FIRE chiefs have hit back at claims a Haworth man’s death could have been avoided if the village fire station had not been axed.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have disputed response times alleged by retired firefighter Joe O’Keeffe during the incident in Haworth last week.

The organisation told the Keighley News the first of the three engines to arrive on Monday last week, from Keighley fire station, took just nine minutes and 17 seconds.

Mr O’Keeffe had claimed the Keighley fire engine took 12 minutes to reach 88-year-old Bramwell Schofield’s terraced home in Alice Street.

He said the Haworth engine – which was lost when the station closed last December – would have taken a maximum of seven minutes from the time of the 999 call.

He claimed the “critical” extra five minutes could have made a difference between life and death.

An inquest into Mr Schofield’s death was opened and adjourned last Thursday. The cause of death was revealed as asphyxia due to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Dave Walton, said: “In this very low-risk area, we aim for the first fire engine to arrive within 11 minutes, which was achieved, and everything possible was done by firefighters at the scene.

“We take great care in ensuring our limited resources are located in the areas of highest risk and where we assess that they will have the best effect.

“In 2012, the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority approved the closure of Haworth Fire Station due to the extremely low number of incidents the station was responding to.

“The cover we are able to provide from surrounding fire stations was an integral part of that decision.”

Mr Walton said the Fire Service is continuing to work with Friends of Haworth and Worth Valley Fire Station to consider new ways of providing both fire and community safety services from the former Haworth Fire Station site.

He added: “We remain committed to our belief the best way to deal with fires in the home is to stop them from occurring in the first place, and to ensure smoke detectors and fire escape plans are in place for those occasions when fire does break out.”

Mr Walton described the death of Mr Schofield as a tragic incident, and extended the Fire Service’s condolences.

He said: “This incident serves to highlight the danger presented by fires in the home.”

Anyone wishing to have a free Home Fire Safety Check is asked to call 01274 682311 or visit their nearest fire station.