FIRE union officials have warned that Cumbria's major flood rescue operation would have been a "terrifying" prospect without the involvement and cover of crews from stations facing the axe.

The Fire Brigade Union in Cumbria is urging Cumbria County Council to reconsider its proposals to shut five stations - which includes Walney - after the devastating floods.


Ben Jones Ben Jones and Graeme Higgins, of the Fire Brigade Union in Cumbria and firefighters who assisted with flood rescues, said all the closure threatened station are playing a "vital" role in keeping Cumbrians safe.

Some crew members from closure threatened stations, including Lazonby, went out on rescues.

While Barrow's fire crew was dealing with flood rescues in the Levens area, and Ulverston's whole time fire crew was in Kendal and Penrith areas, there was cover from in Barrow and South Cumbria from Walney and Ulverston retained crews. At a time there were also issues with some Ulverston crew not being able to get to work through the floods.

Mr Jones, a Barrow firefighter, Barrow branch secretary of the FBU, and Cumbria membership secretary for the union said: "Crews have worked tirelessly in incredibly difficulty circumstances.

"With floods on an unprecedented scale, these stations and crews have shown they are vital to the communities they serve. We don't just cover our communities, we cover neighbouring communities.

"If the station (Walney) had been closed we would have had one appliance covering Barrow to Grange.

"The council needs to consider very carefully how they vote.

"We need more investment not cuts."

Mr Higgins, a Carlisle East firefighter and secretary of the FBU in Cumbria, said: "All the stations earmarked for the closure play a vital role. The service was stretched to the limit, so the prospect of having five less fire stations from April it quite terrifying.

"The retained firefighters in Cumbria are very much the heartbeat of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service. Without them service would fall apart, these floods are no longer once in a lifetime.

"It fills firefighters with dread, the prospect of having five fire stations less."

The Evening Mail approached Cumbria County Council to comment but the local authority declined at this stage because of the gold command status being on going in the county.

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