The fire station is one of 12 in London which is earmarked for closure.
Tensions were high last night as over 100 protesters marched through Brixton to fight against the proposed closure of Clapham Fire Station.
They arrived at Lambeth Town Hall for a consultation meeting with London Fire Brigade (LFB) at 7.00pm to put questions to the panel of chairmen and MPs.
The fire station is one of 12 in London which are planned to close as part of a proposal by Boris Johnson to save £45m in two years.
Protest co-ordinator and Lambeth resident Rahul Patel said: “It’s a fantastic turn out today. People didn’t expect us to organise a demonstration and we’ve done that.
“Our lives are worth more than Boris Johnson’s popularity within his party. Even after today the fight does not stop. We are going to make sure that each and every fire station is kept open in London.”
The meeting went on for over two hours while the panel struggled to meet the demands of defiant members of the public enraged by the proposal.
Hecklers voiced their thoughts at every opportunity, while an unplanned vote displaying unanimous opposition to the closures took centre stage, interrupting the proceedings.
The campaign is publicising the fact response times to Clapham Town will increase by four minutes, the time it takes for a blaze to double in size and the longest response time across London.
However, London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson claims that average response time to Clapham Town will only increase by 34 seconds.
“The plan still ensures that at least one fire station will remain in every borough in London,” said Mr Dobson.
“Fire-fighters outside of Lambeth will also be able to attend incidents here. We don’t expect the borough boundaries to limit us in terms of our attendance.”
The consultation closes on 17 June when the final decision will be announced. To follow the campaign and sign the petition visit http://www.saveclapham.com/
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