The rescue of a woman from a burning flat was delayed by recent cuts to fire stations across Wiltshire, says a union.

Removal of fire engines in Wiltshire meant there was only one engine available in Corsham, despite two crews being available, with the union claiming that firefighters arrive at work to find fire engines missing at several Dorset and Wiltshire stations

A second fire engine had to travel from Chippenham, “delaying the response”, said the Fire Brigades Union (FBU)

While the fire was tackled and an occupant rescued, the union said disaster was “only avoided by luck”.

Furthermore, the union worries support from Chippenham will not be available for long, as Chippenham is one fire station facing downgrading, which it says will mean there will be no guaranteed fire cover at night.

Val Hampshire, FBU executive council member for the southwest, said: “As we saw last week, firefighters are dangerously thin on the ground, with disaster only avoided by luck. 

“Plans to slash fire cover will mean that there may be no backup next time. To prevent future tragedies, the service must return the fire engines and scrap plans to downgrade the service further.”

A programme of cuts by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) began last month, which it says are necessary to save money and keep the service sustainable for the future.

As part of the cuts, fire engines were removed from Sturminster Newton, Wareham, Corsham, and Marlborough fire stations on September 19th and throughout that week.

The FBU is concerned the removal of appliances will put firefighters and communities at risk.

It has also said that firefighters were given no official notice that fire appliances were going to be removed on that date and were “alarmed” to turn up to shifts to find engines “missing”.

A DWFRS spokesperson said: “We need to make sure our resources are in the right place based on community needs.

“The detailed data analysis of seven on-call stations informed the decision to remove the second fire engine at Corsham, Marlborough, Sturminster Newton and Wareham fire stations.

“These decisions are made under the delegation of the Chief Fire Officer. Staff were advised of this work in February 2024, the decision on the removal of these second fire engines was taken in August and staff were then advised that these changes would take effect by October 2024.

“Crews on each of the stations affected were engaged with at the beginning of the week the fire engines were due for removal and informed immediately following the removal of each vehicle, this was also communicated to local FBU officials.

“In the week following the removal of the second fire engine from Corsham our Service Control Centre received reports of a fire in a premises in Corsham. 

“We immediately mobilised crews from Corsham, who only had enough firefighters on duty to crew the single fire engine at the station, and a second crew from Chippenham. 

“The first fire engine arrived in around eight minutes from the time of call, with a second appliance in around 13 minutes. 

“Both within the target times expected and firefighters were able to successfully rescue an individual on their arrival.

“Whilst the data suggested that the removal of some fire engines is the right thing to do, and this presents essential savings to help our financial challenges, this is also a programme of work that includes some reinvestment and will enable us to improve fire cover by increasing the number of wholetime firefighter posts at Westlea fire station and upgrading Amesbury and Dorchester fire stations from on-call only to on-call and wholetime.

“We will continue to keep local union representatives engaged and informed with this work.”