Station goes 24/7 as 20 firefighters recruited

Grantham Fire Station will become a 24-hour station as 20 full-time firefighters are recruited across Lincolnshire.

Plans were approved after Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue reviewed its emergency response model in a bid to future-proof the service.

Fire chiefs said the new model would provide a more sustainable service and reduce reliance on on-call crews.

Assistant chief fire officer Ryan Stacey said: "The intention is to provide effective night time cover while strengthening the overall resilience of the county-wide response model."

According to fire chiefs, the current system relies on the goodwill of firefighters volunteering to work at night, which they said had become unsustainable.

Officials said this had led to slower response times and meant some key appliances could not be used due to a shortage of specialist crew members.

The new full-time firefighters at Grantham will follow a duty system used in Lincoln already, with crew working two day shifts, then two night shifts, followed by four days off.

The changes are expected to cost £156,393 to implement, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At a meeting on Tuesday, a statement from Lincolnshire County Councillor Alex McGonigle was read out.

It said: "This response review is about one thing: Making sure that Lincolnshire has a fire and rescue service that is resilient, sustainable and fit for the future.

"At a time when many fire services across the country are facing difficult financial pressures and reducing frontline capacity, Lincolnshire is taking a different approach.

"We are investing in our firefighters and investing in the resilience of our service."

But deputy council leader Rob Gibson raised concerns about the conditions of some of the fire stations across Lincolnshire and called for additional investment in them.

"The one thing I'm disappointed with at the moment is that, whilst travelling around and visiting the fire stations, I feel they've been neglected a little bit with their upkeep," he said.

"That's something I'm keen to work with our team to make sure that they get the investment they should have."

The new 20 full-time firefighters will increase the overall number from 112 to 132.

The number of firefighters at the remaining seven-day crewed fire stations will increase from 11 to 12 firefighters per station.

The new model will retain the on-call duty system across all 38 fire stations and also ensure that the 29 on-call-only stations are unaffected.

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