Princess Royal opens new Huntingdon Fire station amid protests at 'dangerous under-crewing policy'

Firefighters in Cambridgeshire held a protest at the opening of Huntingdon Fire Station and Training Centre.

Crews chose the official opening of the station, which was attended by the Princess Royal, to raise their serious concerns regarding a new policy, trialled since January, which has seen Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service cut the number of on-call firefighters attending incidents in Cambridgeshire to three per crew.

The Fire Brigades Union Cambridgeshire say that a minimum number of five firefighters is needed to respond to incidents where lives are at risk. A fire engine with only three firefighters on board will be forced to wait for back-up to arrive so that they can properly, and safely, respond to life-threatening incidents.

Firefighters say they could face a "terrible decision;" wait outside a burning building, or risk their jobs and lives by going in.

Mark Harriss, FBU Cambridgeshire brigade secretary said: "Cambridgeshire firefighters are making it clear that we won’t quietly accept public and firefighter safety being put at risk.

A crew of three firefighters is not equipped to safely enter a burning building. No fire service should be putting their firefighters in this dangerous position.

“New fire stations and fire engines are useless without firefighters. We have lost around 12,000 firefighter posts in the UK since 2010.

"We need urgent investment and recruitment instead of firefighters’ lives being put on the line in this way. Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service must start listening and end this dangerous policy now.”

The building was officially opened and the Princess was given a guided tour by Group Commander Simon Thompson.

Along the way, The Princess Royal was treated to three demonstrations by firefighters and training centre instructors showing rope rescue, road traffic collision and large animal rescue techniques.

This included a horse rescue from a water filled ditch to replicate the unique challenges Cambridgeshire firefighters face with the large number of waterways in the county.

After the tour - which also included meeting on-call firefighters, the community safety team, representatives from support groups and year 10 students from Hinchingbrooke School in Huntingdon who have designed a piece of artwork for one of the conference rooms – CFRS Deputy Chief Executive Matthew Warren officially welcomed everyone and thanked all those involved in the build project for their hard work and perseverance, before inviting Her Royal Highness to unveil a commemorative plaque.

Evlyn, aged 8, and Keevah, aged 11 – whose fathers work at the fire station – presented Her Royal Highness with a posy to conclude the event.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service Matthew Warren said: “It was a perfect event to officially open our new replacement fire station in Huntingdon and the Service’s new training facility and an opportunity for us to properly thank everyone who has been involved in this project.

"So much time, effort and hard work has gone into this new build by so many people and it was fantastic to stand in front of everyone today and collectively thank them in person.

"Having Her Royal Highness with us to meet everyone, learn more about our fire and rescue service and unveil a commemorative plaque made it particularly special and something that everyone will remember and talk about for a long time.”

Benjamin and Howard Junior, students at Queen Katharine Academy in Peterborough, who met HRH to talk about the Fire Break programme they have recently completed with the CFRS community safety team, said: “It felt very special to meet Her Royal Highness and talk about the FireBreak programme.

"She asked us what the best part was and we said wearing breathing apparatus and carrying out the rescue mission. We told her it has inspired us to become firefighters. It was a day we’ll remember forever.”