Blackheath: BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE SERVICE CUTS

Blackheath fire engine unable to respond to incidents as impact of emergency service budget cuts worsens

There will be one fewer Fire and Rescue NSW appliance available to respond to emergency incidents in the upper Blue Mountains today following a decision to temporarily close Blackheath Fire Station from 10am this morning.

The decision by Fire and Rescue NSW management to reduce the number of fire and rescue appliances in the Blue Mountains is the result of a new staffing practice, introduced in late 2012, following emergency service budget cuts by the NSW Liberal Government.

The closure is the third time in the last fortnight that fire services in the upper Blue Mountains have been reduced for a period of at least four hours, with Mt Victoria Fire Station impacted by similar closures on August 22 and 25.

Fire Brigade Employees’ Union country sub-branch secretary Tim Anderson said that rather than ensuring all fire stations had adequate staff numbers, management were robbing the Katoomba community to fill gaps elsewhere in the Blue Mountains.

“Firefighters from Katoomba Fire Station, which operate the only permanently staffed FRNSW appliance in the upper Mountains, will instead be based at Blackheath for the duration of the temporary closure today,” Mr Anderson said.

“FRNSW did not have an adequate number of firefighters available at Blackheath to allow the safe operation of that appliance, but rather than bring extra firefighters in to fill the gaps, they are choosing to rob neighbouring communities of resources.

“While the specialist rescue appliance from Katoomba is still available to respond to fires and rescue incidents, response times may be delayed as it will need to travel from Blackheath.

“Worryingly, there will be one fewer FRNSW appliance available to respond to any emergency situations that occur in the Blue Mountains today.”

Mr Anderson said fire incidents in the Katoomba area will be responded to by local retained firefighters — on call firefighters not based at the fire stations full time.

“These highly trained professionals have the same skills and experience as their full time colleagues, however the community is asked to understand that response times may be slightly delayed as retained firefighters are required to attend the fire station from their home or workplace before responding to incidents,” he said.

Rescue operations will be responded to by Blue Mountains Police Rescue.

Further information about the practice of closing fire stations rather than using off-duty firefighters to fill staffing gaps is available at fbeu.net/cutscostlives.