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THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) has accused some chief fire officers in the UK of ‘playing down’ the rescue role of fire services in order to justify cuts in their brigades.
A statistical analysis carried out by the Union shows a 42% increase in the number of people rescued by the fire service from fires in the home. Yet despite this rise, the FBU says that some chiefs and fire authority councillors are making decisions based on inaccurate information.
Matt Wrack, the Union’s general secretary, said: ‘The rescue role of the fire service has been deliberately underplayed in an attempt to justify cuts. Lives will be at risk if our ability to carry out rescues is compromised by those who want to cut the service simply to save money.’
According to the FBU analysis – based on Parliamentary questions and official UK fire statistics – the number of people rescued from serious home fires in England rose from 2,716 in 1994, to 3,868 in 2003. The Union also found that nine out of ten people were rescued alive by the fire service during this period.
‘Strategies aimed at preventing fires from happening are obviously important,’ said Mr Wrack, ‘but these statistics show that the number of people needing rescuing from fires in the home is increasing.’
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