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Cuts kill - no reductions in the fire service!
AFTER THE usual sham of 'consultation', Devon and Somerset Fire Authority have decided to axe 25 jobs in the fire service in Devon, despite a budget surplus of £1 million.
Jim Lowe, Devon Socialist Party
The jobs will go in Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth and Torquay and will leave these towns and cities and the areas they serve understaffed.
In the event that an aerial hydraulic platform is needed for a rescue, firefighters will have to leave their posts either staffing another engine or fighting a fire, to operate it.
It seems fire chiefs have learnt absolutely nothing from the tragedy in Newquay over the summer, when three people died in the fire at the Penhallow Hotel. Fire cuts in Cornwall meant there were not enough firefighters or working equipment locally to tackle the blaze. Firefighters and equipment had to come from Plymouth, 50 miles away.
As with the NHS and the postal services, we must fight to retain vital public services.
Cuts kill. Devon Socialist Party is campaigning for no reductions in firefighters, engines or equipment, and for firefighters to be properly paid for the dangerous but essential work they do.
The Fire Brigades Union is urging people to write to the Chief Fire Officer for Devon and Somerset to protest against these dangerous and unnecessary cuts.
Please send your letters of protest to: Chief Fire Officer, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, SHQ, Clyst St George, Exeter EX3 0NW.
Join us today!
Related links:
Public 'disgust and shock' at fire service cuts
The 30th November strike and the Fire Brigades Union
Extracts from a statement from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU):
Firefighters rally and lobby MPs against cuts
Why London firefighters oppose 'reforms'
Stop the NHS sell-off - National demo now!
Save Devon youth service: "time for young people to stand up"
Derriford hospital announces huge cuts
TUSC shows alternative to Con-Dem and Labour cuts
Exeter Socialist Party: After 30th November, how can we defeat the cuts?