Balmossie Fire Station Incident Activity
(The True Figures)
In early October Tayside Fire and Rescue responded to a request from the local media with regard to the incident activity for the period July – September 2009.
These figures were used by the media to imply a low incident activity at Balmossie.
Tayside Fire and Rescue state that the figures are accurate for the period and are taken directly from their Command and Control system and provided by their Risk Management Department unfortunately the figures do not include all the incident activity for that period therefore are misleading.
Tayside Fire and Rescue figures include,
- Primary Fires
- Small Fires
- Chimney Fires
- False Alarms
- Road Traffic Accidents
- Other Emergency Special Services
The activities that are not included are,
- Standbys
- All incidents in other Station areas
By not including the above activity gives the appearance of low activity for Balmossie.
The figures produced by Tayside Fire and Rescue state that Balmossie attended:-
61 Incidents (20 between 1800hrs and 0800hrs)
By adding on Standbys and All Incidents in Other Station Areas the figure is actually:-
103 Incidents (44 between 1800hrs and 0800hrs)
STANDBYS
Blackness Road 16
Kingsway East 10
Arbroath 3
TOTAL 29
INCIDENTS IN OTHER STATION AREAS
Carnoustie 19
Kingsway East 13
Blackness Rd 3
Macalpine Rd 1
Arbroath 1
TOTAL 37
Balmossie Incident Activity From October-December 2009
Balmossie Wholetime appliance Attended 111 turnouts including standby’s.
Balmossie Part-time appliance attended 68 turnouts including standby's and incidents.
Total 179 (48 turnouts between 1800hrs and 0800hrs .
5 Fires in buildings (3 between 1800hrs & 0800hrs.)
HOME FIRE SAFETY VISITS (July – September 2009)
Stn 1 Blackness Rd – 234 visits = 117 visits per Fire Appliance
Stn 2 Macalpine Rd – 258 visits = 86 visits per Fire Appliance
Stn 3 Balmossie – 196 visits = 196 visits per Fire Appliance
Stn 4 Arbroath – 146 visits = 146 visits per Fire Appliance
Stn 11 Kingsway East – 282 visits = 141 visits per Fire Appliance
Stn 21 Perth – 346 visits = 115 visits per Fire Appliance
The table above shows that Balmossie Fire Station personnel carried out more Home Fire Safety Visits per Fire Appliance than any of other Wholetime Station in Tayside for that period.
All the figures used in this note are freely available on Tayside Fire and Rescue Risk Management Intranet Site.
Therefore why does an incident activity report for a quarterly period not include all the activity for a Station?
Are Tayside Fire and Rescue only producing a partial activity report for each quarterly period in an effort to undermine the value of Balmossie?
A direct quote from the 2010 – 2011 Towards a Safer Tayside Consultation Document with regard to the proposals for Balmossie “This proposal will cost no more money, and importantly no less money” which begs the question why is this proposal being brought back to the Board when it was unanimously voted down only 8 months ago. The Management of TFR have brought nothing new to this proposal.
The figures demonstrate not only the value of Balmossie for its own Station area but how invaluable it is in backing up other Station areas through Standby's or attending incidents.
For any further information contact either,
Ronnie Costello
FBU Tayside Brigade Secretary
Mob No. 07879260687
E Mail ronnie.costello@taysidefire.gov.uk
Terry Whyte
FBU Brigade Chair
Mob No. 07954586540
E Mail terry.whyte@taysidefire.gov.uk
Standby = When a fire appliance leaves it home station and standby's another station to cover its area.
Home fire safety visits = Firefighters attend domestic properties and give residents fire safety advice and install smoke detectors.
This is a free service. Contact your local fire station to arrange a free visit.
VITAL STATISTICS!
Here are some statistics to give you an idea of the scale of the area served by Balmossie Fire Station. Balmossie is also the first backup to the Carnoustie area and also the area served by Kingway East Fire Station. Statistics of which are not covered.
Monifieth, Broughty Ferry and numerous small villages in Angus
Area of 66.43 Square KMs /41.52 Square Miles
26,601 Population 53 Sleeping Accommodations 11,404 Dwellings 35 Factories & Warehouses 1 Geriatric Hospital 218 Shops
14 Schools 53 Other Workplaces
12 Care Homes 71 Offices
18 Hotels 49 Licensed Premises