A PETITION with 30,000 signatures opposing fire service cuts which will affect Okehampton has been handed into fire service bosses.

The petition calls for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service to scrap proposals to remove fire engines and shut fire stations to save £8.4-million over three years.

In Okehampton, the town’s fire station could see one of its two fire engines, staffed by on-call crew, grounded during the day. Okehampton Town Council opposed the proposal in a fire service consultation which closed on Sunday (September 22).

Councillors are worried about potential delays reaching incidents on Dartmoor and the A30.

James Leslie, Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary for Devon and Somerset, handed in the petition at the fire service headquarters in Exeter on Friday afternoon last week (September 20), two days before the consultation on the changes finished.

He said the proposals would compromise the safety of the public.

‘These proposals mean the public will get a slower response,’ he said. ‘An extra 70,000 people will be brought outside the emergency response standard of the first fire engine getting to an incident in ten minutes.’

The signatures were collected at public events in communities affected including one in Tavistock. People were also able to add their signatures online.

Mr Leslie added: ‘We’re incredibly grateful to all our members who have been out there campaigning against the cuts. We have been on the ground across all parts of the region, talking to the public about the effects these cuts will have and have gained huge support.

‘Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far. We will not stop until these cuts have been well and truly disbanded.’

As well as proposing shutting as many as eight fire stations altogether, the fire service is suggesting that many others lose a fire engine or see one grounded during daylight hours.

It unveiled six options of varying severity and asked the public to give their opinion in a consultation which started at the end of July. Option 5 included removing one of the two on-call fire engines at Okehampton and Tavistock during the day.

Option 6 suggested compensating for the cuts by introducing six additional ‘roving appliances’ staffed by full-time firefighters to travel to wherever there is most need. However, there is concern in communities in West Devon about whether these will get to the scene in time.

In Okehampton, the fire station attends 250 callouts a year according to Terry Reynolds, crew manager at Okehampton Fire Station.

He gave the figure when he attended a recent Okehampton Town Council meeting. The fire service is expected to give a final decision in November after considering responses.