Fire Control-Room Revamp a Costly ‘Failure,’ U.K. Lawmakers Say
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British lawmakers said a plan to streamline the control rooms of firefighters was a “complete failure,” costing taxpayers 469 million pounds ($735 million) before it was canceled in 2010.
The government’s 2004 attempt to replace 46 regional fire and rescue control rooms with nine high-tech hubs known as FiReControl was “flawed from the outset,” Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said in a report published in London today. Ministers tried to impose a centralized computer system without involving local fire departments, the committee said.