Fire Engines Photos

This town's newest - and first - pump rescue truck. The population of around 14,000 citizens is protected by twelve volunteer fire stations, seven of which have a pumper, while the other five have first responders with a PP on board. The volunteers also operate two command vans, a TTL, a hazmat unit, three personnel carriers and a staff car

Added by Rob Johnson on 10 November 2021.

Wow! Having just read your comment three times, Rob, I’m flabbergasted at the disparity between UK and German fire service provisions. I know it’s been talked about a lot on this site - with you being the main contributor as I recall - but it is quite striking!
So Wilsdruff’s 14,000 inhabitants are protected by twelve fire stations, seven pumps, five first responder vehicles, a turntable ladder, a command van, a hazmat unit, three personnel carriers, a staff car, and a partridge in a pear tree. (Come on it’s nearly Christmas!). Right, now let’s look at my home town - Uttoxeter. Small market town with a population THE SAME as Wilsdruff - 14,000. It has one retained fire station with one solitary pump rescue ladder that responds around 150 to 200 times per year...... er we got anything else? Anything??? Er..... um...... Ooh I think we might have a Ford Connect general purpose van for pootling around in, unless it’s been moved on. And that’s it I’m afraid. Wow indeed!

But it’s not just our fire service provision that’s been stretched. Our ambulance station closed in 2007 when Staffordshire Ambulance Service - the original pioneers of first responder paramedics, and ranked as one of the best ambulance services in the world - was swallowed up by West Midlands Ambulance Service, ranked as one of the worst in Britain at the time. We do however, have one ambulance based in a portakabin at the local biscuit factory, but if another one is needed it has to come from Stafford, 13 miles away - and it does regularly. I probably see four or five ambulances a day flying down Stafford Road into Uttoxeter. And it gets worse. Our police station is no longer manned at night. Any police officers in town at night have travelled from Burton, 14 miles away. Shocking.

But on the bright side, we have got a Greggs.

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 23 November 2021.

Always great to hear from you! Not sure what a Greggs is, but I am pretty sure Wilsdruff hasn’t got one!

There is indeed a whole different attitude to fire protection in Germany, perhaps best illustrated by the fact that there are 1.3 million volunteer firefighters out of a total population of 80 million.

ED: Greggs is iconic English bakery chain.

Added by Rob Johnson on 23 November 2021.

Comment removed at request of Commentor

Yes there is no doubt about it, the Germans have a great over provision of fire services (and maybe Medical and Police) and we have a great under provision. My local Police station is daytime manned only and has recently being covered in graffiti, looks terrible.

Added by CraigW on 23 November 2021.

Craig: Part of the difference is historic, but another factor is German federal law, which says that any structure fire anywhere must be attended by a minimum of sixteen trained and state qualified firefighters with a ten minute response time. In small towns and villages, the only way to accomplish this is to have large numbers of fire stations staffed by unpaid volunteers, while in big cities it is commonplace for paid full time and volunteers to respond together outside of central areas which can be covered exclusively by full time crews.

Although this pattern is exemplified by Germany, many other countries organize their fire services in the same way. While Germany is 97% volunteer, every other country I know about is 70 to 80% volunteer. If you insist on paying all your firefighters, including your on call staff, your payroll costs end up being around 80% of your total costs and your coverage has to be tailored accordingly.

Added by Rob Johnson on 27 November 2021.

In the days of the AFS in England, it was possible to recruit unpaid volunteers, and it is still true in countries like Australia and New Zealand that the vast majority of fire fighters are unpaid on call volunteers, just as they are in the US, South America and all of Europe. Experience in many countries shows that the great majority of incidents can be dealt with by one five person crew with one rescue pump water tender. So, why not have a full time crew at each full time fire station to handle up to five or six shouts a day, and have unpaid volunteers for the second and (if needed) third due pumps, plus the aerial and/or tanker or any other special?

At stations which handle less than two runs a day, the entire outfit could be volunteers.

For a typical town of 100, 000, handling four or five calls a day, the fire service would require only around 24 full time paid members on a four watch roster, plus around fifty volunteers to insure a timely response of around a dozen additional personnel. This is not a hypothetical scenario, but one found in many European countries, although the full time numbers tend to be a bit higher because they almost all operate two or three EMS ambulances too - unlike UK fire services. With payroll and benefits running at 80% of total annual costs in the UK, the same (or better) fire protection could be provided at a cost around 40% less than current levels. In large cities with multiple stations, full timers could respond as second or third due too, with volunteers providing replacement cover instead of thinning out coverage by relocating personnel from other full time stations. Another commonplace SPO in many European cities...

Added by Rob Johnson on 01 December 2021.

Sounds perfectly reasonable, Rob, but has I have stated before, there is no spirit of volunteering in the UK, and there’s very little spirit of community. People don’t even know their neighbours’ names, and have very little interest in the towns and villages they inhabit. Yes some Brits don’t mind delivering prescription drugs to the sick and the old in far-flung rural outposts, or tidying up a bit of waste ground and planting a few geraniums to be enjoyed by disabled kids and pensioners. Some will even volunteer to carry the heavy wooden bench into position.......But to run into a burning building? In the middle of the night? When it’s cold and raining? UNPAID!?!? To quote a traditional English response: On yer bike mate!

It just wouldn’t work in Britain. Britons are very strange, selfish, insular people. They require wages, sick pay, paid holiday leave, a pension etc......

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 08 December 2021.

I still think it is inevitable eventually. Why? Because if the UK government keeps cutting back on fire service budgets, paid staffing levels will gradually fall to levels where the service simply cannot deal with serious fires and other emergencies.

Added by Rob Johnson on 08 December 2021.

Not sure about no spirit of volunteering in the UK. Both the RNLI and Coastguard plus numerous other independent lifeboats depend on a high number of volunteers to operate.

Added by Steve on 08 December 2021.

Comment removed at request of Commentor

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments

Your Name

Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.