LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Fire service does not need to be told to stop preaching

I WOULD like to convey my sincere thanks, gratitude and wholesome support for our Fire & Rescue Service after the past few days.

Those who keep updated with these issues will know the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), certain brave councillors, former Labour Party members etc have been lobbying for fire service provision within Rotherham to be put back where we need it. We need that second pump “on the run”, as it were, which is wholly in the gift of the Fire Authority.

The ravaging fires seen across South Yorkshire echoed a sentiment I described in which I said that emergencies were fluid, dynamic regardless of them being environmental, terrorist, fire etc.

When Boris Johnson was Mayor of London he took pride in axing fire cover, which led to some awful, awful incidents. He told one opposing Labour Assembly member to “get stuffed” during the debate and yet we have a South Yorkshire Fire Authority run by Labour who have chopped away at our fire cover and telling elected FBU officials to stop preaching.

How can anyone plan for a series of wild fires, compost heaps and gardens to go up in flames? Nobody can, but the first step is not to reduce fire cover in an area that is particularly vulnerable.

The video evidence from a housing estate in the south of England looks like it’s been ravaged by a nuclear bomb.

The Fire Service will surely attend to all our emergencies including but not limited to house fires, road accidents and water deaths.

Could one extra pump at Rotherham save the day? No. However, it could have provided much needed support to stretched colleagues fighting an impossible, heat searing battle.

The decision to put fire cover back where it belongs is in the gift of the Labour-controlled Fire Authority so rather then telling our heroes, communities and public they are preaching, why not fund proper fire cover?

Firefighter Memorial Day is on May 4 2023 where we remember all fallen brothers and sisters who gave their day so someone, somewhere, might live.

I commend this letter to the good people of Rotherham and in particular I offer my thoughts and prayers to those so grievously impacted by the heatwave fires.

Paddy J Cawkwell, West Street, Conisbrough