Neighbouring firefighter fears impact of Henley station closure

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently consulting on plans to improve response times across the county.

The on-call station in West Street is one of three that could be shut 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 “future-proof” the service.

It says that any closures would have a “minimal impact” on overall response times. A public consultation into the plans ends on Saturday.

Opponents claim that if the Henley station closes, those in neighbouring counties will take too long to reach the town.

They say that response times from Caversham Road in Berkshire, will increase from about eight minutes to more than 18 minutes.

James Blake of Caversham Road fire station, part of the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said his station was one of the busiest in 2024, responding to about 1,667 calls.

He said: “In Berkshire, we have 14 whole time fire engines available 24/7, 365 days a year but we have lost Sonning, Wargrave, Pangbourne and Tilehurst stations and these are areas which we now cover.

“We have to be at a fire within 12 minutes but I can’t even remember the last time our crew got to Henley in 15 minutes.”

He believes the wellbeing of his crew will be impacted if Henley’s station is closed due to the pressure of covering a larger area.

Mr Blake said: “Caversham averages around four or five calls a day and that doesn’t include other work that we have to do, such as building checks and training.

“If we go to a high-risk property in Berkshire, I can press a button and it will tell me how many people are there in the day and night, as well as access codes, whereas we don’t know the Oxfordshire area well. We don’t have that computer system and data for it.”

Mr Blake believes the Henley station should be crewed full-time. He said: “You get a much bigger turnout for full-time firefighters than retained because, if you live within 30 miles of two different stations, you can apply for a job anywhere in that county.

“If you’re an on-call firefighter, you have to live within five to eight minutes of that station.”

Mr Blake said that firefighters in Berkshire will challenge the proposals if they are approved.

He added: “If Berkshire say no to Oxfordshire’s plans, then it will throw it all out of the window but, if they agree, we will challenge them and ask them where they think our time will come from.”

Mitchell Wallace, the Fire Brigades Union secretary for Buckinghamshire, believes discussions between the three fire services should have been held in public.

He said: “If there’s a sense of mutual aid and over the border agreements in terms of emergency response cover, then the public within the counties that the organisation is willing to send its appliances to, to provide that cover, should have the opportunity to respond because arguably their fire cover is going to change.

“The Oxfordshire public consultation went live with little to zero pre-consultation with any of the firefighters or trade union bodies within the service.”

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it regularly meets with colleagues from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire to discuss how they work together to serve communities across the Thames Valley.

A spokesman said: “Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service included [us] to respond as a neighbouring service and operational partner and we will do so via the official consultation channels within the published consultation timeframe.

“That response will set out our position on the options presented, including implications for cross-border working and resilience. This is part of our usual close working with partners across the Thames Valley and more widely.

“On response times and border areas, both services operate long-standing cross-border mobilisation arrangements so the nearest appropriate resource can be sent.

“It would be inappropriate to speculate on location-specific impacts before consultation outcomes are known but any proposals are assessed using risk, demand and resilience modelling, including cover during periods when nearby crews are committed elsewhere.”

A spokesman from Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Public consultation is an important and valuable method for obtaining views and feedback that can help shape future proposals and decisions.

“Many fire services across the country are facing real challenges with on-call provision, Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service amongst them.

“We recognise the need to be asking these questions and will be contributing our feedback through the appropriate consultation channels.”

Rob MacDougall, chief fire officer for Oxfordshire CountyCouncil’s Fire and Rescue Service, said it has been “transparent regarding the impact of the proposals on response times, shown by maps and timetables.”

He said: “There are no specific response time targets for any areas of Oxfordshire; however, we measure our performance against our response standards, with an average of 80 per cent of incidents within 14minutes.”

To take part in the consultation, visitletstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ofrs-consultation.