Andrew Dismore

 

Andrew Dismore, London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden and member of the London Fire Authority has established that the local fire service in Camden  was seriously under strain on last Saturday evening, 4^th July.

 

Mr Dismore said:

 

‘I understand that on Saturday night 4^th July, a number of serious fires broke out over the course of a few hours in the north and west of London. ( see list below)  This significantly tied up resources in the affected areas.

 

‘This puts in sharp relief the consequences of the Mayor’s last round of fire cuts, and his determination to cut a further 13 fire appliances next year. If it is a quiet night, the brigade can cope well, but with multiple incidents near to each other, the strain is clearly showing.

 

‘In  relation to the incident at Belmont Street, the address of this fire was previously part of now closed Belsize Fire Station’s ground.

 

‘I believe the brigade was forced to mobilise appliances from as far away as Dowgate and Kensington as first attendance, owing to the unavailability of other appliances. (See attached incident report)

 

‘It took 15 minutes for the first appliance (Dowgate) to arrive. Crucially, this incident turned out to be a ‘person reported’ fire. However, thankfully, on this occasion there was no loss of life. But it shows the potential impact of closing Belsize- and the risk of the further front  line fire cuts the Mayor seems  determined to force through.

 

 

List nearby of incidents 4/7/15: 

 

• 120 firefighters fought a warehouse fire in Perivale (time of call: 18.52)

 

1.  

• 20 firefighters fought a fire in shops and flats at Spring Street, Paddington (time of call: 22.05)

 

1.  

• 58 firefighters fought a flat fire at York Rise, Kentish Town (time of call: 22.22)

 

1.  

• 25 firefighters fought a fire at a house converted into flats at Belmont Street, Belsize (time of call: 22.43)

 

London Fire Bridge Briefing Note:

7 July 2015

Subject

Emergency Incidents – Saturday 4 July 2015

Brief for

Jyoti Bhojani

Author

Dave Brown, Director of Operations

Further to our discussion, please see the first appliance attendance times for four key incidents on Saturday evening, 4 July, for which I have provided some further detail and context below.

Time of Call	Address	Initial Attendance	Attendance Time (mins)
18:52 hrs	20 Pump fire  – Perivale, Wembley.	Ealing Pump LadderNortholt Pump Ladder Northolt Pump	10:3712:21 12:47
22:05 hrs	4 Pump fire – Spring Street, Paddington.	Euston Pump LadderLambeth Pump	7:307:39
22:22 hrs	8 Pump fire – York Rise, Kentish Town.	Hornsey Pump LadderStoke Newington Pump	10:3921:38
22:43 Hrs	5 Pump – Belmont Street, Kentish Town.	Dowgate Pump LadderKensington Pump	14:10No information available

As you will appreciate, it is unusual to have four such incidents happening at the same time within an eight mile area.  Furthermore, between 18:00 hrs and midnight on Saturday 4 July, the Brigade attended 132 calls in total and received over 900 calls over the 24 hr period, which is over double what would normally be expected.

The first incident was at 18:52 hrs and was a fire in a warehouse in Perivale which is on Wembley’s ground.  The normal Pre Determined Attendance to this address would have been appliances from Wembley Fire Station, however they were unavailable due to attending a training event, therefore appliances were mobilised from Ealing and Northolt (2.8 and 3.1 miles away respectively), which arrived after 10:37 mins, and 12:21 mins.  Ultimately the two appliances from Wembley were mobilised to this incident once they had completed their training event just after 19:00 hrs.  This was in response to a request for more resources.

The next three incidents of note occurred within 38 minutes of each other.  The first of these was at 22:05 hrs and was a fire in shops and flats at Spring Street, Paddington.  By now, the warehouse fire in Perivale was a 20 Pump Fire, with a 15 Pump relief being put in place for 22:30 hrs and Brigade Control were carrying out numerous appliance moves from one station to another to ensure a strategic response to emergency cover was in place.  Appliances were mobilised to the Spring St fire from Euston and Paddington, which arrived after 7:30 mins and 7:39 mins respectively. NB. The reason for the delay from Paddington was that it was Lambeth’s appliance en route from Lambeth as part of an appliance stand by for emergency cover.  Paddington’s appliances had been moved to Northolt and Wembley also to provide emergency cover.

The second of these three incidents was a fire in a flat at York Rise, Kentish Town, the first call being at 22:22 hrs.  The normal Pre Determined Attendance to York Rise would have been appliances from Kentish Town, however they were both unavailable due to the Pump Ladder being on the 20PF at Perivale and the Pump at a child locked in a bathroom, therefore appliances were mobilised from Hornsey and Stoke Newington, which arrived after 10:39 mins and 21:38 mins respectively.  Ultimately Kentish Town’s Pump was mobilised onto this incident once it had released the child from the bathroom.  This was in response to a request for more resources.

The third of these three incidents was a fire in a house converted into flats at Belmont St, Kentish Town, the first call being at 22:43 hrs.  As above, the normal Pre Determined Attendance to Belmont St would have been appliances from Kentish Town, however they were unavailable due to the reasons already explained.  Appliances were therefore mobilised from Dowgate and Kensington, the first of which arrived after 14:10 mins.

Dave Brown

Director of Operations

London Fire Brigade