Petition launched to save fire stations

A petition has been launched to save five on-call fire stations at risk of closure in north Wales.

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service are currently consulting on the future delivery of their service and have warned that one of the options would be to close stations in Abersoch, Beaumaris, Llanberis, Conwy and Cerrigydrudion.

The closure of these stations would result in the loss of 74 fire fighters including 36 fewer wholetime firefighters, and 38 fewer on-call firefighters.

Plaid Cymru candidate for Bangor Aberconwy, Catrin Wager is urging people to sign the petition which will be live until September 20th.

Ms Wager said: “Our firefighters deserve better. It’s a role that many of us would find terrifying.  Their willingness to put their lives on the line to save ours is something we are all deeply grateful for.

“They are there for in our hour of need – from road traffic accidents, domestic and industrial/agricultural fires, to rescuing people from floods. Now we need to be there for them.”

Essential

Cllr Gwennol Ellis represents Cerrigydrudion, one of the communities who face having their station
closed.

She said: “In a rural community like Uwch Aled, having a local fire station is essential. There are many isolated farms and dwellings, which can be hard to find without local knowledge.

“That knowledge of the area the local crews have can mean the difference between keeping a fire contained or facing significant damage and fundamentally could mean the difference between life and death.

“Our local fire crew are part of the community, they know the area and the residents. They work
hard and are willing to put their lives on the line to save ours.  We are so grateful to them for that,
and we would not want to loose them.”

A local family who support the campaign are Glyn and Hafwen Thomas from Padog near Pentrefoelas.

In the late 1990s, an electrical fault caused a fire in a barn on their farm. An engine from the Cerrigydrudion station was at the scene within 15 minutes.

Mr Thomas said: “The officers knew exactly where the farm was and got there quickly. If not for that, the fire would have spread to other buildings and would have been devastating for us as our family, and would have damaged our livelihood.

“We are so grateful to the Cerrigydrudion fire crew for what they did for us. As a community, we really can’t loose them.”

Cllr Ellis added: “People feel strongly that our local fire station needs to be saved not only for our own community but for the surrounding rural areas which our station also covers.

“The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service held the first of their consultation evenings in Cerrigydrudion, and the room was packed, showing the level of interest there is locally, and over 120 people signed our petition at the show.”

Catrin Wager added “We will continue to fight to save Cerrigydrudion fire station, and the other 4
who are facing closure. We can not loose 74 fire fighters, and we ask that anyone who feels the same sign our online petition.”

The petition can be found here.