Wiltshire's Fire Service relying in majority on part-timers firefighters
Figures revealed amid an ongoing shortage of retain crews
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue relies on three in five firefighters who do not work in the role full-time.
* Figures show that 1,014 firefighters were employed by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service in 2019-20
* 610 of them (60%) were 'on call'
Across England, there are 35,291 firefighters and 12,498 (35%) are on call.
There have been repeated appeals for more on-call firefighters to come forward to train for responding to emergencies in their communities across Wiltshire.
* Stations like Tisbury, Wilton, Amesbury, Mere, Ludgershall and Pewsey are all crewed by on-call or part time firefighters
* On-call staff work alongside wholetime colleagues at Salisbury Fire Station
IMPACT ON EMERGENCY RESPONSE
* Back in December 2017 Tisbury's fire engine was unable to go to an initial emergency call of a chimney fire due to not having enough crew.
* The lack of on-call fire crews has been a problem for a very long time.
WHAT IS AN 'ON CALL' FIREFIGHTER?
On-call firefighters respond to emergencies and take part in other fire service activities on an ad-hoc basis, meaning they may have full-time jobs elsewhere.
The National Fire Chiefs Council said these firefighters give emergency cover to more than 90% of the UK and described them as "a vital part of today's fire and rescue service."
On-call firefighters are paid the same hourly rate as whole-time staff for the hours that they work, with an annual salary for a fully-trained on-call firefighter averaging at £3,177.
The NFCC said each fire and rescue service in England decides how many whole-time and on-call staff it needs, based on a risk management plan.
A spokesman said:
"On-call firefighters predominately serve less urban areas of the country to meet more rural risk profiles serving the immediate communities in which they live and work."
"This working model is very efficient and effective for local communities and individual fire and rescue services as it provides a highly motivated and well trained workforce in local areas able to respond more quickly to the rarer rural incidents than relying on a wholetime crew who may need to travel a greater distance from urban areas."
"On-call firefighters are a vital part of today’s fire and rescue service."
A Home Office spokesman said:
"Fire and rescue services have the resources they need – they will receive around £2.3 billion in 2020-2021."
"There has been a downward trend in fires since 2009, with the number of incidents in England falling by more than a third in the past decade."
"On-call firefighters work tirelessly every day to protect our communities and, alongside their wholetime colleagues, have gone above and beyond during the pandemic to keep people safe."
"The National Fire Chiefs Council have launched campaigns to recruit additional firefighters and debunk the myths surrounding roles, but ultimately it is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to assign firefighters to the shifts patterns they deem necessary."