Braintree district: Big changes in the pipeline for fire service (From Braintree and Witham Times)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting BWT to 80360 or you can email us »
Braintree district: Big changes in the pipeline for fire service
5:00pm Friday 26th October 2012 in News
Braintree district: Big changes in the pipeline for fire service
FULL time firefighters could be based at Braintree and Witham Fire Station could be downsized in a huge service shake up.
Chief Fire Officer David Johnson, of the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, hopes to make the biggest changes to fire stations in 70 years, at a time when the service is having save millions of pounds.
For the first time he has outlined plans to change Braintree’s retained fire crews to a full time unit and to replace Witham’s Hatfield Road Fire Station with a smaller site.
He said: “We are considering a wholetime resource for Braintree which has grown rapidly.
“There is one of the best retained stations there doing more calls than some of the wholetime which is something we are looking at.
“It is not the top priority at the moment but we have to look at our coverage there”
He also hopes to close the current Witham fire station should the training centres be combined at the Kelvedon Park headquarters but insists an alternative station, smaller in size but with no less cover, would be opened in the town.
Comments are closed on this article.
Comments (1)
5:55pm Fri 26 Oct 12
brain1 says...
The re organisation makes a lot of sense as we do not have a full time Station in the Braintree Area .
Well done to the retained Firemen that has kept it going up till now.