Fire Brigades Union says fire services on "brink of critical failure" following Isle of Wight incident
It comes after a "slow and scrambled" response on the Isle of Wight following service cuts
Last updated 24th Oct 2025
The Fire Brigades Union say the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Service is on the "brink of critical failure".
It comes after a fire at a hotel on the Isle of Wight was "slow and scrambled", according to the Union, with two engines sent as opposed to three due to the availability of appliances on the island.
The Fire Brigades Union say more cuts are planned in January.
Mark Chapman, FBU Regional Secretary for Southern, said: "What we seen has epitomised what the fire and rescue service nationally is struggling with.
"Year on year since 2010, the fire service nationally has seen a sustained decline in central government funding, which has resulted in fire fighters being cut, fire engines being taken off the run, and fire stations closed.
"It epitomised, in Saturday's incident on the Isle of Wight, which resulted in just four fire engines available to respond to the community on the island, and as such, they were not able to cater for the incident.
"In Hampshire, since 2010, we've seen 280 fire fighters removed, and on the Isle of Wight, we've seen 61 fire fighters removed.
"They're significant numbers and it's really impacting the way that we can provide a response to the community.
"So we can be effective and safe at saving lives, and quite frankly, we're now at a point where the service is at the precipice of critical failure."
"We've made calls, lobbying of MPs of central government, calling for them to invest in the front line, reverse the cuts that have happened.
"But right now, it looks like those calls are not being listened to, and we're seeing the effects of an overstretched, under-resourced and under pressure fire service unable to function and provide its core duties to the public."
The service say more cuts are due to take place, with 16 less fire fighters on the front line from January 2026.
Dave Hunt, FBU brigade secretary for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said:
“What we saw on Saturday was a scrapheap challenge approach to running a fire service – firefighters were forced to scrape together resources which should be on hand day and night.
“There are supposed to be 11 fire engines on the Isle of Wight – but due to cuts most of those sit empty. We are now facing yet more cuts to firefighter numbers. That will make things even worse.
“Residents on the Isle of Wight have a right to expect that if a fire happens, the right amount of help will come in the right amount of time. Clearly, they can’t count on that.
“This must be a wake-up call. These cuts must not be allowed to go ahead.”
The service are calling for central government to reverse the cuts and invest in services.
Steve Wright, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:
“Incidents like these are a damning indictment of the way that the fire and rescue service has been plunged into crisis by austerity. We have lost one in five firefighter jobs since 2010, and that is putting the lives of firefighters and members of the public at risk.
“Central government must step up and reverse these cuts. In the meantime, fire and rescue services like Hampshire and the Isle of Wight need to listen to firefighters and residents, and think again.”
The government say standalone fire and rescue authorities will see an increase in core spending power of up to £69.1 million in 2025/2026, inclusive of the National Insurance Contributions grant.
They also say they will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure Fire and Rescue Services have the resources they need to protect communities.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have issued a statement.
It says: “Throughout the country, our firefighters operate in challenging and high-risk environments, constantly going above and beyond the call of duty to protect our communities.
“Our Fire and Rescue Services are receiving around £2.87 billion in this financial year, and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure all services have the resources they need to protect communities at the highest standard.
“Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service have issued a reply to the FBU.
Rob Cole, Assistant Chief Fire Officer at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, said: “On receiving the first 999 call, two fire engines and an Aerial Ladder Platform were mobilised to the incident immediately, with the first fire engine arriving at scene in 7 minutes 54 seconds.
"Five minutes after the initial call a third fire engine was mobilised as repeat calls were received within fire control.
“Once firefighters were on scene and had assessed the scale and nature of the incident, resources were increased to six fire engines alongside two water carriers and two aerial ladder platforms.
"An hour later information was passed to firefighters from another agency, who were not on scene, that there was a possible rough sleeper.
"As a precaution the incident was then treated as ‘persons reported’ and firefighters bravely entered the building to ensure that no one was inside.
"The property was empty, and no one was injured or required rescuing.
“All the resources needed to respond to the incident, bar one fire engine, came from Island stations.
“Moving fire engines to provide fire cover to an area where local resources are dealing with a large incident is standard practice for all fire services across the UK.
"This ensures the ability to respond should a second incident occur in the area. Therefore, we mobilised five fire engines from our mainland stations to provide fire cover, which is one of the benefits that has been realised since the two services combined in 2021.
“Our firefighters worked tirelessly overnight on Saturday 18 October to extinguish the fire at the Cygnet Hotel.
"We value the dedication of all of our firefighters who provide vital support to their local communities.
“We acknowledge the FBU's concerns about government funding, as the cost of delivering our vital services has surpassed the funding we receive.
"We are collaborating with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to advocate for increased funding from central government.”