The retained firefighter model is no longer sustainable in Mid and West Wales, the region's chief fire officer has warned. Roger Thomas said younger people weren't replacing older retained firefighters - trained volunteers who are paid for each incident they respond to - and that this trend only seemed to be heading in one direction.
Mr Thomas, who was addressing a Carmarthenshire Council meeting, also said that Powys didn't have any full-time firefighters at all based there. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service currently has 702 full-time equivalent posts for retained firefighters - but the current cohort actually in the field is 574.
It has just under 400 full-time, or whole-time, firefighters. The service, which covers six local authority areas with a population of more than 900,000 people, also has 200 support services staff.
