Fire deaths on Merseyside DOUBLE as union predicts engines drop to just 18 appliances across county

Fatalities spiralling, say FBU, ahead of government's Autumn Statement cutbacks

Fire deaths on Merseyside have doubled n the last five years as budget cuts are set to ‘decimate’ the service, union bosses warn.

The service is bracing itself for crippling cuts after the government’s Autumn Statement is unveiled.

Merseyside Fire Brigade Union (FBU) fears the financial bombshell could be even worse then first imagined, with engines slashed by over a half, falling from 42 to just 18. The number of stations could also drop from 26 to between 14 and 16.

New figures, released in recent days by the Department for Communities and Local Government, showed emergency response times in the county had increased by an average of one minute, over the past half decade.

Compared to statistics in 2010, when crews reached fires in five minutes and 34 seconds, appliances now take six minutes and 35 seconds - one minute longer.

Fire deaths have increased by 100% since 2010, with five in 2010 and 2011, six in 2012, eight in 2013 and ten in 2014, the service confirmed.

This year’s figures, which only cover seven-and-a-half months, already stands at eight fatalities, with over four months left until the end of the financial year, in April.

Mark Rowe, Merseyside FBU secretary said his fire service was the worst hit across the UK by government cuts and axing of central government grants.

He said: “This year, on Merseyside, from six months alone, we’ve had eight fire deaths.

“After decades of those figures going down, they are now going up.

“That has to be because of the cuts we have faced.

“It’s set to decimate Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

“In 2011/12, we had just five deaths, last year, it was up to 10.”

Story source: Liverpool Echo by Luke Traynor