He said: “We are reaching a point where we will not have the necessary resources and our future as a sustainable organisation is seriously at risk.
“We’ve been doing cuts for years and years now, and I think there must be a risk that we will make a cut that will have very severe consequences. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be party to it.
“The traditional thinking is that we shouldn’t go to a referendum because, number one, people don’t generally vote to pay more tax. Number two, it is very expensive to hold a referendum.”
He said people understand the value of the fire service and may support a small increase if they know what it would pay for.
“If we made it very clear why we need the extra money, what it will achieve in terms of their safety, I think we can make a really compelling case,” he said.