HOMES destroyed by two fires in Harwich might have been saved if it had not been for fire service cuts, the firefighters’ union has claimed.

Mick Rogers, the Fire Brigades Union’s brigade secretary, believes major fires in West Street and Market Street could have been better dealt with had Dovercourt fire station not lost one of its fire crews because of spending cuts.

And he revealed further cuts were being made at Essex Fire and Rescue Service headquarters, even as the West Street fire blazed away.

He said: “There needs to be a public inquiry into Dovercourt. Dovercourt had three fire engines. Now it has two.

“Out of those, often it can only run one – and even that is not always fully crewed.”

During the West Street fire, on December 7, there were not enough retained firefighters available to send the fire station’s second appliance to the scene.

The first crew arrived within six minutes, but it was 22 minutes before a second appliance arrived from out of town.

Mr Rogers said this delay had made a “massive difference” to efforts to tackle the fire.

When fire broke out in Market Street, on April 13, the local fire station found itself in the same situation, with only one crew available.

Mr Rogers said: “We were criticised by the public for not doing enough, but in the case of Market Street, it took 28 minutes for a second crew to arrive. It is astounding – pure luck in fact – nobody was killed or seriously injured.

“Had it happened at night, the outcome would have been even more serious.”

He said plans to sell fire service homes near the fire station, to further cut staff and rely solely on part-time, volunteer crews at night and at weekends would make matters worse.

Mr Rogers added: “This is not about criticising retained firefighters. They do a very good job. It is about being short staffed.

“Response times are being affected by inadequate resources, in terms of both equipment and personnel.

“Firefighters and officers who responded to these fires are convinced two fully-crewed engines arriving at the same time could have meant a much different outcome.” Five homes were destroyed in the West Street fire. At Market Street, a building containing three flats was badly damaged.

Chief Fire Officer David Johnson dismissed Mr Rogers’s claims as “alarmist”, adding: “Crews attending both incidents did a fantastic job and the union is once again denigrating the excellent work of retained firefighters. The union has no evidence whatsoever to support its claims.”