Fire Service College

Last updated

Fire Service College Limited
Company type Limited company
IndustryFire and rescue training
Headquarters
Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire
,
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
Owner Capita
Website www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Fire Service College is responsible for providing leadership, management and advanced operational training courses for senior fire officers from the United Kingdom and foreign fire authorities. It is located at Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, England. It has been owned by Capita since February 2013, having previously been an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Contents

The college provides the full range of training for firefighters at all levels, including initial training for recruit firefighters. Scotland closed its own Scottish Fire Service College in 2015 and set up the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service National Training Centre near Cambuslang. [1] As a result many Scottish fire officers go to Moreton-in-Marsh for more specialist and senior ranking courses.[ citation needed ]

The college has a wide range of facilities for theoretical education and practical training in firefighting, fire safety and accident and emergency work.

History

Under the Fire Brigades Act 1938, the UK Government set up a training centre [2] at Saltdean near Brighton in 1941, to train National Fire Service personnel. With the return to local authority control after World War II, the British government decided to standardise the way in which the fire service worked. The college at Saltdean became too small and the Home Office opened the Senior Staff College at Wotton House, Dorking in Surrey in 1949, [3] to train senior officers from all over the country. On 4 June 1966, they decided to do the same for the lower ranks and established the Fire Service Technical College at Moreton-in-Marsh on a disused RAF wartime airfield about 3 km (2 miles) outside the town. In 1981, the Staff College in Dorking closed and amalgamated with the Technical College to form the Fire Service College on the Moreton-in-Marsh site.

RAF Moreton-in-Marsh was, as the home station of 21 Operational Training Unit, RAF Bomber Command responsible for the training of aircrew to fly Wellington bombers. [2] The Station also flew operations, and sent aircraft on the large bomber raids on the German cities of Cologne, Dresden and Hamburg. The airbase remained operational until the late 1950s. The government then used the base to teach fire fighting to military personnel undergoing their National Service.

The Home Office opened the college on the 500-acre (2.0 km2) site in 1968. [2] The first students whilst having most of the facilities seen today had no proper accommodation and were bunked in large huts (in the area that is now the cricket and football pitches), which originally housed the RAF personnel when it was an operational airbase. The Staff College at Dorking was closed in 1981 and all training was transferred to Moreton-in-Marsh.

In April 1992, [2] the college became an executive agency and trading fund under the Fire Service Trading Fund Order 1992 (Statutory Instrument 1992 No. 640). [4] In June 2001, the responsibility for the college transferred from the Home Office to the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and just one year later to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and then to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

On 16 May 2009, a fire broke out at one of the appliance bays in the college, destroying 11 fire engines at a cost of £116,000 each. [5] The blaze was not suspicious.

In April 2011, the Government announced it was studying different options for private investment in the college to allow it to achieve its full potential and in March 2012 it was concluded that the best option was full privatisation. In December 2012, Capita was selected as the preferred bidder and the sale was completed for £10 million on 28 February 2013. [6]

Education

Educationally, the college has lecture facilities and specialised areas such as IT suites, a chemistry laboratory and hydraulics laboratory. The tutors are drawn from both the academic world and from officers serving in fire and rescue services around the country. Courses available range from firefighter recruits through junior officer development to senior officer management courses right up to chief officer level. To support the educational side, there as a large administration complex and a library of fire related literature. Students come mainly from the UK but several countries also send students.

Operational training

Operational training is carried out in several purpose built areas of the college, [2] including:

To support the operational training the college has a fully equipped appliance room with a number of appliances from different manufacturers including pumps, aerial appliances, rescue tenders, USAR vehicles and hazmats appliances. There is also a large workshop to maintain the appliances and all the other operational equipment used.

UK-Motorway-M96.svg

The M96 motorway is a 400-yard (370 m) stretch of road at the college which imitates in detail a typical UK motorway; it is used to teach firefighters in training how to deal with road traffic incidents. It consists of one of the former runways of the airfield. The numbering of the motorway is not consistent with the Great Britain road numbering scheme; however its number is largely irrelevant, as it is not open to the public. [7]

Social

The social and domestic facilities include

Other uses

The college site is also home to the Fire Protection Association (FPA). [8]

In 2003, the BBC used the location to film the docudrama The Day Britain Stopped about a series of catastrophic transport accidents. For the purposes of the programme, the motorway was temporarily rebranded "M91".

The college has been on occasions shut over weekends and used by the military and police for training, as the live fire buildings and complexes allow training in certain operational areas that cannot easily be carried out or reconstructed elsewhere.

In November 2016, the site was used by HTIS for an Airsoft Military Simulation event called Blue Fox II. [9]

On 8 December 2018, the first Fire Service College parkrun was held on the site. [10] The parkrun no longer takes place as it did not resume following the restarting of parkrun's during the COVID-19 pandemic due to new security restrictions on the site. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Fire Brigade</span> Fire and Rescue service in London

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992 staff, including 5,096 operational firefighters and officers based at 102 fire stations.

The New Zealand Fire Service was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surrey Fire and Rescue Service</span>

The Surrey Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the County of Surrey, England, with 25 fire stations. It comes under the administrative and legislative control of Surrey County Council, acting as the fire authority who fund the service by collecting a precept via council tax, and from central government funds, known as a grant settlement, and provide the political leadership for the service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire and Rescue New South Wales</span> Emergency service in New South Wales, Australia

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) previously known as NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB), is an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. FRNSW is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas and towns across New South Wales. Fire and Rescue NSW is the fourth largest urban fire service in the world, with over 6,800 firefighters serving at 335 fire stations throughout the state, supported by 465 administrative and trades staff and 5,700 community fire unit volunteers. FRNSW are the busiest fire service in Australia, attending over 124,000 incidents a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire services in the United Kingdom</span>

The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avon Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in South West England

Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire in South West England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service</span> County-wide, statutory emergency service

The West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS) is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 22 people who are appointed annually from the five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire, known as the Fire & Rescue Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex County Fire and Rescue Service</span> Regional fire and rescue service in England

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of 1,338 square miles (3,470 km2) and a population of over 1.7 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in southern England

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hampshire, including the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, and the county of the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England. The service was formed on 1 April 2021 from the merger of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service. The service's chief fire officer is Neil Odin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in western England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Wales Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in Wales

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham in the north of Wales. With service coverage in north-west Wales being predominantly rural. The NWFRS is headquartered in St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time on call to respond to emergencies through the Retained Duty System. Many have full-time jobs outside of the fire service. Retained firefighters are employed and trained by the local fire and rescue service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in south west England

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Cornwall, England. As of April 2019, the service employs over 400 retained firefighters, 203 full-time firefighters, plus 170 support and administrative staff. Created under the Fire Services Act 1947 as "Cornwall County Fire Brigade", the name changed to "Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service" on 1 October 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence Fire and Rescue Service</span>

The Defence Fire and Rescue Service (DFRS) is the primary firefighting and rescue service protecting British defence estates and property. Along with the Royal Air Force Rescue and Firefighting Service, it forms the Ministry of Defence Fire Services. As of February 2021, the takeover of DFRS by private contractor Capita continues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service of England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Moreton-in-Marsh</span> Airport in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

RAF Moreton-in-Marsh was a Royal Air Force station near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. It was opened in November 1940 with three concrete and tarmac runways and five aircraft hangars. It closed for operational flying in early 1948. The base remained in use as a relief runway and for training. After a period of care and maintenance, the Station was handed over to the Home Office in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland Fire and Emergency Services</span> State fire and emergency service in Queensland, Australia

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) is the primary provider of fire and emergency services in Queensland, Australia. The QFES was established in 2013, adopting an "all hazards" approach to emergency management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Fire and Rescue Service</span> National fire and rescue service of Scotland

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the United Kingdom, surpassing the London Fire Brigade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire Rescue Victoria</span> Australian firefighting organization

Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) is a fire and rescue service in the state of Victoria, Australia, that provides firefighting, rescue, HAZMAT and Emergency Medical Response services in areas of metropolitan Melbourne and major regional centres throughout Victoria.

References

  1. ↑ "Training and Development | SFRS". Scottish Fire and Rescue Service . Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fire Service College staff (2009). "Fire Service College Official website" . Retrieved 2 May 2007.
  3. ↑ Fire Service College staff (2009). "Heritage and History". Fire Service College. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Parliament (1992). "The Fire Service College Trading Fund Order 1992". UK legislation on-line. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. ↑ BBC staff (16 May 2009). "Blaze breaks out at fire college". BBC Gloucestershire.
  6. ↑ "Sale of the Fire Service College completed". Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "M96 Fire Service College". Pathetic Motorways. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Contact us". Fire Protection Association . Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "HTIS: BLUE FOX II 11-13 NOVEMBER 2016". Popular Airsoft. 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Fire Service College parkrun - Weekly Free 5km Timed Run". Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "latest news". Parkrun. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

51°59′42″N1°40′48″W / 51.995°N 1.680°W / 51.995; -1.680

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.