Jim Palmer: Essex Fire and Rescue Service

We had some background reading to do before today’s meeting. Jim Palmer from the Essex Fire and Rescue Service came to talk to us about the consultation they are undertaking on the future direction of the Service. The reading we had was three reports on the Service’s current performance and ways it could be improved.

The Service is falling short of its target for the time taken to attend a life-threatening incident, but only by a small margin. Whilst other county fire and rescue services are looking at ways they can save money by cutting back on the number of fire stations, appliances and staff, Essex is taking a different approach. It is seeking to make financial savings but at the same time reduce fire risks and improve response times across the county. There are particular problems getting a fire appliance to an incident quickly in rural areas.

Jim’s particular interest is in fire protection. There are large new residential estates being built in a number of areas. Fortunately developers are now far more aware of fire safety and newly-built houses are being constructed to a far higher standard so far as fire precautions are concerned. This can make good business sense for the developers. Jim gave the example of the installation of sprinklers in new industrial buildings, which can make it possible to build to a higher density while maintaining fire safety standards.

Inevitably the report on the Grenfell Tower disaster cropped up. Jim pointed out that the London Fire Brigade was not responsible for the fire. The fire would have taken place whether the Fire Brigade existed or not. The fact that the Brigade did exist, and attended the incident, meant that the loss of life was much lower than it would have been otherwise. Nevertheless, lessons had been learned and would be taken onboard by fire services throughout the country.