Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service
 | |
| Operational area | |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| County | Cumbria |
| Agency overview | |
| Established | 1974 |
| Chief Fire Officer | John Beard |
| Facilities and equipment | |
| Divisions | 3 |
| Stations | 38 |
| Engines | 42 |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Rescues | 5 |
| Website | |
| www | |
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Cumbria, England. Since 2012, the headquarters for the service's 38 fire stations are at Penrith next to the headquarters of Cumbria Constabulary.
History
Prior to 1947, there was the National Fire Service and before that there were various independent services run by volunteers in villages, towns and cities throughout the country. Cumbria Fire Service was formed in 1974 after local government was reorganised. It took in Cumberland Fire Service, Westmorland Fire Service, Carlisle and Barrow Fire Services and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. In 2005, the service changed its name to Cumbria Fire & Rescue service to reflect the new responsibilities it now has.
Performance
In 2018/2019, every fire and rescue service in England and Wales was subjected to a statutory inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HIMCFRS). The inspection investigated how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows:[1]
| Area | Rating | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Effectiveness | Good | How effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks? |
| Efficiency | Good | How efficient is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks? |
| People | Requires improvement | How well does the fire and rescue service look after its people? |
Fire stations
Of the 38 fire stations,[2] there are six wholetime in Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle East and West, Whitehaven, Workington and Kendal), of which three are supported by retained firefighters; two day-crewed (Ulverston and Penrith); and 30 retained.
The fire stations are split Cumbria into three areas, each containing two of the county's districts:[3]
- Allerdale and Copeland
- Barrow and South Lakeland
- Carlisle and Eden
Incidents of note
- 8 January 2005 – Carlisle and North Cumbria Floods,[4] the worst flooding in living memory caused massive disruption and damage across the county. More than 3,000 properties were affected, 60,000 homes were without power and some areas of Carlisle were under 7 ft (2.1 m) of water.[5]
- 5 November 2006 – Over 100 firefighters from across South Cumbria fought a major fire which eventually destroyed two of Barrow's largest superstores (MFI and Allied Carpets).[6]
- 2 January 2008 – Dozens of firefighters fight a large blaze in Barrow's Matalan store, just next door to a construction site where MFI once stood.[7]
- 11 January 2017 – Over 50 firefighters fight a large blaze in the old House of Lords building connected to Bar Continental in Barrow-in-Furness. The fire caused the building to at least partially collapse.[8]
See also
- Fire service in the United Kingdom
- Cumbria Constabulary
- List of British firefighters killed in the line of duty
References
- ^ "Cumbria 2018/19". His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HIMCFRS). 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service Operations". Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ^ "Find my location station". Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ "BBC - Cumbria - Weather - Cumbrian Floods". Archived from the original on 12 February 2006.
- ^ "Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
- ^ http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=431809[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=582079[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Crews bring huge Barrow town centre blaze under control as residents evacuated to support base". Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
External links