North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is facing unique challenges in manning its coastal on-call stations, as an ageing population and an increase in holiday lets shrink the pool of potential recruits.
Maintaining adequate crew numbers at fire stations along the Yorkshire Coast is proving to be a complex hurdle for emergency planners.
Recent performance data for the twelve months up to March 2026 reveals that overall availability for the on-call duty system across the region sits at fifty-six per cent, which represents a slight drop from the previous year.
Towns like Filey rely heavily on these part-time crews, who must live or work within a few minutes of the station to respond swiftly to emergency pagers.
However, shifting local demographics and coastal housing trends are shrinking the available workforce. The rise of second homes and holiday rentals means fewer permanent residents are available during the day to answer the call.
Director of Operational Support and Assurance, Ben Illsley, explained the demographic hurdles they are encountering.
Ben Illsley said:
"If you look on the east coast for example where we have townships such as Filey more people used to live in that area there's more kind of buy to let properties people aren't living or working in that area and available to form an on-call crew so everything that is within our control we are aiming to do and do well and do that but there are sadly some elements that are outside of our control with the on-call model based on where people live where they work, aging population across North Yorkshire where people may not be able to be on-call firefighters as well"
Even when the service successfully attracts new talent, getting a fire engine on the road is not an immediate process.
According to recent service reports, thirty-six new on-call firefighters joined the organisation over the last year, with three dedicated training courses successfully completed yielding thirty-five new starters.
Despite these fresh intakes, it requires significant time to develop the specific skills necessary to safely deploy a crew. A fire appliance cannot respond without a qualified driver and an officer in charge.
Ben Illsley said:
"Whilst we've had a significant number of new on-call firefighters start in the last couple of years we've had full courses which we didn't have two or three years ago a number of our stations what we then need and it takes time is for them to become competent in role and then become trained in driving and to become officers in charge to take the fire appliance out because at some of the locations we do have it's not purely around numbers it's having the skills and capabilities that brand new starters don't necessarily have and it takes time for them to be fully competent in all the requirements to get a fire engine available."
To combat these ongoing retention and recruitment difficulties, the fire service has implemented several strategic measures.
The position of On-call Station Manager has been made permanent. This role involves liaising directly with local businesses and stations to boost daytime availability in coastal towns and villages.
There are signs of progress, with seven on-call stations reporting an availability increase of more than ten per cent compared to the previous reporting period.
The service also maintains round-the-clock oversight of its resources, utilising a dynamic cover tool to manage emergency response effectively. This system proved vital during recent major incidents, such as the wildfire at Fylingdales near Whitby, ensuring that rural areas retained sufficient fire cover despite the immense pressure on crews.
Furthermore, the dedication of the current part-time workforce is evident, as twenty on-call staff members, including crew and watch managers, are currently stepping up to provide short-term cover for vacancies within the whole-time establishment.
Nevertheless, the service continues to monitor leaver activity closely, noting that the highest turnover rates remain within the on-call sector, primarily due to personnel retiring or resigning from their roles.
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