I visited High Wycombe Fire Station to talk through Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s proposals to modernise the On-Call Service with Chief Fire Officer Louise Harrison. Under the plans, Wycombe would lose its rarely used On-Call Fire Engine but would retain all other vehicles.
The safety of the people of Wycombe is my highest priority. I was reassured to hear from the Chief Fire Officer that these changes will not affect incident response times in Wycombe, because the On-Call Fire Engine has had only 1.4% availability over the last five years.
The Chief Fire Officer explained that there is no intention to reduce the numbers of Whole Time or On-Call Firefighters and Wycombe will continue to benefit from two fully crewed fire engines and a specialist ladder engine. At 32 metres high, this enables firefighters to rescue people from buildings up to 13 storeys.
I was impressed by Buckinghamshire’s new rural firefighting vehicle. As our climate changes, this off-road 4×4 will be a vital tool—helping firefighters tackle wildfires and flooding more effectively and keeping our communities safer.
I strongly encourage Wycombe residents to read the proposals and take part in the consultation before the 28 January deadline.