News
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THREAT OF FIRE STATION CLOSURES (10/06)
CFO Statement – updated recommendations – 18th June, 2026
Chief Fire Officer Andy Cole said: “Since the Members Working Group met in early June, I have received further information in relation to our funding position which means I have made a further amendment to my professional advice to them.
Alongside the consultation process and discussions around future funding, I’ve been looking at every opportunity available to improve the Service’s financial position and remove the need for station closures and job losses. One of those opportunities was a bid to Government for funding to support work we have been doing around innovation, data, technology and service improvement. I am really pleased that this has been successful and secured the Service £1.8 million of one-off Government funding, which we will receive imminently.
This one-off funding does not resolve the Authority’s long-term financial position and we continue to face a deficit in future years, however it does provide more time for the Service to make changes through our modernisation programme.
I have said throughout the process that my advice to Members would change if the financial position changed. The Members Working Group have considered my advice and revised their recommendation for the Authority on 30 June:
For the Fire Authority:
- to agree that all eight fire stations, namely, Bradford on Avon, Cranborne, Charmouth, Hamworthy, Maiden Newton, Mere, Ramsbury and Wilton fire stations remain open;
- to agree to the implementation of the Service Modernisation Programme;
Subject to;
- the Authority being granted flexibility to raise council tax precept to at least the national average for fire services for 2027/28,
- the subsequent approval of the council tax precept rise by the Authority at its meeting in February 2027; and
- there are no other and further reductions in funding
Should these conditions not be met the Fire Authority agree that all eight fire stations will be closed.
The next step of the process is for Fire Authority Members to consider and vote on the recommendations on the 30 June, we will then continue lobbying central government for the fire precept flexibility which will be confirmed in February 2027.
FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICALS CAUSE CANCER (13/04)
In the late 1980s the association representing Chief and Assis tant Chief Fire Officers successfully campaigned for furniture like sofas sold in this country should be made flame retardant. In 1988 it became unlawful to sell such furniture in UK that had not been impregnated with a chemical flame retardant known as TCPP. The World Health Organisation has now announced that the chemical is carcinogenic. The Government is now working on new regulations to deal with this problem. The problem is unique to UK and Ireland because other nations did not follow poor example in 1988.
LFB APPLIANCES COLLIDE (05/01)
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At 2217hrs on 3rd January two London fire engines collided when on the way to the same emergency call. Lambeth’s pump collided with Soho’s turntable ladder. Six fire fighters were injured and all were taken to hospital for treatment for a mixture of broken bones, head injuries and bruises. A police investigation is taking place. Damage to the appliances was severe.
CRANS-MONTANA FIRE DISASTER (05/01)
Switzerland provided the first fire disaster of 2026 with the New Year only minutes old when a fire broke out in a night club in the ski resort of Crans-Montana. The fire started in a basement crowded with revellers. Video exists on a smart phone found after the blaze had been put out showing a young woman being carried on the shoulders of a man with a champagne bottle in her hand from which protruded a lit firework flare. The film shows this igniting the ceiling and fire spread was very rapid. Over forty are known to have died and dozens more are in hospital with very severe burns. Identifying the dead is proving to be a slow and difficult process due to the state of the bodies.
THREAT OF FIRE STATION CLOSURES (26/12)
The FBU has made public through social media that it is aware that the Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Authority is seriously proposing the closure of 8 of its fire stations. The stations under threat have yet to be named. The FBU is campaigning against closures but the likelihood is that the stations most likely to close are those where the fire authority has failed to keep them staffed and on the run for the majority of the time and therefore the loss of the resource will have little real impact on the situation as it exists at the moment.
EXPLOSION ROCKS WILTSHIRE “MILITARY FACTORY” (12/12)
On Thursday 11th December 2025 a factory operated by Chemring at Netton, near Salisbury was the scene of an explosion that brought fire crews from Salisbury and Amesbury making an emergency response. The site is described by press reports as a “military factory” and the company is known to be involved in the manufacture of munitions and other explosives. Police in large numbers also responded. There are no reports of casualties so far.
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