Lack of local crew delays campervan fire response

A lack of firefighters meant a local fire engine was too short-staffed to attend a campervan fire in Staffordshire over the recent bank holiday.

A crew from Uttoxeter, about 6.5 miles away, had to attend the blaze in Abbots Bromley as the village did not have enough firefighters, and crews from Rugeley were already attending another incident.

"Luckily the campervan was a distance away from properties," Uttoxeter Fire Station said in a post on Facebook. "It could have been a lot worse owing to the delay in attendance."

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was actively recruiting on-call firefighters in the area, and encouraged anyone interested to come forward.

The campervan was "well alight" at the time of the incident, according to the Uttoxeter crew.

They added it was "quite a journey for us to attend," adding that without enough firefighters the village could be put at risk of losing its dedicated fire engine.

"You are blessed to have this asset in your village, other small villages around the country are losing theirs," the post said.

Martin Starkey, regional chair for the Fire Brigades Union, said the availability of fire engines was a national issue, adding that the onus should be on central government to provide more funding.

"Fire and rescue services haven't been able to adapt or improve their response models due to a lack of funding," he said.

"For the local crew in Abbots Bromley, they're going to be gutted," he added. "Retained firefighters are dedicated members of the workforce who give up their spare time to crew fire engines and respond to incidents."

Starkey said the fire could quite easily have spread to the home, and caused significantly more damage, had the campervan been on a driveway.

Staffordshire Police and Fire Commissioner Ben Adams explained the service employed whole-time and on-call crews from multiple stations to support coverage across the county.

Crews from multiple stations were ready to provide cover in cases where the most local crew was unavailable, he said.

"This was an excellent response from the Uttoxeter team, which saw them mobilising from receiving the call to attending the incident in Abbots Bromley within the target time, and dealing quickly with the fire."

Station manager John Kitchener said the fire service was actively recruiting for on-call firefighters in the Abbots Bromley.

"We'd encourage people who have not considered this flexible, part time role to find out more," he said.

"It's rewarding and a great opportunity to give something back to the local community, whilst also earning extra income."

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.