Fire service releases new county plan

The new Integrated Risk Management Plan is a legal requirement placed on the fire service by central government and it details how the service will balance prevention, protection and response activities to reduce the impact of risk on communities in a cost effective way.

The main risks and opportunities identified by the Fire Authority are: an ageing population, reliance on the on-call service, workforce reform and collaboration with other emergency services and local partners.

Assistant chief fire officer Rick Hylton, who has been leading the piece of work, said: “Our new risk plan sets out what we are going to do over the next three years to mitigate risk and take advantage of opportunities to ensure we continue to deliver a cost-effective and continuously improving service.

“The fire service is changing and becoming even more pivotal in keeping communities safe. Our role is expanding from putting out fires and attending road traffic collisions.

“We have already started to trial co-responding at some of our rural fire stations where our firefighters attend medical emergencies, and our safe and well visits now cover much more than fire safety.”

Sir Peter Brown, chairman of the Fire Authority, said: “Our plan is a balance of mitigating risk and taking the opportunities that will help us have a greater impact on keeping our communities safe.”

The plan is available to read at www.cambsfire.gov.uk where a link to a short online survey can be found.

The consultation closes on June 1.