The case in summary: Firefighters in Skånevik in Etne are afraid to meet alone at the station when the alarm goes off. The preparedness in the municipality does not meet the legal requirements, shows a new risk and vulnerability analysis, which lists several measures. Etne fire and rescue presented an investment need of NOK 21.4 million in connection with the budget for 2024, but still with NOK 8.5 million. As a result, there are no funds to follow up on all the measures. The municipality says the economy limits possible measures. Several fire and rescue services in the country currently do not meet the minimum requirements for organisation, staffing and equipment, according to a report commissioned by the government. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – The main concern is standing alone. We have trained a lot on the incidents we can come up in. But we have not trained to take them on our own. It is an unpleasant thought. Arve Ribesen is emergency manager and union representative at Skånevik fire station in Etne municipality, in the south of Vestland. There are currently ten part-time employees at the station. One of them is newly appointed and not ready for assignments yet.In addition, around half have their permanent jobs outside the village, and cannot attend at short notice. The preparedness does not meet the legal requirements, shows a new risk and vulnerability analysis. – We are too dependent on luck, believes Ribesen. There are several exposed clusters of wooden houses in the center of Skånevik, and it should take a maximum of ten minutes for the fire brigade to arrive. It takes half an hour to drive from Etne to Skånevik, and extra resources may therefore be delayed. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Heritage-worthy wooden houses in the center Old wooden houses are close to the center of Skånevik. The response time if a fire starts here should only be ten minutes. – Houses are incendiary bombs. It is only a matter of time before a disaster occurs, believes Ragnvald Larsen. He is the fourth generation of bakers at Larsen Bakeri, which has been located in the center of Skånevik since 1888. He has also worked as a part-time firefighter in the village, and says he has asked several times for better preparedness. Ragnvald Larsen lives on the second floor of Larsen bakery. He has left the bakery to his daughter, but he helps when needed. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Problem with staffing in several places Several fire and rescue services today do not meet the minimum requirements for organisation, staffing and equipment, according to a report, which was commissioned by the government. The report points out, among other things, that many fire and rescue services experience the financial situation as demanding. The interest organization Norwegian Fire and Rescue Forum says analyzes are not always followed up. – We see all too often that the municipalities are not aware of their responsibility and to prioritize staffing, expertise and/or equipment in the municipal fire service, says leader Ketil Sivertsen. Second conflict in a few years There have been storms surrounding the fire service in Etne municipality before. Two years ago, a whistle-blowing case led to 18 out of 28 employees resigning. The conflict even with Etne withdrawing from Haugaland fire and rescue, which is an inter-municipal cooperation. For well over a year, they have operated alone. In May last year, an external consultancy company prepared a risk and vulnerability analysis, and preparedness and prevention analysis for Etne fire and rescue (EBR). The reports state that there is a part that needs to be put in place to satisfy the requirements in the fire legislation, and lists eight measures that need to be put in place as soon as possible. Measures that need to be put in place: Get the necessary skills added for personnel in the overall on-call readiness. Status: This is being worked on and will probably be in place in the spring of 2025. A manager for the preventive department must be appointed. Status: No money is allowed for this position. Upgrade emergency preparedness in Skånevik to ensure that sufficient fire crews go out in the event of a fire and extinguish fires there, within the requirements for emergency response time: Have two crews (emergency manager and constable) on duty instead of one, as today. These two must be able to move out with an advanced unit, which is a fire truck with necessary equipment for first aid. New employees should have their workplace in Skånevik, so that they are in the town when the alarm goes out. If you cannot add enough crew with workplaces in Skånevik, you must consider increasing the number of crew from 12 to 16; then the number of seats must also increase. Status: There is no money allowed for more crews, or to increase the on-call readiness of two people at the station in Skånevik in the budget for 2024. The fire station in Skånevik must meet HMT requirements with, among other things, regard for clean and dirty zones, ventilation and separate and ladies’ cloakroom. Status: No funds have been authorized for a new station in Skånevik. Pre-construction personnel must be ensured access to vehicles that can be used for, for example, inspections. Status: This car has been ordered for delivery in spring 2024. Put in place an emergency power solution at the fire stations in Etne and Skånevik, so that emergency services are not compromised in the event of a power failure from the ordinary power grid. Status: There is no money allowed for this in the budget for 2024. EBR must have an appropriate boat with appropriate equipment, in order to be able to transport equipment and crew to incidents at sea or to places where there is no road access – either because there is no is the road there, like Eikemo, or because the road is blocked. You also need a boat to be able to handle acute pollution at sea. Such a boat must be part of EBR’s preparedness, but will also be able to be used as an emergency boat by the municipality in cases where this is necessary, as long as there are personnel from EBR who drive it and who can go out with it to an incident where it is needed boat. Status: There is no money allowed for this in the budget for 2024. Equipment to handle pollution. The basic package for IUA should be a minimum. Status: There is no money allowed for this in the budget for 2024. Source: Risk and vulnerability analysis of Etne fire and rescue made by Einang Safety Consult AS Status notes: Fire chief Finn Ulvund in Etne Among the measures is increased preparedness in Skånevik, with among others two person on duty instead of one. In addition, the number of employees must increase from 12 to 16, according to the preparedness analysis. Etne fire and rescue presented an investment need of NOK 21.4 million in connection with the budget for 2024, but still with NOK 8.5 million. As a result, there are no funds to follow up on all the measures. Skånevik has several areas where the express time is only ten minutes. Several clusters of wooden houses are close in the centre. There is also a requirement to arrive at the care center within ten minutes. Photo: Privat The municipality wants a new assessment of emergency preparedness Municipal director Filippo Ballarin in Etne says he is familiar with the situation in Skånevik and that they must do something about emergency preparedness there. – We are worried that we will not be able to recruit people. Nevertheless, he believes the analysis does not take enough account of the financial framework in the municipality, and is considering a new analysis. – We have to look more at how much all measures cost based on the effect we achieve. Municipal director Filippo Ballarin believes that the analyzes of preparedness have not taken enough account of the tight municipal economy in Etne. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news – Thorough assessments have already been made of what is needed. I see no reason to make new ones, says fire chief Finn Ulvund. He shares the concern of firefighters in the municipality. – It is obvious that preparedness is sometimes poor. Newspaper Grannar has also written about the conflict. Figures from Statistics Norway show that Etne spends more money on fire and emergency protection than both the national average and the average in Vestland. Net operating expenses per inhabitant in Etne were almost NOK 3,800 in 2022. For the country as a whole, the expenses were just over NOK 1,400. The fire station in Skånevik has several shortcomings, the analyzes of preparedness and preventive work show. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Neighbor house burned down Verneombod Vigleik Gutubø in Etne fire and rescue is the concern for colleagues who have notified about the work situation. He will notify the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. – This constitutes a large psychosocial burden, and the situation is unsustainable, he believes. Bakar Ragvald Larsen remembers a space Christmas Skånevik center was in danger. On the night of Christmas Day 2014, the house next door to the bakery burned to the ground. It was only so far that the fire did not spread. – It was terrifying. The gutters melted, and the window cracked and fell into the pastry section of our bakery. It was only a matter of minutes before it caught fire here too, says Larsen. The fire in Skånevik in Christmas Eve 2014. Photo: Tore Tendal / Skånevik fire station
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– Too dependent on luck to save lives – news Vestland
