Concerns raised after Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue removes outboard motor from water rescue unit

A firefighter has raised concerns after a motor was removed from a water rescue unit - meaning firefighters will need to use hand paddles or call other voluntary organisations.

But Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service says the move has been made to help keep firefighters and the public safe and says there is no need for Hertfordshire to use powered boats.

It removed the outboard motor from the inflatable rescue boat at Hatfield Fire Station after reviewing the service's water rescue capabilities - following a fatal accident where a firefighter from Mid and West Wales FRS died during a water training exercise.

And senior management told firefighters they will have to use the hand paddles when deploying this equipment or call on Herts Boat Rescue or Herts Canoe Lifeguards if they need motorised water rescue facilities.

But, a serving firefighter, who asked not to be identified, has raised concerns about the removal.

He said: "There is no cost-saving motivation in removing this piece of potentially vital, though admittedly infrequently used equipment, from Hertfordshire's water incident response capability.

"Hatfield personnel are already trained for boat use, some are trained 'to train’ others on the boat usage and procedures and they are also already trained in maintaining the outboard motor and ancillary equipment on-station - something they do on a weekly basis.

"It is simply a knee-jerk reaction, in essence removing a significant water rescue capability for the whole of Hertfordshire, and placing the Hatfield personnel in unnecessary danger by forcing them to hand row the boat in potentially spate weather conditions [the occurrence of a water flow resulting from sudden rain or melting snow].

"The large water rescue boat at Hatfield was already removed from service over a year ago without reason or cost-saving, and now this move has been replicated with this smaller capability."

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue said: “We understand that some firefighters will be disappointed by the decision to remove the outboard motor from the water rescue unit, however, our priority is to keep people safe.

"We don’t want to put our firefighters, or the public, at risk by training with potentially hazardous equipment that we don’t actually need for rescue operations.

"Following a fatal accident in September 2019, where a firefighter from Mid and West Wales FRS died during a water training exercise, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has reviewed its own water rescue capabilities to make sure we take on board the lessons identified in the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report.

"This has included reviewing whether we need to operate powered boats at all.

"After reviewing the last six years of operational data, and water risk assessments for the county, we have concluded that there is no need for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to operate powered boats.

"None of the water risk assessments for the county have identified the need for a motorised boat, and powered boats have only been used operationally twice in the last six years, and neither of those incidents was wholly reliant on an outboard motor.

"In the unlikely event that Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service should need additional resources in the future, there are existing arrangements with two volunteer organisations, Herts Boat Rescue and Herts Canoe Lifeguards who can provide support on request.”

The firefighter added: "The boats and their outboard motors are in excellent working condition with no additional training required to maintain their readiness - the Hatfield Team is already highly trained for Emergency Water Rescue.

"It is simply an unnecessary reaction to the Wales incident that no other service in the country has adopted."