Operational area | |
---|---|
Country | England |
County | Bedfordshire |
Agency overview | |
Established | 1 April 1997 |
Employees | 600 |
Facilities and equipment | |
Stations | 14 |
Website | |
www |
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, consisting of the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton.
Bedfordshire Fire Brigade was recreated in 1947 after the disbanding of the National Fire Service. Luton began operating an independent brigade when it became a county borough in 1964. In 1974, the Luton brigade was re-absorbed into Bedfordshire, which was renamed Bedfordshire Fire Service. It was later renamed to Bedfordshire & Luton Fire and Rescue Service in 1997, [1] on the same day that Luton became a unitary authority. This reflected that Luton was no longer in the administrative county of Bedfordshire, though Luton remained in the ceremonial county. The brigade changed to its current name in 2012, three years after the administrative county was abolished and divided into two unitary authorities. [2]
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service currently employ more than 550 staff on a variety of conditions of service. These include Firefighters on the Wholetime shift system; Firefighters on the Retained Duty System; Fire Officers on the Flexible Duty System; Fire Control Operators and support staff.
The county's control room was due to move into a regional control centre in Cambridge in 2011 as part of the FiReControl project. [3]
The control room was kept within the service and has now been confirmed as the first fire service in the UK to be implementing a cloud based mobilising solution and integrated CAD system by Motorola in mid 2021. [4]
The firefighters currently working at the county's five wholetime stations are the first in the country to work 24-hour shifts.
Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspections investigate how well each service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows:
Area | Rating 2018/19 [5] | Rating 2021/22 [6] | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Effectiveness | Good | Good | How effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks? |
Efficiency | Requires improvement | Requires improvement | How efficient is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks? |
People | Requires improvement | Good | How well does the fire and rescue service look after its people? |
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service operates 14 fire stations, of which five are crewed on 24-hour shifts (wholetime), one day crewed (Monday–Friday, 09:00–18:00) and the remainder are crewed by retained firefighters who live near to their fire station and can arrive there within six minutes of a call-out. [7]
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory Fire and Rescue Authority responsible for all 999 fire brigade calls in Sefton, Knowsley, St. Helens, Liverpool and Wirral.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Devon and the unitary authorities of Plymouth, Torbay) and Somerset in South West England – an area of 3,924 square miles (10,160 km2). It serves a population of 1.75 million, and is the fifth largest fire and rescue service in the United Kingdom.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the English county of Cheshire, consisting of the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. It operates 28 fire stations. The service is led by Chief Fire Officer Alex Waller, who was appointed in 2022, and the Service Management Team. It is managed by the Cheshire Fire Authority, which is composed of councillors from the local communities of Cheshire, Halton and Warrington. They make decisions on issues such as policy, finance and resources.
The Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, England. The service is run by Gloucestershire County Council. The service does not cover the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire which is covered by Avon Fire and Rescue Service.
The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Lancashire, England and also includes the unitary authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is a statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of the ceremonial county of Berkshire in England. The fire service was formerly administered by Berkshire County Council, but when that was abolished the service became the responsibility of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, made up of representatives from the six unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Reading Borough Council, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough Borough Council, West Berkshire Council, and Wokingham Borough Council.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the administrative county of Kent and the unitary authority area of Medway, covering a geographical area south of London, to the coast and including major shipping routes via the Thames and Medway rivers. The total coastline covered is 225 km ; it has 55 fire stations, and four district fire safety offices. The FRS provides emergency cover to a population of nearly 2 million.
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering an area of 2,432 km2, for the unitary authority areas of County Durham and Darlington. The service area borders with Cleveland Fire Brigade, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.
The Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the West Midlands region of England. The service covers an area of 1,514 square miles (3,920 km2), and a population of around 780,000 people.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of the unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and the City of York. The service covers an area of 3,209 square miles (8,310 km2) and serves a population of 830,000. It is divided into eight groups related to the above districts.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England.
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of South Yorkshire, England. The service covers the areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. In 2020, Chris Kirby was appointed its Chief Fire Officer.
The Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire service serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is predominantly an on-call fire service, although also has whole-time support.
Cleveland Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the boroughs of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland & Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England. The name originates from the former county of Cleveland which was abolished in 1996. The brigade’s area is split between the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service which serves the ceremonial counties of Leicestershire and Rutland in England. The service's headquarters are in Birstall, on the outskirts of Leicester.
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, is the Local Authority Fire Service serving the English unitary authorities of Buckinghamshire and the City of Milton Keynes.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority of Peterborough.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands Region of England. This does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which are covered by Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the county of Staffordshire and unitary authority of Stoke-on-Trent. The county has a population of 1,126,200 and covers a total area of 2,260 km2. Staffordshire shares the majority of its border with Derbyshire, Cheshire, West Midlands (County) and Shropshire; although, in much shorter stretches, the county also butts up against Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire.