Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 22/08/2

Cornwall County Council is very upset by the criticism from the Fire Brigades Union following its meeting with senior County Councillors and the Chief Fire Officer.

The Fire Brigade is currently dealing with a very complex investigation following the fire at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay. The Council is worried that Brigade staff are being distracted from this vital task to respond to such comments.

David Whalley, the Leader of the County Council, Ken Yeo, the Executive Member for Public Protection, have already made a commitment that no decision will be made on changing the current 24 hour wholetime provision at Camborne and Falmouth Fire Stations until the implications of the fire in Newquay have been fully evaluated.

The management of the Fire Brigade in Cornwall is dealing with the maintenance of full time firefighter crew levels on fire stations by a number of measures. These include increasing the amount of overtime and temporarily suspending some of the Brigade’s support functions to redeploy staff to front line duties if required.

The County Council is fully committed to supporting its retained firefighters who play a vital role in Cornwall County Fire Brigade. It operates an ongoing recruitment programme.