Who’s to the Rescue?

The fire in Walworth on the 25^th of March highlights how crucial it is to have a fully active fire service. Where the fire happened is home to The Cuming Museum, a library and several council offices. It is also about half a mile away from my University, London South Bank.  The London Fire Services are effected by a 14% cut in funding over two years equating to roughly £45 million, subsequently leading to planned station closures. In Southwark Borough there are four stations. It is proposed that Southwark station itself is closed, alongside a reduction of resources at Peckham Station and temporary closure while new stations are being built at Dockhead and Old Kent road. This means all four stations will be effected.

Holding the much-coveted position of Mayor of London, you may ask what is Boris Johnson to do about these cuts? Well, instead of finding additional resources to fund the fire brigade, he is favouring cutting Londoners council tax by 1p a day.  Which would you prefer, a substantial fire brigade or money off your council tax bill? Considering the economic difficulties faced by many across the capital at the moment, it is likely some may be tempted by this offer to save the pennies. After all, it won’t happen to me, will it?

Understandably, in times of austerity cut backs need to be made however cuts affecting public services tend to generate much public outcry. At the last check Southwark Firestation (@savesouthwark) had 1,036 followers. This could be because, as my five-year-old cousin said, “doctors, firemen, police and vets are superheroes”. Maybe she has a point.

In 2011/2012 the London Fire Brigade (LFB) attended 5,584 incidents in Southwark alone. Not just keeping the residents of the Borough safe, but all of those who commute in daily, such as myself, my father and many other people I know. For example, a few weeks ago I was at university desperately trying to submit a group essay when the fire alarm sounded in the Perry Library. Everyone was evacuated in the usual ‘fire-bell-frenzy’ and within minutes a fire engine arrived. Luckily it was a false alarm; nevertheless you can’t help but question what would be the case if it was a critical incident and the proposed cuts went ahead?

The fire in Wansey Street this week also proves how the Boroughs are not always able to work independently. According to the LFB’s website 120 firefighters and officers attended the blaze, accompanied by 20 fire engines from other under-threat-stations such as Kingsland, Peckham, Whitechapel and New Cross.  Thankfully, as far as I am aware there have been no reported injuries but again you can’t help wondering, ‘what if?’

The thought of cuts to the fire service is frightening. As are cuts to any public service.  It is claimed 4 in 10 children in London are living in poverty, yet the government behaves as if it has no money to fund services to assist them.  An inquest was concluded this week surrounding the tragedy of the Lakanal House fire in 2009, where amongst others, three children died. Surely this is a warning more money needs to be pumped into emergency services, not less? Yet, maybe there really is no money in the public pot. So are already vulnerable children being put at more risk by cutting the emergency services?  Furthermore, fire brigades across the country invest a lot of time in assisting vulnerable adults and children with learning disabilities with fire safety in the home, as well as in the community. If the cuts are made, would the time for this sort of assistance dwindle through no fault or choice of each of the stations? This may be likely, but what else can be done to prevent such cuts? It’s hard to make many viable suggestions; every plan appears to have a pitfall.

There is currently a consultation conducted by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority on the draft fifth London Safety Plan. The Southwark Public meeting will be held on the 14 May at City Hall. For the other public meetings, a full list is available here.

However to end on a positive note, the rescue teams which attended the Walworth blaze this week managed to recover 500 artifacts from the museum. Perhaps all is not lost after all…