FEARS have been raised about the availability of Dovercourt’s fire engine following an inspection into the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS).

This week it was revealed that across Essex an average of ten engines are unavailable every month.

Data from ECFRS shows that for Dovercourt’s Fire station, which has two engines, that one of the pumps had 92, 83, and 87 per cent availability in December, January, and February this year respectively. 

But the second pump was only available seven per cent of the time in December, one per cent in January and was not available at all last month.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Operations - James Palmer ECFRS head of operational responseOperations - James Palmer ECFRS head of operational response (Image: Submitted)

James Palmer, ECFRS head of operational response, said with 50 fire stations across Essex, that “our strategically placed specialist teams” meant the closest crew “isn’t always the most appropriate one to attend an incident”.

He added that Dovercourt was a “designated strategic stations” meaning that when there is an incident or training, control room operators will send a crew from elsewhere in the county to stand by.

Mr Palmer also said that there was 99, 97, and 98 per cent 'coverage' for Dovercourt Fire Station in December, January, and February respectively this year, and that dedicated on-call firefighters all live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Support - Councillor Ivan Henderson also praised the on-call firefighters for their exceptional service but they needed to be supported by wholetime firefightersSupport - Councillor Ivan Henderson also praised the on-call firefighters for their exceptional service but they needed to be supported by wholetime firefighters (Image: Maria Fowler)

Harwich councillor Ivan Henderson said: “It is a worrying situation that we are reliant on another area to supply us for a second pump when two fire pumps are needed - for example for a house fire."

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Commissioner - Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for EssexCommissioner - Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex (Image: Submitted)

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said his office regularly scrutinises the services provided by ECFRS.  

Mr Hirst said at the end of February there was a 29 per cent decrease in the total number of fire incidents compared to last year, a 14 per cent decrease compared to the five-year average, and that ECFRS was awarded as the 'UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year' this month.