Plan to axe one of Hackney’s six fire engines slammed as ‘dangerous’

Alarm bells: The FBU fears cuts will put Hackney residents in danger. Photograph: Martin Addison

Proposals to scrap one of Hackney’s six fire engines are “dangerous and reckless,” the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) has warned.

Hackney has only three fire stations and six engines remaining, after Kingsland Fire Station and another engine were cut from Hackney’s fleet last year.

“Hackney has already been disproportionately hit by fire service cuts and now an engine from Shoreditch is set to be axed,” said Paul Embery, London regional secretary for the FBU. “It is dangerous and reckless to propose these cuts.”

The plan forms part of proposals from the London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Ron Dobson, to scrap 13 fire engines from London’s fleet.

The commissioner is faced with £13.2m of cuts by Mayor Boris Johnson to the London Fire Brigade budget for the 2016/17 financial year.

In the face of these cuts, the Fire Brigade has earmarked a Shoreditch engine as one of the 13 across the capital that would have to go.

Mr Embery said: “These cuts will lead to longer response times around Hackney, and that would jeopardise public safety. When you’re trapped in a fire, seconds count.

“If you have to wait for a fire engine to arrive from further afield because your local engine has been taken out of service, that extra wait could be the difference between life and death.”

Jennette Arnold OBE, Labour London Assembly Member for Hackney, said: “The Mayor has already axed 14 fire engines and closed 10 London fire stations, including an engine in Hackney.

“The predictable result was that the time it takes fire engines to reach incidents increased.

“There is little doubt that the Mayor’s plan to axe another 13 fire engines could have dire consequences for Londoners and would put lives at risk as it could mean Hackney losing yet another fire engine.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “Frontline services and the safety of Londoners remain the Mayor’s top priority. The London Fire Brigade ‎continues to do an excellent job.

“Fire deaths in the capital have halved in the last five years and in 2014-15 there were fewer than 20,000 fires, the lowest since records began.”