Back our fire fighters or lives will be lost

A firestorm has started over plans to replace Newtown's full time fire fighters with volunteers; and its people are urged to back a campaign to block the plans.

 

The Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service is set to axe 21 full time positions in Powys, with the crew in Newtown one of three earmarked to be replaced in a bid to slash £1.2 million off the annual budget.

 

But it has not gone down well with locals who fear that lives will be put in danger if paid retained staff are recruited instead.

 

A Facebook Group and an online petition were launched last night (Wednesday) and civic leaders will spearhead the lobbying.

 

“It simply will not work,” said Newtown Mayor Cllr Joy Jones. “Newtown suffers from terrible traffic congestion so to expect firemen to leave their homes or places of work to reach the station for emergencies is simply unacceptable. We are all very concerned that lives will be lost as a result of the delayed times in fire fighters reaching incidents.”

 

To show your support, join the group on Facebook called ‘Save Our Full Time Fire Fighters in Newtown Powys’ or sign the petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savefulltimefirefighters/.