Councillors urge fire bosses to keep Wallsend fire station open 24 hours amid safety concerns
Councillors have unanimously called on Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to “investigate all ways” to keep Wallsend Fire Station open 24 hours.
The call for the investigation has come amid concerns over the service’s proposals to see Wallsend Community Fire Station staffed only during the day, leaving the station without a crew between 6pm and 8am.
If the proposals are carried out, it would leave Tynemouth Fire Station to cover the night shift along with Byker Community Fire Station.
However, the proposals have sparked an outcry from locals and more then 1,500 people have signed a change.org petition citing safety concerns.
The fire service has said ending the nightshift would free up resources for water rescues, building collapses or similar catastrophes and has stressed the aim was “not to save money”.
Now North Tyneside councillors, from both sides of the chamber, have urged the fire service to reconsider and investigate all possible avenues to keep the Wallsend site open throughout the night.
Deputy Mayor of North Tyneside Carl Johnson said: “It really impacts the entire riverside over to Newcastle.
"Byker Fire Station, or Fossway Fire Station, is the busiest fire station in Tyne and Wear, which would be the fire station expected to cover for Wallsend.
“You can’t ask the busiest fire station to cover Wallsend.
"We have seen road traffic collisions recently that require two or three fire appliances in this borough, which would take up the current one at Wallsend and the two at Preston anyway and taking that away at night would be a huge risk to the borough”.
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We will not be providing specific comment on any one proposal during the consultation period as at this moment they are in draft form and our consultation period is open until 6th February 2024.
“We believe our proposals will provide a resilient response model not just for fires but a range of emergencies including rescues from water and rescues from height.
"These types of incidents have seen a considerable increase in recent years.
“Our current average response time to life-risk incidents is five minutes and 40 seconds – and we are really proud that this is the fastest response from any fire and rescue service in the country.
"Our Community Risk Management Plan aims to maintain this response time across Tyne and Wear, whilst responding to the changing risk in our community.”
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