Concerns have been raised following the death of a woman in a house fire in Penzance which local firefighters were unable to attend due to staffing issues.

Fire crews from St Just and Tolvaddon attended a home in Heamoor, Penzance in the early hours of Monday morning. A 76-year-old woman was rescued from the property and given emergency treatment, but sadly died at the scene. 

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that at the time of the call, Penzance Community Fire Station did not have the minimum number of qualified crew members available due to staff absence.

A Cornwall Council spokesperson said: “Fire crews from St Just and Tolvaddon attended a home in Heamoor, Penzance at 4.39am on Monday, June 19 after reports of a fire. 

“A 76-year-old woman was rescued from the property by firefighters using breathing apparatus.  Emergency treatment was provided but sadly, she died at the scene. 

“A joint investigation between Devon and Cornwall Police and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service to determine the cause of the fire is underway. 

“Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has 31 fire stations, with two crewed on a 24-hour basis.  All other stations have on-call firefighters drawn from the community. We aim to respond to all incidents with the nearest readily available crews.  

“Due to staff absence, at the time of the call Penzance Community Fire Station did not have the minimum number of qualified crew members available. As is standard procedure, the next nearest crews were immediately mobilised and arrived at the scene within the target response time of 16 minutes.”

Andrew George, the Cornwall councillor for the area, said this “just isn’t good enough”.

He said: "This is a very unsatisfactory situation and raises questions whether a life might have been saved had Penzance been scrambled.

"I know serving firefighters in the area are distraught at this tragedy. I’ve asked searching questions of the senior command and also whether the fire control room should be set more robust procedures to avert the circumstances which led to a crew being stood down lessthan half a mile from the location of this tragedy.

"Of course those firefighters who got there within 15 minutes from St Just and who administered CPR for over 30 minutes before the ambulance arrived deserve our praise, but those retained at Penzance that evening will want to know why contingency plans were not in place when they don’t have enough of the full range of firefighters to meet nationalstandards to dispatch a crew. 

"This just isn’t good enough. Firefighters want to do their jobs and save lives. It must be very distressing when they know they could have made a difference but were prevented from doing so.

"My thoughts are with the family of the lady who died and the emergency service staff on duty that night.  

"It doesn’t help to say that these questions are now for the coroner to investigate, but I hope the service learns lessons from this and that proper and effective workforce management is reviewed in the light of this tragedy."

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson confirmed the force was alerted by the fire service at around 5.30am.

“Police were contacted by the fire service following a fire and the death of a woman at a property in Heamoor on Monday, June 19. A woman in her 70s was declared deceased at the scene and next of kin have been informed. 

“Police attended and undertook enquiries at the scene; following this, officers are satisfied that this death is not a suspicious matter. A file is to be prepared for the coroner.”