Fire HQ has burning lack of equipment

Greater Manchester’s fire control room is lacking crucial state-of-the-art computer equipment needed to respond to emergencies, the Government has said.

Staff at the Manchester control room can not automatically locate their vehicles and lacks Mobile Data Terminals (MDT) which allow electronic safety information to be provided in the appliances to help crews with details of known risks and hazards.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a report highlighting why Greater Manchester fire control centre should be closed and all North-West emergency calls shifted to Warrington.

The move will see England’s 46 local control rooms replaced by nine regionalised centres. It was previously claimed the move would save up to £20 million a year — but now is expected to cost Government about £3 million a year.

The blueprint will see a “super centre” in Warrington, handling 999 emergencies across the region, including Cumbria and Merseyside.

The new centre will be more advanced than individual systems run by fire services and be able to meet all eight key capabilities, compared with the three currently met by Greater Manchester.

Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said: “The report shows that, although the current control rooms in England have served their local communities well and are operated by highly professional and committed staff, the existing systems do not provide an adequate response to the threats, risks and uncertainty the public and firefighters now face in today’s world.”