There is uncertainty over the future of East Cowes Fire Station following its immediate closure due to safety concerns earlier this week – not helped by statistics which show that it is one of the quietest stations on the Isle of Wight with a low availability of retained firefighters. As previously reported by Island Echo, Station 03 has been closed with immediate effect and without consultation due to subsidence which has rendered the fire station building unsafe. It’s thought that the deteriorating situation has been known about for some time, with a review of Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service’s estate conducted before the merger with Hampshire in 2021. However, the recent heavy rain has seen the situation worsen to the extent where the building has been condemned. Although Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service says that East Cowes’ appliance and Incident Support Unit have bene moved to Newport and crews could be mobilised from there, it’s unclear how this arrangement will work in practice. Efforts to locate a temporary home in the town have failed to date. East Cowes is a retained station which means firefighters respond from their day jobs or from home when their pagers go off. Normally, a fire engine will turn out in less than 4 or 5 minutes – but it would take a significant period of time for East Cowes’ firefighters to get to Newport to man the pump. 
It’s said that East Cowes will continue to be covered by neighbouring stations, such as Newport and Ryde, but as the Island’s only wholetime stations they are often on other shouts and can be anywhere on the Island. Ryde frequently cover both and Bembridge and Sandown areas, as well as responding to medical emergencies for the Ambulance Service. Reassurances have been given that the closure of East Cowes’ fire station is as a result of the safety risk and not part of the wider, ongoing service review, which could see stations recommended for closure. It’s commonly thought that Bembridge and Yarmouth will face the axe. Statistics acquired by Island Echo show that East Cowes is the 8th quietest station on the Island, averaging just 49.2 shouts a year over the past 10 years (2013-2023). Furthermore, the availability of retained firefighters is amongst the worst on the Island too. In December last year, the station was available just 54.4% of the time, only behind Bembridge’s and Yarmouth’s 0%. There are concerns that East Cowes’ station could now easily slip away – both metaphorically and literally – if it is deemed not economically viable to fix the issues faced. Although it is said no long term plans have been made, the current situation could play into the service review… Residents have voiced concerns that the town is now particularly vulnerable, especially as it is a peninsula with just 1 road in and out. The town has a number of COMAH sites – locations which pose a major accident hazard such as GKN Aerospace and the Red Funnel ferry. English Heritage’s Osborne House is also vulnerable, for which East Cowes’ pumping appliance and Incident Support Unit are on the pre-determined attendance should an incident occur.
WILL IT CLOSE FOR GOOD? UNCERTAINTY OVER THE FUTURE OF EAST COWES’ FIRE STATION
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Close it for good. Pointless having so many. Same with Bembridge , IF residents want it get them to pay for it, but they won’t as there aren’t even enough volunteers to man it , such is the TRUE level of residents’care’.
Sure they all want it, but few want to pay and even less want to get off their backside, just expect or demand’others’ will do so.
As either too rich to get dirty and too mean or benefit’world owes me a livin dun it ‘ spongers in affordable or social housing
Surely with the CERTAS Fuel Depot in Whippingham and both GKN Sites it is the essential to keep the Fire Station. It would be a crime to shut it down. I would personally sue the council if anything big were to happen
There is also the power station which burns volatile fuel.
So this is likely to be a contentious comment, I’m sure the doom and gloom fraternity will have a hissy fit….Whilst the closure may look disturbing, it could be argued that the statistics show that its unlikely to be economical to reopen for what is essentially a rural fire station…49 shouts per year isn’t even one a week, so a very expensive vehicle & equipment sits idle for most of its life. As for COMAH sites, they have a very robust HSE inspection & audit process designed to prevent incidents in the first place, how many significant COMAH incidents have occurred at East Cowes sites in recent memory, or for that matter any significant recent incidents at Osborne house of note…i await the torrent of doom and gloom.
In risk-speak, COMAH’s ALE1 could be still extremely high even if ARO is low: just SLE needs to be high enough. Basing our view on ARO alone without the value of assets and exposure factor is wishful-thinking.
And in plain English please?
Statistics can be produced to prove the point put forward by the sponsor. In this case we are being persuaded that it is not economically viable to have a fire station in East Cowes. But what would have happened if there had been an incident yesterday when the Newport crew would not have been able to get here? Would we have had to wait for a Southampton crew to arrive on a ferry? What price a human life?
Yet if they took another 10% of your triple locked pension to fund such would you still be saying the same?
We could IF someone else paid, have a fire station down every road, ‘just in case a road was shut’ but we need to be practical with those who DO pay and balance against risk.
With less candles, less open fires, flame resistant furniture etc, house fires are thankfully rare.
Would you be saying the same if your family’s house was on fire with them inside and the only route for the emergency services was blocked? Would you appreciate being told that it’s not economically viable to save them?
Perhaps everyone should have a hose permanently attached to a high pressure tap in their home, just in case, or in every room, and have two separate water supplies to each home, just in case one fails. And have a tank full of water in each loft, in case the second fails too.
Age has not made you wise grumpy, Hulverstone where I live has no fire service nor has scores of places on the Island.
Rarely does anyone ‘die’ because the fire service don’t ‘get their on time’, normally the fire isn’t noticed quickly enough.
The really worrying bit is the timing: the day after the sudden but deliberate closure of the Fire Station, the FB is pulled for two days and all this while the only road in and out is effectively closed for re-surfacing.
Is there ANYBODY at County Hall with an ounce of common sense?
The Fire Service is nothing to do with the Council. !!