Response to hotel fire shows case for saving Henley station from axe

THE case to keep Henley fire station open is “absolutely clear” following a fire in the car park of a hotel.

Firefighters were called to Hotel du Vin in New Street at 5.04pm on Tuesday last week after an electrical fire was detected in a light fitting in the staff changing area of the underground car park.

All staff and guests were evacuated safely while the small fire was extinguished. Firefighters, who were wearing breathing apparatus, made the area safe before leaving at 6.49pm.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said the first engine to arrive was from the Henley station in West Street, seven minutes after the 999 call was made.

Three other engines also attended, from stations in Didcot, Maidenhead and Windsor. The second and third engines, from Maidenhead and Windsor, arrived at 5.21pm, 10 minutes after Henley and 17 minutes after the call was made.

A review is being carried out into response times across Oxfordshire and the Henley station is one of three that could be axed due to “persistent low fire engine availability”. The county council, which runs the service, says its aim is to better match cover to high-risk areas and “futureproof” the service.

Its review suggests closing the station would increase the average first fire engine response time by two seconds and second fire engine response time by one second, across Oxfordshire.

Henley town and district councillor Stefan Gawrysiak said the responses from neighbouring stations to a fire in the town centre is evidence that the station should remain open.

He said: “This actually shows a clear and explicit example as to why Henley must retain its fire station.

“The second and third engines took 17 minutes to arrive, which is well above
14 minutes — the time limit in which 90 per cent of calls should be dealt with.

“It’s wrong for Oxfordshire to be relying on fire engines from Berkshire to attend our fires. Surely the fire services in Berkshire should be attending their own fires?

“The fire at Hotel du Vin is an absolutely clear example of why Henley must have a fire station.”

Kellie Hinton, a town and district councillor for Henley, said: “I think the numbers speak for themselves, really.

“There’s quite a significant difference between seven and 17 minutes, as well as the amount of damage that could have been done within that extra time.

“It’s completely unnecessary to close the station and while it’s very unfortunate that there’s a fire anywhere in Henley it has done a great job of evidencing exactly why we need to retain our fire station.”

Henley MP Freddie van Mierlo, who previously said that there was “no compelling data” for the closure of the Henley station, said: “This fire demonstrates that the risk of fire in Henley is real and not theoretical, as well as the importance of a fast response.

“Any new incidents like this should be taken into account during the consultation. The case for closing the fire station has not been made. This incident shows that there is a need for continued fast response, and the ability of Henley fire station to respond quickly to incidents.”

Last month, the Henley Standard reported comments from the wife of a Henley firefighter who said it was wrong to close the station when bosses had not done enough to sign up new recruits.

Rosie Gosby, wife of Andrew Gosby, told an online meeting of her concerns about the responsibility of recruiting new firefighters being solely on the crew.

She said: “You’re saying that Henley isn’t crewing as much as you would like, and that’s due to really rubbish recruitment.”

A spokesman for Hotel du Vin said: “We can confirm a small electrical fire occurred in a staff changing area of the car park.

“We are very thankful to the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service for its response and are extremely proud of our on-site team for their professional handling of the incident.”

l A public meeting to discuss the proposals to shut the station will be held at the Christ Church Centre in Reading Road, Henley, on Thursday, January 15 at 7.30pm.