The fire service says the latest round of government funding reductions means it expects to lose another £5 million from its annual budget over the next four years.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has already lost more than £8 million since 2010 and has so far managed to minimize the impact of those cuts on its core emergency response service by reductions in support staff, managers and non-pay budgets.

The service has also introduced alternative ways of staffing fire stations, which has reduced costs whilst maintaining a similar level of fire cover.

But Chief Fire Officer James Courtney says the next round of cuts, announced before Christmas, mean the fire service’s ability to respond to national emergencies such as flooding and terrorism could be threatened.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue twice sent firefighters and specialist vehicles to support the national response to severe flooding in December, helping communities in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Mr Courtney said: “We already provide excellent value for money to the people of South Yorkshire with one of the leanest fire services in the country, considering the size of the area we have to cover and the risks associated with a large, urban population.

“Unfortunately, we are not being afforded the same financial protection as the police or ambulance services. I am concerned about the ways this may affect our service in the long term, including our ability to respond to national emergencies such as flooding and terrorism related incidents.

“We have already committed to protecting frontline services as far as possible, but continued sizeable cuts to our funding mean we will have to look at further ways to save money, including possible reductions in the number of immediately available fire engines, which can only have a negative effect on our ability to respond to emergencies.”

The Government announced yesterday that fire and rescue services will come under Home Office control in 2016 with the Home Secretary previously stating that she wants to follow through reforms in areas such as procurement, IT infrastructure and building management.

“We are already exploring significant collaboration opportunities with the police in a number of areas, from fleet management and sharing premises to the new joint police and fire station in Maltby, which will open later this year. We are also assisting the ambulance service in a number of areas operationally, from gaining access to properties at emergencies to jointly responding to some types of medical incidents.

“We will continue to pursue opportunities for further and more efficient working with all of our emergency service partners, but still believe the fire service has some unique skills and specialisms which must be protected,” said James.

The Chief Fire Officer has previously lobbied Government on the issue of funding and recently wrote to South Yorkshire MPs calling on them to back an Early Day Motion, which called for a halt on further fire service cuts nationally.

South Yorkshire firefighters have taken part in two gruelling challenges to raise money for charity.

A group of firefighters were on The Moor in Sheffield attempting to row the distance to Lapland, approximately 2188km. While a group of eight new firefighter recruits were putting their life saving skills to the test by taking part in a six hour CPR challenge at Meadowhall.

The High Sheriff of South Yorkshire, Mr John Holt and his Under Sheriff Mr Rob Chitoriski attended the rowing challenge and both took their turns at rowing.

Both events were a great success and between them raised a fantastic £2,500 for The Fire Fighters Charity, which supports injured firefighters and their families through emotional and physical trauma.

Group Manager Stewart Nicholson said; “These challenges were a real struggle for both groups, but the support and donations from members of the public made it all worthwhile. They all did a brilliant job and have raised an amazing amount of money for The Fire Fighters Charity. Well done to all involved.”

Firefighters have been praised for going above the call of duty to help a vulnerable resident in Sheffield this Christmas.

Central Blue watch firefighters attended a flat on Edgedale Road, Sheffield after neighbours expressed concern for the man’s safety.

After gaining access to the flat, firefighters checked on the wellbeing of the man, who lived alone, and identified a number of issues which were likely to put him at a greater risk of fire.

They returned the next day with a full roast dinner, cleared away 15 bags of rubbish which had accumulated in the man’s house and carried out a full home safety check, including the fitting of three free smoke alarms.

The resident has now been referred to the fire service’s High Risk Coordinators for further intervention work.

Group Manager Tony Carlin, said: “Everyone knows the fire service does a fantastic job attending emergency incidents, but our wider contribution to the health and wellbeing of local communities is both little known and growing.

“On this occasion, firefighters not only put in place meaningful interventions to make this man safer, they actually assisted him in ways which went above and beyond the call of duty. That’s testament to the fantastic skills and dedication of all our staff.”

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue  attends around 1,400 ‘special service’ incidents each year, including freeing people from road traffic collisions, water rescues, flooding and lift releases. The fire service also now assists other agencies, like the ambulance service, to gain access to properties at certain types of emergency.

That’s on top of the thousands of house, property and smaller fires it also attends each year.

Alcohol or drugs are responsible for double the number of house fires in the run up to Christmas than at any other time of the year, new fire service data reveals.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) tackles around a dozen accidental house fires in December where alcohol or drugs were thought to be a factor in the blaze. The average number of drugs or alcohol related fires in other months of the year is only six.

That’s why drinkers are one of the groups being targeted by the fire service as it seeks to drive down fires this winter, traditionally one of the SYFR’s busiest times of the year.

With cooking making up the majority of alcohol related fires, fire safety officers are urging people to think twice before switching on the cooker after a drink.

Spencer Rowland, Station Manager in Community Safety, said: “The busy Christmas party period is already upon us and we’re not here to stop people having a good time. But people must recognise that by cooking when you’ve been out drinking, you are automatically putting yourself at a much greater risk of fire.

“Seasonal drink drive campaigns have made getting behind the wheel of a car after a drink completely unacceptable and we think the same stigma should be attached to cooking in the home. We’ve attended far too many serious incidents where people have been under the influence of alcohol and fallen asleep with food on the hob or in the cooker, or where drink or drugs have made them uncoordinated and more likely to have an accident.”

To stay safe this Christmas, the public are reminded to:

• Never cook when under the influence of alcohol
• Never use a chip pan- oven chips or thermostat controlled fryers are much safer
• Never leave cooking unattended and switch kitchen appliances off after use

Firefighters will be taking part in two separate charity challenges on Tuesday 22 December.

All monies raised on the day will go to The Fire Fighters Charity, which supports injured firefighters and their families through emotional and physical trauma.

Firefighters row to Lapland for Charity

A group of South Yorkshire firefighters are set to take part in a gruelling rowing challenge to Lapland to raise money for charity.

The firefighters will start rowing at 10am on The Moor in Sheffield and will attempt to row the distance to Lapland, 2188km approximately.

The High Sheriff of South Yorkshire, Mr John Holt and his Under-sheriff Mr Rob Chitoriski will be there supporting the firefighters and will also take their turn with the rowing.

Firefighter recruits take on CPR challenge

A group of firefighter recruits will be putting their life saving skills to the test when they take part in a CPR challenge to raise money for charity

The eight recruits from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue will be performing CPR on first aid manikins, for approximately six hours (from 9am) on Tuesday 22 December in Meadowhall, Sheffield, near to the Argos entrance.

Watch Manager Steve Jeffries said; “This challenge we have set the recruits with be a struggle, but with the support from members of the public, I’m confident they will complete it”

“Shoppers are invited to come and cheer them on, Instructors will also be on hand to give basic life support and fire safety advice.”

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