FEARS have been voiced for people’s safety across the Keighley district amid concerns over levels of fire service cover.

One union representative claims it’s “only a matter of time” before there is a life-threatening incident.

And anxious villagers in the Worth Valley, which lost its Haworth fire station just over four years ago, say the situation is deeply worrying.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says three fire engines is the normal turnout for a blaze when someone is reported to be inside a property.

But it warns that with only one appliance each at Keighley, Bingley and Shipley, another fire in the area at the same time would leave the brigade short.

“It literally leaves a vast area with no cover,” said Dave Gillian, for the district FBU.

“There used to be two appliances in Silsden, two in Keighley, one in Haworth, one in Bingley, two in Fairweather Green, two in Shipley, one in Idle and the retained stations at Ilkley and Otley had good availability. The amount of cover has been dramatically cut.”

He said continuing problems recruiting retained firefighters in Ilkley and Otley meant Wharfedale often had to be covered as well.

Mr Gillian added that a flat fire in Bingley recently meant there was no cover across an area from Skipton to Leeds-Bradford Airport.

Keighley MP John Grogan says he met with union representatives recently to discuss the issue.

“They have very real concerns about the level of cover after many years of cuts in Government funding,” he said.

“One particular problem seems to be a lack of retained firefighters at Ilkley and Silsden. I have written to the chief fire officer asking to visit both stations and discuss how recruitment can be further boosted.”

Worth Valley district councillor, Rebecca Poulsen, fears the problems with providing cover in Airedale could have a serious impact on her ward.

“We had the retained station in Haworth but sadly they chose to close it despite a strong local campaign which I fully supported,” she said.

“People in this area do worry that there’s just one appliance at Keighley. We’re faced with a situation where we might have to wait for a fire engine to come all the way from Halifax or Bradford.

“The population in the Worth Valley is growing and we have places where there are industrial units on the same site as residential, which brings with it risks.”

Among those at the forefront of the campaign against closure was villager Steve Thorpe.

“We were extremely concerned about the way resources were being stretched to the limit and the impact of the fire station closure on response times to incidents in the Worth Valley,” he said.

“That’s why we fought so hard to keep the fire station.”

In the wake of its closure, Mr Thorpe helped spearhead the formation of a hugely-successful fire cadets group.

Ben Bush, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service commander for the Bradford district, says he is confident there are enough crews and appliances to deal with “any eventuality”.

“I’m not worried because we have got 46 appliances including retained,” he said.

“There is always sufficient cover.”

Mr Bush said four appliances were sent to the Bingley flat fire, and standby moves were put in place.

“One of the Bradford appliances went to Keighley and Stanningley went to Bradford,” he said.

“When six fire engines are needed, that’s classed as simultaneous activity and the control operators look at cover. It’s a challenge, but we plan for simultaneous incidents with 20 fire appliances.”

He said a reduction in crew numbers on appliances from five to four – and switching the watch manager to a separate vehicle, which would arrive at the incident at the same time – would increase flexibility.

Mr Burns added that it was a challenge to recruit retained firefighters, but there were several on the current training course who would be added to rotas at Silsden and Otley.

Anyone interested in becoming a retained firefighter can find out more at joinwyfirefighters.com.

A fire and rescue service spokesman says its chief officer and authority chairman have offered to meet Mr Grogan.

“They look forward to working with him to further boost our very proactive recruitment campaign,” the spokesman added.

“We carefully identify the level of risk for each area to create and understand our risk profile – using this information we know where to base our people and resources at any given time.

“We constantly monitor the changing risk across West Yorkshire and reflect this in the way in which we deliver our service.”