AFTER two major incidents stretched the fire service’s resources a union chief has warned cuts could mean crews will have to pick and choose which blazes to visit.

On Thursday fire crews from across Sussex had to help when flames raged from a roof in Gloucester Road, Brighton and there was a blaze at the British Engineerium in Hove.

There were 50 firefighters called out with 12 fire engines used.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service needs to make £7.1 million in savings over the next five years, and to save money an engine will be lost from Hove by April 2016, leaving just one appliance at the station.

Simon Herbert, chairman of East Sussex Fire Brigades Union, said: “I would hope we wouldn’t have to, but it’s possible we may well have to prioritise what we go to. I wouldn’t like to predict the future, but it’s going to affect us massively.

“Cutting a fire engine in the city is just going to compromise our ability to deal with incidents.

“Yesterday was a very clear example of how stretched we already are and the cuts have not even come into force yet.

“We had to call in a command unit from Bexhill yesterday – that’s a fair way to travel.

“And what people don’t realise is that it’s great we can call on the services of other stations, but then they are left without fire service, so you are robbing those places of their crew.”

“When the cuts come into force it’s going to leave us with just four engines in the city and our services will be at breaking point, if they’ve not already reached that stage before then.

He added: “We will always try and do what we can, but it’s simply not going to be possible to offer the same service.”

Retired firefighter Kevin Maile, 55, of Worthing, said: “There are five appliances but next year there will only be four from Shoreham to Newhaven. It’s a big ask to cover that. This means, in the event of a big fire or more than one fire at the same time, waiting for engines from Lewes or Worthing. Ten minutes doesn’t seem like a long time but it’s a long time to wait for a fire engine.

“For safety you are not meant to commit fire fighters at an incident unless there are enough appliances. But when you arrive at the scene there is a moral imperative to do something to help. You would just go into the building but there would not be any back up if anything went wrong. That’s quite scary.”