Firefighters lobby to keep Cornwall's 999 control service in Cornwall
A decision is still to be confirmed on whether the centre could close
Last updated 6th Oct 2022
Firefighters and members of the public are calling on the council to protect the future of the control centre which handles Cornwall's 999 fire calls.
A decision on whether the service could close is yet to be made, after Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service (CFRS) said it was under review and it needed to make "efficiencies".
Those involved took part in a lobby outside County Hall in Truro on Thursday morning, ahead of a council meeting to discuss the plans.
The future of the centre could be that it will be shared with another emergency service in Cornwall. Another possibility is that it could be outsourced to another fire service outside the county, which could be as far away as Cumbria in the North-West.
Gary Cotton, serving firefighter who attended, said: "This is a statutory duty the fire service have to provide under the law and it most effective way we can do that is a properly funded fire control helping to look after our staff under Cornwall.
"We believe that when they've looked at that and they've talked to our control operators and our firefighters, there's no way they can make that decision based on is it safe, is if effective and is it going to cost more money to outsource 999 calls rather than saving money?"
Among firefighters who attended to show their support were members of the public, the FBU and councillors.
Guy Harrington, FBU regional secretary, said ahead of the meeting: "Firefighter control staff use specialist skills and knowledge to save the lives of the public. Now they're calling on the public to back them as the fire service looks to shut their service down completely.
"Their highly specialised skills and knowledge are irreplaceable. Simply bundling in these calls with another emergency service would result in a far worse service.
"It would likely result in lives lost".
"It would certainly result in longer attendance times, greater risk to the public, and greater risk to firefighters.
"This is a purely financial decision – it's simply about cost-cutting, but it hasn't even been properly costed.
"There is an alternative option: proper investment in local fire control and a formal partnership contract to provide future resilience during large scale incidents and extremely busy periods, such as the heat wave in August".
"It's just going to cause catastrophe".
Sarah Tressider, who lives near Helston, came to campaign against the closure. She said: "We've lost our other services, we cannot do without having a fire control service here in Cornwall.
"If we lose yet one other service that is so vital to the safety of Cornwall it's just going to cause catastrophe. Also we're losing jobs, there's going to be an empty control centre there, it'll be a wasted space. There'll be people without jobs, people without local knowledge, who knows what might happen".
We're waiting to hear what the future holds for the control centre following the meeting.
Read More:
Firefighters invite people to join lobby to keep 999 control centre in Cornwall
Plans to handle Cornwall's 999 fire calls elsewhere to go before full council
Petition to stop possible closure of Cornwall's fire control centre
FBU union slams potential plans to scrap Cornwall's fire control centre
Potential plans to close Cornwall Fire & Rescue's 999 control centre