Penrith fire engine cuts rally

Today there was a rally in town to protest over the County Council's plans to remove an engine from the Penrith Fire Station. The rain poured but there was still a large crowd for the march through the town. The council proposal is plain lunacy! Currently the area is served by 4 retained fire stations and one with day manning and retained. Remember the M6, the A66 and the main west coast line pass through the area. They want to leave only one appliance at Penrith so that if it is out cutting somebody out of a car and you have a fire, an engine has to travel for about 30 minutes to get to Penrith.

While I was taking shots, I spotted this young man on his fireman Dad's shoulders. That and the juxtaposition of the shop sign reminded me that Penrith draws in Secondary school children from the second largest catchment area in England. So in many ways the shop sign said it all - Save the Children.

What I worry about is will there be a crew available to do just that if one of the large a schools catches fire!

Incidentally if any other Cumbrian blippers read this remember these cuts are coming to a fire station near you its not just Penrith! Get in touch with your county councillors by Monday when the consultation ends.