FIRE services should be spending money on life saving equipment and not gimmicks
That's the opinion of Post readers who have reacted to the story of a £17,500 spend by fire chiefs on plastic sticks for homeowners to press buttons on their smoke alarms.
A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Evening Post revealed Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MWWFRS) bought a total of 10,000 of the sticks at a cost of £1.75 each.
The news was branded a waste of money by Clydach councillor and fire authority member, Gordon Walker — and readers have been agreeing with him. On our website www.southwales- eveningpost.co.uk, brochadav questioned if it was April Fool's Day, adding: "My wife is only 5ft tall, so she uses a brush handle and can reach easily.
"Most ceilings these days are only 8ft high, so stretch your arm up, at 5ft 7 I can reach with a little stretch.
"What a waste of money.
"Try giving our firefighters the equipment they need to protect themselves while they save lives. Not spending on a gimmick."
Website reader Maxmin called on whoever signed the purchase order to made to pay the bill from their own pockets.
GSvale2 said: "All these taxpayer-funded organisations really need to be acting like the private sector now.
"They are buying 10,000 and that's the best deal they could get, I bet they never even asked for a discount as they are so used to having an almost bottomless pot of money."
A spokesman for MWWFRS said the items had been bought thanks to a Welsh Government grant, adding: "They have been specifically purchased with the elderly and immobile members of our communities in mind."
