Rescued Woman Backs Campaign to Save Fire Service

A woman dragged unconscious out of a house fire has backed calls to save one of Wrexham’s fire engines from being cut.

Ellie Minter, of Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry, was rescued from her home when a fire that spread from a smouldering log to curtains caused a “flashover” that blew out her patio doors. At the time Mrs Minter was upstairs.

She said: “I have no sense of smell so wasn’t aware of anything untoward. One minute I was upstairs going about my business, the next minute I was lying on the lawn being tended to by firefighters.”

Mrs Minter says she owes her life to the firefighters who attended from Oswestry and Wrexham, where proposals to cut the second whole-time fire appliance have sparked huge concerns among the local population.

On November 5 over 500 people marched through the town centre to demand the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority keeps the fire engine – one of just two whole-time fire engines in the town.

Mrs Minter’s neighbours reported flames as high as the house, which was so badly damaged that it will be the summer before she can move back from her daughter’s.

Although she suffered from smoke inhalation, Mrs Minter’s only other injuries – she says laughing – were the firefighter’s fingermarks on her biceps as she was pulled from the blazing house.

She added: “They saved my life and I was told that the equipment used by the Wrexham crew to get me out was essential. If it wasn’t for that second engine from Wrexham, I wouldn’t be here now and that’s why I’m supporting the campaign to save it.

“Someone else will need it next week or next month. You can’t mess with people’s lives.”

Marc Jones, of Save our Services (Wrexham) said: “Our campaign to save the second whole-time fire engine in Wrexham along with 24 firefighters’s jobs has always been about preventing death and serious injury. Ellie’s story could have been so different had that second pump from Wrexham not been available.

“Cuts like this cost lives and the Fire Authority should think hard before it gets rid of frontline services.”

The proposed reduction of appliances in Wrexham came following a meeting between members of the North Wales Fire Authority who had concluded that it was ‘no longer possible to freeze the authority’s budget’.

Several further options were also considered, including the closure of the control room and closing nine rural stations. However the loss of one appliance in Wrexham was described at the time as the ‘least damaging option’.

The consultation on the proposal comes to an end on Monday (December 12) and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority will make a final decision in March 2017.

Last month it was announced that Wrexham Council were to ‘vehemently oppose‘ the proposals during their consultation response.

If you wish you can show your support to the cause by signing the petition here. Regular updates can also be found on the ‘Save Wrexham’s Fire Engine’ Facebook page here.