why do our cash-strapped fire and rescue services think they need helicopters?
I haven't paid too much attention to this debate before, but one of the answers to the above question could be to do with the fact that none of Trumpton's ladders can reach above about 10 storeys. I should think a significant proportion of city buildings are taller than that. However, as others have pointed out, in these cupboard-is-bare times maybe we should just expect SAR to pick up this task along with the many others they already do so competently.
Don't know if W Mids Marxist Window Cleaners And Occasional Chip-Pan Extinguisher Operators still have their protocol with the police AOU which allowed them to receive downlink thermal images of major fires. Proved useful on a couple of occasions that I saw; they could assess roof-spaces and other areas where combustion could spread unseen from the ground, prior to committing firefighters into hazardous areas.