AN ISOLATED fire station that protects and serves a large part of Dartmoor is in dire need of manpower, it has emerged this week.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said that lack of staff has affected Princetown Fire Station and is urgently calling for new blood.

The station was recently given special dispensation to try and attract men and women who are available for calls during the day in Princetown.

Andy Steel, crew manager for Princetown, said a minimum of four, potentially six people, were urgently needed —or the village’s firefighters could be delayed in reaching incidents.

He believed that the main reason for the drop in firefighters was the lack of employment in the village: ‘The problem is that local employment in Princetown is slowly shrinking and the knock- on effect is that people are seeking employment in Plymouth and Tavistock.

‘If we aren’t able to attract more firefighters our response times could be affected so it’s something we are trying to sort out.’

As a co-responder station, Princetown firefighters are trained to a high standard and respond on behalf of the ambulance service to incidents where medical attention is needed.

Jobs carried out include attending fires, floods, road traffic accidents, chemical spills and talking to the community about fire prevention.

Mike Fitzpatrick, secretary for Princetown Neighbourhood Watch, said the group was concerned over the shortage of firefighters in the village.

He said: ‘The Neighbourhood Watch is very concerned with the situation of staffing at the fire station, especially due to the remote location, together with the fact that the retained firefighters at Princetown also double as co-responders for medical emergencies.

‘They carry both oxygen and defibrillators on board and are highly trained in using that equipment and are able to provide medical care until paramedics and/or an ambulance arrives on scene.

‘Our population has increased over the last few years and includes a large proportion of elderly residents whose lives could be at risk if the firefighters are unable to respond quickly.’

The station manager for Yelverton and Princetown, Dave Marsh, said: ‘Every firefighter gets a basic level of first aid training — first person on scene — but Princetown has an enhanced level as we respond on behalf of the ambulance service SWAST.

‘Firefighters provide a vital service not only in terms of fires and accidents but in terms of medical emergencies.’

A spokesperson for the service said: ‘On-call firefighters are a group of community-spirited men and women who are ‘on-call’ to respond when their pager bleeps — they are called to action by our Fire Control operators when they receive a 999 emergency call.

‘Firefighters come from a variety of backgrounds — they could be self-employed, full time parents, tradespeople, administrators or shopkeepers, but they all share a common purpose to give something back to the community.’

For more information and advice on what being a firefighter entails, email Dave on [email protected]