Under-manning makes it hot for the fire fighters

Under-manning in the Civil Protection Department’s four fire stations around Malta is hurting efficiency and may potentially be a hazard to life.

The worst case is that of Floriana fire station – the others are at Xemxija, Hal Far and Kordin, and there is another in Gozo.

There are just two firemen at Floriana station and if a fire were to break out in a house in Valletta or Floriana, the situation would be dire without the assistance of firemen from other stations.

“I can guarantee you that the fire fighters at the Floriana station would arrive on the spot in less than five minutes. But being only two men, they cannot go into the premises to fight the fire or rescue somebody who may be trapped inside,” sources told MaltaToday.

The reason is that safety regulations lay down that at least five men have to respond to a fire: two men equipped with breathing apparatus go inside the premises while two others are on standby, and another one handles the water pump, although regulations say it should be two handling the pump to provide the water.

So if the crew from the Kordin station is out on another emergency, whatever it may be, then the two men from Floriana station cannot start fighting the fire they would have gone to.

“So imagine, you see the fire engine on the spot with two fire fighters, the house is ablaze with somebody still inside and nothing is done until more help arrives. It is fearful for the victims, and sharply frustrating for the fire fighters as they cannot do much to help,” a member of the CPD told MaltaToday.

If the two men responding to that fire decide to go ahead and start dealing with the situation and one of them is injured, the department will not shoulder any responsibility since the fire fighters know very well what the safety regulations say.

Fire fighters work a 24-hour shift – from 7am one day to 7am the next, followed by two days off.

But sources close to the CPD told MaltaToday that at the Xemxija fire station there are on paper in each shift five men on duty but usually they end up with only four, taking into consideration sick or vacation leave. The same situation applies at Ħal Far.

At the Kordin fire station eight men are assigned but again due to leave, sick leave or for other reasons the number goes down to six men. It is only the Floriana fire station which is manned by just two men.

The under-manning is creating a dangerous situation not only for the fire fighters/rescuers but also for the public. The sources we spoke to gave us an example of what could happen.

They said that with the onset of summer more grass fires will keep the CPD busy but with the lack of personnel the danger is increasing every day not just for members of the public but more so for the CPD personnel.

A case in point happened last Monday when fire broke out at the Radisson Hotel in St Julian’s and also when a fire broke out on a ship at the Palumbo dockyard. Because all stations were called to the fire at the Radisson, the men from the Marine Section had to be called to other emergencies.

This called for an immediate deployment of personnel but a call came in of a garage on fire at San Ġwann t’Għuxa in Cospicua. While they were there a grass fire broke out near Mtarfa and a call came from Mellieħa, made by a father who by mistake had locked his five-year-old daughter inside his house.

At the same time the CPD were called by the St Julian’s police because a banner had become loose with the wind and was hitting parked cars and creating a danger to passers by. All these calls had to be dealt with by the same crew since all the other personnel were still busy fighting the fire at the Radisson.

But it was not over. Another call came in from Żejtun about a small fire. At that time the fire in St Julians had been brought under control and one of the units went to Żejtun.

So the Marine section was left for a long time with only one man on stand-by.

At the time the blaze broke out on the ship earlier this month, houses in Zabbar were at risk because of a grass fire that was raging: Zabbar residents had to wait for fire fighters to come all the way from the Xemxija fire station.

Not just fires

The CPD are not called only to fight fires, there are other calls they have to respond to. They have to deal with traffic accidents, especially when a person is trapped in a car. They are called when somebody is locked in his own house and cannot go out, if a cat is stuck in a tree, a patient who lives in an apartment who cannot be brought down on a stretcher, accidents at places of work, oil spills, flooding… the list is endless.

Volunteers

The CPD has a large group of volunteers – 80 new volunteers were sworn in recently, but they are still being trained.

“The volunteers are a big asset, but they are volunteers. Most of them have to depend on their employer if they are called to respond to an emergency. If their employer cannot let them leave their place of work, you cannot do anything about it”, said one of the sources.

So how are the volunteers called in? – the person responsible calls three or four of them who in turn get in touch with other volunteers. Some of them work part time, others have other commitments, so they can respond only when they have free time.

Last Monday 13 volunteers responded to the call to help at the Radisson.