“Once again cutbacks and then more cutbacks (but only on the front line) HQ staff have increased many fold over the past few years but front line crews have not.

Are we not here to fight fires and respond to emergencies?

The role of a firefighter has become more and more a joke in recent years. There's no time for training, idiotic targets to meet etc.

Whereas senior management seem to spend their time (and our money) driving flash cars, developing solar farms and treating the ones who undertake the primary role like crap.

Mr Tuck has spent years attempting to educate these managers to see sense for the good of both the public of lincolnshire and the front line crews.

Unfortunately some managers just cannot be educated.

I¿m sure this will result in another fiasco like the shift pattern change which took nearly ½ Million pounds of OUR money in time, meetings and fees just to be dismissed at the final stage.

Mike, Dave and Neil - Listen to your crews, the public & Mr Tuck before someone dies due your incapability and negligence.”

“i know for a fact that now more of the wholetime want to do retained as is at the minute but management will not let them, then there would be no changes and things will be good like they are now, so neil and dave ranscar, get round the table and take mike with you and get this mess sorted and sign the wholetime up on a main contract and give lincolnshire the best cover it pays for. O and people of boston, the swift water team and boat that is based in Boston, that response to 100's of water emergencies in your area is being moved, so if anyone is in trouble it will be over 20/30 mins for spalding to turn up, but if mike, neil and dave and mr tuck sorted this mess out then there would be no problem. If things stay as is, people will die!!!!”

“it may interest the tax paying public to know that the lease for senior officers cars is up and now the really difficult decisions have to be made, what car can i have ?
i have never seen such happy smiling faces imagine the dilemma having to choose between a jaguar and a range rover sport !!
i must admit there is a monthly payment to pay, but it doesnt include the tax, insurance, servicing cost, depreciation on the vehicle which will run into thousands of pounds per vehicle, who picks up the bill ?
i forgot to mention mileage is included.
apparently all done in the name of corporate identity ( according to one senior officer ) although you wouldn't be able to tell that it was being driven by a fire officer as the cars aren't marked up.
on the fire stations we are constantly being told about cut backs and hear the phrase "not in this current climate".
this obviously doesn't apply to all those in their ivory towers, or you could say wallowing in the trough of greed !!”

“Perhaps one should look at the 20% on call allowance paid to senior officers, some of whom rarely if at all turn out.
Is it value for money to pay an individual £20k+ pa for turning out, what was it - 3 times in 3 years ?????.”

“The response manager is not telling the whole story. He says it's ok to 'have a few applaince s not available' There have been occasions when 16 appliances have been off the run in the past few weeks. That's a big percentage of the fire cover. Also this 'strategic' team has been cut from the 20 which were planned to less than double figures due to 'vacancy management' Explain that one Neil.
It is not only the public that are being put at risk. At a job the personnel on scene rely on a swift back up for safety. Sometimes this can be over 30 minutes away if appliances aren't available. Sooner or later there will be a tragedy because of this. Stop the cuts and cost saving on the front line now. Fire and Rescue is already cut to the bone.”

“One thing that needs mentioning is the cost of a retained Ff - a few thousand per year. Wholetime Ff approx 28K a year. Less W/t = Big savings. Big savings = big bonuses for senior managers. The publics safety is being risked to line the pockets of senior management team.
Appauling.
The people of Lincolnshire deserve the fire service that they pay for with fire cover available 24/7 in their area”

“Having enough cover to deal with a major emergency on the one hand and not having the cost of personnel and equipment standing idle waiting for the one a decade big one is a difficult equation.

In rural areas the retained system achieves that optimum, but the problems with commuting and the closure of small village businesses means people are not on hand as much as they used to be.

Society, sadly, is becoming one where everyone expects someone else to sort problems out, not them themselves.

The small town where I now live often struggles to put its second pump on the road. The guys here do a great job, often foregoing a day out to ensure there is cover.

Really, I guess folk should not complain too loudly if they are not pepared to go down their local retained station and show an interest......”

“Why, in this day and age of better technology and equipment for fire fighting and rescues, can't we have enough people to use the equipment when and where its needed at all times. How can it be acceptable for a fire engine to take 15 minutes to get to a house fire? How can it be acceptable for people living in major towns and cities to have to rely on retain crews at night? Surely night times when people are at home we need better cover. Are we getting to the point where if there is a major incident such as the pallet yard fire on Great Northern Terrace only a few years ago there won't be enough firefighters or machines to deal with it. As I remember it was a 24 pump job with engines coming from alover the county as well as Nottinghamshire and Humberside. If there was enough for this then would there be enough cover for the rest of the county?

I'm surprised noone else has opinions on this subject. Where is everybody today?”