CHESHIRE Fire Authority is considering buying nine homes for firefighters in Cheshire allowing a station to move to a different type of crewing system.

At present Wilmslow operates a nucleus crewing system whereby the station is staffed during daytime hours between 7am and 7pm.

Outside of these hours emergency response is provided by on-call firefighters who live or work within five minutes of the station.

But fire chiefs want Wilmslow to change to a day crewing system, which would see the station staffed between 9am and 7pm and firefighters paid a supplement to provide guaranteed on-call cover outside of these hours.

The draft annual report on the Integrated Risk Management Plan states: “For Wilmslow, the authority believes this is an appropriate model to meet local risks and demands.

“It also ensures 24/7 availability of the fire engine at Wilmslow in a sustainable way without needing to bring in supporting resources from elsewhere in Cheshire, which happens under the current crewing system.”

Cheshire Fire Authority had been looking at options to redevelop Wilmslow Fire Station with other emergency services to create a multi-agency hub.

This was intended to release land to build the housing required for firefighters working the day crewing system.

But an agreement could not be reached.

The authority is now exploring the possibility of buying suitable properties near to the fire station.

According to the report there will be an impact on response times during the day at weekends and minimal difference during the week. This is because the houses will not be directly adjacent to the fire station.

It states the average attendance time of six minutes 59 seconds would increase by around 47 seconds to seven minutes 46 seconds but says this would still be well within the authority’s response standard of attending life risk incidents of 10 minutes on at least 80 per cent of occasions.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) how much the houses would cost, how the scheme would be funded and how response times had been assessed if the properties had not yet been identified.

A spokesperson for CFRS said: “Costs are yet to be determined as the properties have not yet been identified.

“It is anticipated that the savings from changing to day crewing will cover the cost of borrowing.”

He said on-call firefighters in Cheshire must live or work within five minutes of their fire station.

“While the properties in Wilmslow have not been identified at this time, the modelling of attendance times has been predicted on a five minute travel time as per the on-call duty system,” said the spokesperson.

He added: “The proposal is subject to consultation. Subject to fire authority approval after consultation, purchase of housing can commence after the meeting of the authority in February 2022.

"The housing will need to be purchased prior to implementing the new crewing system."