WHEN South Wales Fire and Rescue Service first mooted the idea of closing Blaina’s fire station, there was naturally public outcry in the area.

No community likes to lose its fire station. But in the case of Blaina, there was also the added fact that this is the station which lost two fire-fighters, Steven Griffin and Kevin Lane during a rescue attempt in the village in the 1990s in awful circumstances.

And there is no doubt that emotions were running high in the wake of the announcement of the closure proposal which was part of a wider cost-cutting scheme by the fire service.

The subsequent campaign garnered a lot of support in the area with 3,000 people signing a petition against it.

But at yesterday’s meeting of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority, the move to close Blaina fire station was rubber-stamped and it will now go ahead as planned.

This is a sad day for the thousands of people who signed the petition against the closure.

It is also a decision which was made in the face of tough opposition from Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and the area’s Assembly member Alun Davies who described it as devastating.

Mr Davies is to make another attempt to have the decision reconsidered amid anger from those leading the protest. However, we can’t help feeling that the decision will not be reversed.