A VAN carrying two firefighters could arrive first at a house blaze after a 999 call, union officials warned today.

Under controversial million-pound cost-cutting plans drawn up by fire chiefs, a community safety vehicle could be sent first.

This would happen if it were nearer to the blaze than a fire engine at the time of the call - though the engine would be mobilised at the same time.

Firefighters believe this would put the two-man team, in a transit-style van without the full lifesaving equipment available on a normal tender, in a massive "moral dilemma".

York union official Pete Clark said firefighters would not wait for back-up tenders if lives were in danger. Current guidelines say a total of at least nine men are needed to tackle a house fire.

He said members were still in the dark about what equipment the First Response Vehicle (FRV) would have available, though they believed it would carry a small high pressure jet and a small amount of water.

But North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service bosses said that under the plans staffing resources would be used more efficiently, with more lives saved.

York area fire manager Steve Cluderay said: "If this was a road crash, the team could help stabilise injuries before back-up arrived. But if it is a house fire, crews would be fully trained to assess risks."

The controversial van plans are part of a sweeping overhaul of fire cover in York and North Yorkshire, which the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says will endanger residents and crews - and send the lifesaving service into "meltdown".

Union members are furious over proposals they say take two men from shifts at York Fire Station and put them on a roving "community safety" brief - mainly covering Selby.

They claim firefighters may be faced with the dilemma of tackling serious blazes without support from "safe" staffing numbers, outlined in current working guidelines.

York Fire Station has two appliances, which guidelines say need to be staffed by a minimum of nine men attending a house fire.

An average shift consists of about 11 firefighters. So if the first crew is sent to a major fire, with an FRV team out, that could leave two or three men on the second tender waiting up to 45 minutes for the roving FRV team to return to boost numbers. Mr Cluderay insisted that the number of fire engines that attend blazes would not change.

Graeme Willis, the union secretary at Acomb, said the service would go into "meltdown" if the proposals were implemented.

Updated: 10:04 Thursday, February 03, 2005