South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
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Last chance to have say on draft fire service plans

South Yorkshire residents have less than a week to feedback on their fire service’s objectives for the next three years.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue says it wants to remove inefficiency, boost performance and embed an inclusive workplace culture as it strives to become one of the country’s leading fire and rescue services.

A change to how it responds to 999 calls would see a vehicle which is used to respond to small incidents like grass and bin fires move from Cudworth to Dearne fire station. The fire service says this would be a better location for the vehicle based on incident data- analysed as part of a full review of all its fire stations and fire engines.

The proposals are set out in the service’s draft Community Risk Management Plan 2025-2028.  Every fire service publishes plans like these to tell local people the steps they will take to make them safer and address risks in their local area.

You can view South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s draft Community Risk Management Plan 2025 to 2028 here.

You can feedback on the plans using the survey here.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Simon Dunker, said: “Responding to emergencies efficiently and effectively remains our number one priority as a fire and rescue service. But we also deliver other important work to make local people safer and our Community Risk Management Plan is a way we demonstrate how we combine all our resources to address risks in South Yorkshire. Now we want local people to feedback on those plans- as well as our other objectives for the next four years.”

The draft plans were considered by the service’s governing Fire & Rescue Authority on Monday 25 November, who approved the service begin consulting with its staff and the public on the proposals. The Fire Authority is made up of 12 members from across South Yorkshire’s four councils.

The consultation will close on 7 February 2025, before the final plans are considered by Fire Authority members on 17 February.

New bin collaboration anything but rubbish for Rotherham residents

Thousands of people in Rotherham will be safer from fire thanks to a new arrangement between the council and fire service.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and Rotherham Council have signed an agreement which means the addresses of up to 7,000 properties which receive assisted bin collections will be passed onto the fire service so that specialist staff can offer free smoke alarms and advice on stopping blazes to residents.

The council offers assisted bin collections to people with a disability or medical condition which prevents them from putting their bins out on their own. With known links between people receiving assisted collections and risk of fire, the agreement has been put in place so the fire service can contact people living at those addresses to offer them help.

Toni Tranter, Joint Community Safety and Early Intervention Manager at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: “So many of the people who needlessly die in house fires are known to another agency whether that’s a local authority, social housing provider or health partner. Through collaborations with other public services such as this we hope that we can plug the gap and create a safer South Yorkshire for everyone.”

Cllr Simon Ball at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “It’s great that we can partner with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to use our data to benefit our communities. Many residents who get an assisted waste collection have a disability or medical condition, so we’re pleased to be able to work with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to provide people with even more support to keep them safe.”

Between 2019 and 2024, 16 people died in house fires in South Yorkshire and fire service investigations finding that issues such as hoarding, drugs, alcohol and mental health problems frequently contributing to the fires starting.

If you know someone who you think may be at risk, carry out an online home safety check with them today.