A pledge to protect the safety of local communities despite cuts in funding has been made by the Chair of Cheshire Fire Authority following his re-election last week.
Councillor David Topping said "We have reduced the numbers of fires and injuries in recent years and I am confident we can rise to the challenge of continuing to improve the safety of our communities even though the financial pressures ahead are significant.
"I am enormously proud to have been re-elected as chair and I believe the stability we now have at both member and senior officer level puts us in an excellent position to face up to the challenges ahead.”
Latest figures show that there was just one fire death across the whole of Cheshire, Halton and Warrington in 2009/10 – the lowest annual figure for a decade.
Cheshire Fire Authority, which is made up of 23 local councillors, provides a 24 hour fire and rescue service to just over 1 million people and employs just under 1,000 staff and currently has an annual budget of £43.4m.
