Fireplace Service Cuts Value Lives: On Thursday 18th July 2013 I photographed a march and rally by the Fireplace Brigades Union in London towards cuts proposed by then London Mayor Boris Johnson. He had in 2010 repeatedly denied that he would make any cuts to London’s hearth companies, however the cuts which this protest was towards led to the closure of ten hearth stations in Better London and the lack of over 550 firefighters within the drive.
There was additionally a lack of the variety of hearth engines, at first of 14, however adopted later by one other 13, a lower of round 15%. Unsurprisingly the response occasions to fires throughout the capital elevated. The primary hearth engine ought to arrive inside six minutes of a hearth being reported, and in late 2014 the figures confirmed that this was exceeded in round a 3rd of London’s wards. Though the common enhance in response occasions was solely 12 seconds, within the worst case it went up by two minutes and 48 seconds.
Quick response to fires is crucial in saving lives and chopping injury to properties, and though thankfully few lives are misplaced to fireside in London due to our firefighters it appears that evidently there was a minimum of one fatality within the following yr which was extensively attributed to a slower response time. As I wrote in 2013, “7 out of 10 Londoners assume that the Mayor’s proposed cuts will put public security in danger, and the remaining 3 are simply not considering.”
In our nice 2017 tragedy at Grenfell Tower, the hearth service responded promptly, however it took over half an hour for a turntable ladder to reach, and on the time the LFB solely had ladders that reached underneath half method up that constructing. They known as in a taller ladder from Surrey which took a number of hours to reach. The LFB lastly acquired its first 64m turntable ladder, the tallest within the UK, in 2021.
Appropriately the march started at The Monument, a 202ft column topped by a shiny brass ball of fireplace erected shortly after the 1666 Nice Fireplace of London as a everlasting memorial to the occasion.
Fireplace-fighters, many in uniform, and supporters gathered within the space round, together with a fireplace engine and a small marching band with bagpipes sponsored by an FBU department. London’s personal firefighters have been supported by some for different brigades, together with a minimum of a pair from the New York Fireplace Division in addition to retired fire-fighters and anti-cuts protesters.
When the march which went throughout London Bridge to the London Fireplace Brigade HQ in Southwark for a rally outdoors the place the cuts have been being determined at a Fireplace Authority assembly I had gone up on high of the hearth engine.
What I hadn’t realised was that I’d be unable to get down till the tip of the march, and though it gave me a very good viewpoint it was in some methods a limiting one. I all the time prefer to take most of my photos near individuals utilizing wide-angle lenses and in the course of the march was unable to take action. And when the marchers sat down briefly to dam London Bridge I might solely watch from a distance.
I’d additionally not realised how a lot vibration there can be on the highest of the hearth engine, the place we have been in a reasonably small enclosure made with scaffolding tubing on its high. I discovered myself having to hold on tightly in among the bumpier elements of the roads, whereas making an attempt to take photos largely one-handed.
It was a quite uncomfortable and just a bit scary expertise, however it did take me near a few of those that had come to first and second flooring home windows to applaud the protest because it went previous. However I used to be more than happy after we got here to a cease on the Fireplace Brigade HQ and I might get again to floor.
You possibly can learn extra in regards to the rally on the finish of the march and an extended listing of the audio system on My London Diary and there are images of most or all of them in addition to many extra from the occasion.
Fireplace Service March In opposition to Cuts
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Tags: 550 firefighters, Boris Johnson, cuts, FBU, Fireplace Brigade Union, hearth engiines, hearth service cuts, firefighters, Nice Fireplace of London, London, London Bridge, London Fireplace Brigade HQ, London Mayor, march, Matt Wrack, New York Fireplace Division, peter Marshall, protest, public security, rally, Southwark, ten hearth stations, The Monument, turntable ladder
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