so you never know what an incident is like until you arrive at the scene.

"With a crew of three, you aren’t equipped to safely tackle a serious incident like a house fire. You must wait for another crew to arrive.

"Firefighters in these crews face an impossible choice: wait outside a burning house or risk their jobs and lives by going in.

"Sooner or later, this policy will end in tragedy."

Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland:

"We will always strive to have at least four and ideally five on a fire engine.

"However, we often have three firefighters available at on-call stations who can get to an incident in their local town or village quicker than the next nearest fire engine.

"In these situations, we are now allowing that fire engine to attend with a crew of three, backed up by the normal number of fire engines we would send to that incident.

"A crew of three on a fire engine is able to deal with many incidents quickly and safely, improving the service being provided to many rural areas."