Fire Brigade bosses are “gambling with people’s lives” as the row over firefighters’ proposed new working hours leaves the borough facing a shortage of crews, it has been claimed.

The Fire Brigade Union’s (FBU) Wandsworth borough secretary, Roy Sawh, told the Wandsworth Guardian his crew, which is based at Tooting fire station, was sometimes being sent to cover areas as far away as Wallington and Purley - depriving the borough of firefighters in an emergency.

Mr Sawh said Wandsworth’s firefighters were starting to be reassigned to other boroughs for several hours at a time to make up shortfalls in resources.

He said the current situation will “probably get worse” after union members agreed to take industrial action on Friday, which included an overtime ban and a refusal to undertake higher duties. According to Mr Sawh, the move means the borough’s crews will “most certainly” have reduced cover as firefighters “work to rule”.

But he claimed firefighters’ hands had been forced after London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said they had to accept longer days and shorter night shifts - or else risk being sacked.

Mr Sawh, who has worked out of Tooting for 31 years, said “As far as we are aware we have not lost any lives due to the shortfall [in staff accepting more responsibility] and fortunately no one’s been hurt.

“But it’s only a matter of time before this results in a fire injury and possibly, but hopefully not, a fire death.

The 49-year-old added: “We would say [Mr Dobson] is gambling with people’s lives here by forcing us to take this action.”

He said the situation also meant crews could be put in impossible situations when called out to tackle blazes, as they may be forced to wait for backup to arrive from a station based miles away.

Mr Sawh said: “That’s the danger, there could well be a delay before we actually start attacking and dealing with a fire.

“Do you go into a burning building with minimum resources or do you wait for another team to arrive?

“This is the delay we are facing and this is the danger to the public.”

However, London Fire Brigade rubbished claims lives were at risk. A spokesman said: “This action - effectively work to rule - means that there could be some disruption to individual fire stations for short periods.

“During this action we would like to reassure Londoners that we plan our fire cover to meet the needs of London as a whole. If for any reason staff or fire engines in a particular station are unavailable we allocate resources from elsewhere to provide cover.

“We provide this sort of cover every day while crews are dealing with an emergency, carrying out community safety work or training away from their station.”

Thousands of FBU members are also being balloted on strike action - but Mr Sawh described the measure as a “last resort” which firefighters were desperately trying to avoid.

The result of the ballot is due on October 14 and the union would have to give seven days notice of any walkouts.

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