'As inclusive a place as it can be' - new Tyne and Wear chief fire officer sets out his vision

The new man at the top of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service has laid out his vision for the future.

Peter Heath has taken over as chief fire officer from Chris Lowther, who announced his retirement in March.

Peter, 56, has been a firefighter for more than 30 years, initially with the Lowthian and Borders service, and played a major role in the reorganisation north of the Border which brought eight brigades together to form the national Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

He worked in the unified organisation until January 2020 when he was appointed deputy chief fire officer in Tyne and Wear.

"I wanted a change, I saw a vacancy in the North East and thought that looks like something I could offer some value in," he said.

He believes his experience in the deputy's post is invaluable to his new role and is looking forward to continuing the good work of the last three years.

"I get the benefit of having been the deputy for the last few years," he said.

"There is a continuity in some of the plans we set up.

"During my time as deputy and now as chief, we have completely refreshed the fleet - we have replaced every single fie engine with a new one, so we have got the full change-over of appliances which contain new technology and 'clean cab', which is about improving firefighter safety."

The clean cab concept involves minimising the contaminants carried onto the appliance from an emergency scene, reducing exposure for staff and minimising long-term risks to health.

"There are a number of challenges that face Tyne and Wear and, indeed, all fire and rescue services," said Peter.

"Budget is always a headline issue - there were certainly a lot of cuts in the past. In my time in Tyne and Wear, it has been not as severe as it has, but one-year budgeting does make it harder to get a longer term forecast."

He is keen to make the service as welcoming as possible and improve links to the community.

The brigade had proved during lockdown that it was capable of far more than fighting fires, he said: "My priorities are going to be focusing on making sure this workforce and this place is as inclusive a place as it can be for the people who are here already and those who might aspire to come and work with us here in the future.

"To do that we focus on working with he staff to make sure that when the community needs us, we are not only available but we have got the right training, not just for the fires we respond to but for the changing risks in society, whether that be people presenting on bridges, or turning up in rivers, adverse weather conditions... these are things you are seeing in society more and more.

"I am going to continue to adapt this service to better meet those changing demands in society.

"To do that. we will focus on the skills that we need but also we want to do that working with partners and look at how do we get closer to the community safety agenda in its widest sense.

"You saw a bit of that during Covid, where we had firefighters giving vaccinations, we had members of staff running vaccination centres, we were working and ordering food parcels, splitting up the PPE.

"We demonstrated that as a fire and rescue service we have got a lot of skills, we've got a lot of experience and we've got a can-do attitude, so I'm going to look at how can we deeper integrate into public life and help to address the many needs of our community and society in a wider sense , whether that is through health, whether that is through education, whether that is through prevention.

"And, of course, we will always have the response element and I want to make sure that we focus on that and redouble our efforts to ensure firefighter safety, because firefighter safety ensures public safety."