Richards: Government dropped the ball on fire service staffing
Bob Richards, the former One Bermuda Alliance finance minister, has accused the Government of dropping the ball over fire crew shortages at LF Wade International Airport that have adversely impacted emergency services in the rest of Bermuda.
Mr Richards, who was in charge of the public purse when the controversial deal to redevelop the airport was signed, said that fire service requirements always remained the responsibility of the Government.
The comments come after fears were raised by frontline emergency workers that lives could be put in danger because the resources of the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service needed to be increased at the airport.
Firefighters from Britain and Canada have also been hired over the past nine months to ensure international safety requirements at the airport are maintained.
Mr Richards said: “There is no question they have dropped the ball on this. Under the agreement the fire service was part of the retained services of the Government.
“It remains part of what the Government is responsible for, it has nothing to do with the airport, per se.
“The shortages have been a surprise; they certainly had lots of time to prepare for things like retirement, etc.
“It appears they are short of personnel. I was surprised, like other Bermudians, that they didn’t have the required amount of staff there.”
“The misleading comments from the OBA on the airport firefighting requirements, when they were the ones that signed the airport agreement, are mischievous at best,” said Michael Weeks, the Minister for National Security.
“The requirements for fire and rescue services at the airport up until February of 2022 were five firefighters per shift. Let me be clear on this: only five firefighters per shift had been required at the airport since 1995. Even under the OBA watch, the requirement was five per shift. A February 2022 Skyport Audit of the Airport Operations Division increased the required firefighter minimum duty strength from five per crew to 14 in order to maintain a category 9 response rating for the airport. This government responded to and met the new requirements.
“Bob Richards and his OBA colleagues, as we all know, dropped the ball when they entered into the agreement to give away the airport to foreign investors. He certainly didn’t plan or budget for additional firefighters at that time; quite the contrary, as his austerity measures saw firefighter numbers reduced by posts being unfunded and frozen. You only have to see The Royal Gazette article of 2013, where the outgoing fire chief spoke of the legacy of these austerity measures.
“This government has funded an additional 24 firefighter posts this year, and recruitment is now under way with over 260 applications being vetted.”
The Bermuda Fire and Rescue Association has stated that focusing resources on the airport means reduced emergency availability elsewhere.
The Bermuda Hospitals Board said emergency call-outs would be extended because of restructuring measures.
The BHB said the changes would increase the number of hospital ambulance call-outs by up to 25 per cent, adding that it was expected this would result in longer wait times.
Mark Selley, a patients rights campaigner, branded the shake-up a “crime”.
The head of the Bermuda Health Care Advocacy Group echoed warnings by the BFRA that there was the potential lives could be put at risk as a result of the changes.
Firefighters are used as first responders to many collisions and other health emergencies, and provide emergency medical services at the scene and transport to the hospital in some cases.
The shake-up of ambulance services followed warnings by the BFRA that two stations on the island could close owing to the switch to shift resources to the airport.
Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security, denied claims that two fire stations could shut as talks on the issue with the BFRA continue.
A letter from the BFSA to Mr Weeks, previously reported by The Royal Gazette, referred to a meeting on March 15 at which the association stated that Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service senior managers told staff about the changes that would come into force on April 1, making the Airport Operations Department “the focus of the 2023-24 budget allocation for the BFRS”.
The fire service’s Budget for this year is $14.9 million, a $1.7 million increase on the original 2022 Budget, but a $2.1 million decrease from the $17 million that was actually spent after additional overseas firefighters had to be hired to cover the airport.
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