West Midlands Fire Service

West Midlands Fire Service

File:West Midlands Fire Service logo.jpg
Operational area
Country	England
County	West Midlands
Agency overview
Established	1974 (1974)
Employees	1,909
Facilities and equipment
Stations	38
Website
Official website

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the third largest fire and rescue service in the UK, with only the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and London Fire Brigade being larger, and is one of only two fire services in which all stations are full-time (the other being London Fire Brigade). WMFS delivers emergency services to 2.83 million residents across seven local authority areas in the county of the West Midlands in England.

The brigade is run under the command of Chief Fire Officer Phil Loach and the Strategic Enabling Team (SET), providing emergency response from 38 strategically located fire stations, divided into six Command Areas. Responsibility for the running on the brigade lies with West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority, a joint authority made up of councillors from the seven local authorities in the West Midlands.

The service was created in 1974 when the West Midlands county came into being. Prior to its creation, each of the county boroughs in the West Midlands area (Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, Warley, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton) had their own fire brigade, the largest of which was the City of Birmingham Fire Brigade. WMFS was created by a merger of these, plus parts of Warwickshire Fire Brigade.

The service was originally headquartered in the former City of Birmingham Fire Brigade headquarters at Lancaster Circus which were opened on 2 December 1935 by HRH Duke of Kent. It is now a listed building and the service moved to purpose-built, modern headquarters on Vauxhall Road, Nechells, in 2008.

Chief Fire Officers

The following people have held the office of Chief Fire Officer:

• 2014 to present: Phil Loach
• 2009 to 2013: Vijith Randeniya OBE
• 2003 to 2008: Frank Sheehan
• 1998 to 2003: Kenneth Knight
• 1990 to 1998: Graham Meldum
• 1981 to 1990: Brian Fuller
• 1975 to 1981: Tom Lister CBE
• 1974 to 1975: George Merrell CBE (Chief Officer of Birmingham Fire and Ambulance Service from 1969)

Fire Stations/Appliances

All fire stations within the service are full-time, and work on 2 types of shift:

• Core - full 10- or 14-hour shift on 4 watches of Blue, Red, Green and White
• Late - 12-hour shift running from 10:00AM to 10:00PM on 2 Watches of Orange and Purple. Tettenhall is the only late crewed station, and therefore Wolverhampton covers the area at night

Birmingham City Centre is covered by 3 stations: Aston located and covering the Northern Area; Highgate located and covering the Southern, Central, and Eastern Areas; and Ladywood covering the Western Area.

B7 Bickenhill Community Fire Station & Technical Rescue Unit

C4 Bournbrook Community Fire Station

C6 Northfield Community Fire Station

A5 Perry Barr Community Fire Station

Station Callsign	Station Name	Duty System	Appliances
A02	Aston (City Centre North)	Core	1x PRL, 1x BRV
A03	Sutton Coldfield	Core	1x PRL
A04	Erdington	Core	1x PRL
A05	Perry Barr	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x PM*, pods: 2x FDU, 1x WSU
A06	Ward End	Core	1x PRL, 1x BRV
A07	Handsworth	Core/Late/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x ICU
B01	Solihull	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL,1x BRV, 1x CSV*
B02	Sheldon	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x HVPSV, 2x PM*, pods: 1x HVP, 1x HVHL, 1x MDD, 1x MDR
B03	Coventry	Core	2x PRL, 1x HP, 1x BSV
B04	Canley	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x WFU
B05	Foleshill	Core	1x PRL, 1x BRV
B06	Binley	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV
B07	Bickenhill/TRU	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x TRP, 1x BRV, 1x TRS, 1x L4V, 1x PM*, pods: 1x MRU, 1x TRU, 1x WSU
B07	Bickenhill/USAR	Cross Crewed	1x PCV, 1x SDU, 4x PM, modules: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
C01	Highgate (City Centre South)	Core	2x PRL, 1x HP
C02	Woodgate Valley	Core	1x PRL
C03	Smethwick	Core	1x PRL, pod: 1x MPV
C04	Bournbrook	Core	1x PRL, 1x ICU
C05	Kings Norton	Core	1x PRL
C06	Northfield	Core	1x PRL, 1x BRV
C07	Ladywood (City Centre West)	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x BSV
C08	Billesley	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV
C09	Hay Mills	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x DIM* 1x PM*, pods 1x BASU, 1x EPU, 1x GPU, 1x HSU, 1x ISU, 1x WFU
D01	Oldbury	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x HP
D02	Brierley Hill	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV
D03	Haden Cross	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV
D05	Stourbridge	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x IRU*
D07	Tipton	Core	1x PRL
D08	West Bromwich	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x BSV.
D09	Dudley	Core/Late	1x PRL, 1x BRV
E01	Walsall	Core/Cross Crewed*	2x PRL, 1x HP
E02	Bloxwich	Core	1x PRL
E03	Willenhall	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x PM*, pods: 1x EPU, 1x HSU, 1x ISU
E04	Aldridge	Core	1x PRL
E05	Wolverhampton	Core	1x PRL, 1x BRV
E06	Fallings Park	Core	1x PRL, 1x BRV
E07	Bilston	Core/Cross Crewed*	1x PRL, 1x CSV*
E08	Tettenhall	Late	1x PRL
E09	Wednesbury	Core	1x TRP, 1x TRS, 1x WSU

Fire Appliance Glossary/Callsigns

Dennis Sabre XL Pump Rescue Ladder

Toyota Hilux Brigade Response Vehicle

Volvo FL Pump Rescue Ladder

• Pump Rescue Ladder (PRL): 1 / 2
• Brigade Response Vehicle (BRV): 5
• Hydraulic Platform (HP): 4
• Business Support Vehicle (BSV): 9
• Incident Command & Control Unit (ICCU): Z2
• Command Support Vehicle (CSV)
• High Volume Support Pump Vehicle (HVPSV)
• Prime Mover (PM): 8 / M32 / M96

Pods:

• Hazardous substances Environmental Protection Unit (HMEPU)
• Foam Distribution Unit (FDU)
• General Purpose Unit (GPU)
• High Volume Hose Layer (HVHL)
• High Volume Pump (HVP)
• Incident Support Unit (ISU)
• Major Rescue Unit (MRU)
• Multi Purpose Vehicle Carrier (MPV)
• Water Support Unit (WSU)
• Welfare support unit (decommissioned)
• Welfare Unit (WFU)

Technical Rescue Unit

Technical Rescue Support Unit

TRU Prime Mover with WSU Pod

• Technical Rescue Pump (TRP): 1
• Technical Rescue Support (TRS)
• Light 4x4 Vehicle (L4V)
• Prime Mover (PM): 8

Pods:

• Major Rescue Unit (MRU)
• Trench Rescue Unit (TRU)
• Water Support Unit (WSU)

Urban Search & Rescue

USAR Prime Mover with Pod

• Personnel Carrier Vehicle (PCV)
• Search & Rescue Dog Unit (SDU)
• Prime Mover (PM): M98 / M121 / M122 / M123

Pods:

• Module 1 - Technical Search Equipment
• Module 2 - Heavy Transport, Confined Space & Hot Cutting Equipment
• Module 3 - Breaching & Breaking Equipment
• Module 4 - Multi Purpose Vehicle
• Module 5 - Shoring Operations

CBRN Response

• Detection, Identification & Monitoring (DIM): M4
• Incident Response Unit (IRU): M45 / M62
• Prime Mover (PM): M32 / M96

Pods:

• Mass Decontamination Disrobe (MDD)
• Mass Decontamination Rerobe (MDR)

Staffing and recruitment

West Midlands Fire Service is one of only three brigades in the UK where all operational firefighters are full-time, the others being London Fire Brigade & Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

Shift system

Firefighters are part of a Watch system that consists of 'core' crews and 'late' crews depending on the station they are serving at. Staff that are part of the core crews will be on duty for two days from 8am until 6pm, then two nights from 6pm until 8am. Late crews are on duty from 10am until 10pm for four days in a row. Firefighters that are part of the core crews will belong to either a Red, Green, White or Blue Watch, and those in the late crews will belong to either an Orange or Purple Watch.

Role system

As with many other fire services, West Midlands Fire Service uses a rank structure that has evolved over time – the original titles are still used some brigades.

Former title	Modern title
Firefighter	Firefighter
Leading Firefighter	N/A
Sub-Officer	Crew Commander
Station Officer	Watch Commander
Assistant Divisional Officer	Station Commander
Divisional Officer	Group Commander
Senior Divisional Officer	Area Commander
Assistant Chief Officer	Assistant Chief Fire Officer
Deputy Chief Officer	Deputy Chief Fire Officer
Chief Fire Officer	Chief Fire Officer

Sexism and racism controversy

In January 2019 it was alleged that West Midlands Fire Service was using discriminatory practices in recruitment of new firefighters. Once candidates had passed a reactions test, they moved on to a numerical, verbal and mechanical reasoning exam. Media reports stated that ethnic minorities and females taking this test were deemed to have passed should they achieve a score of 60%. However, it was claimed that white male candidates were required to score at least 70%. Member of parliament David Davies condemned the policy, stating "It's totally bonkers. They should just be picking the best man or woman for the job. They shouldn't be lowering the target for anyone just to meet a target." The service has target of 60% of new recruits to be female by 2021 and 35% to be ethnic minorities. In repose to criticism, the organisation did not comment on whether it had different pass marks for different groups, stating "West Midlands Fire Service is committed to a workforce which reflects the diversity of all our communities" and "our recruitment shows our determination to challenge outdated perceptions about who can – and can’t – be a firefighter." West Midlands Fire Service's statement.

Specialist Units

Technical Rescue Unit

Operating out of two locations, a primary base at Bickenhill fire station and a satellite base at Wednesbury fire station, the WMFS Technical Rescue Unit has purpose-built facilities to train in all specialist rescue disciplines, providing a local, regional and national response 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to any USAR/widescale flooding incident as well as the support necessary for specialist rescue incidents.

The team is made up of a Station Commander, Administration Officer, Equipment Maintenance Officer, USAR Training Officer, Search Dog Handler, and four watches each made up of a Watch Commander, Crew Commander and six Technicians. A further four watches are based at Wednesbury.

With shifts running along the same colour watches as the core fire crews, watch based personnel work a 96-hour duty period with 48 hours on full duty and the remainder on retained cover. Retained personnel can respond to base within 30 minutes of being required for multiple incident deployment.

The unit makes use of a wide range of vehicles and equipment to carry out their role. Each TRU base has two primary response vehicles:

• Technical Rescue Support Unit - this 4x4 Mercedes Sprinter van provide a fast response capability for water, rope, and large animal rescues to get initial personnel and equipment to an incident as fast as possible.
• Technical Response Pump - based on a modified Volvo FL Pump Rescue Relay, this appliance carries enhanced rescue equipment at the expense of some fire fighting equipment. This will respond to life-threatening incidents in the local station ground alongside the regular TRU callouts.

Additional vehicles and equipment are based at Bickenhill:

• 4 New Dimension Prime Movers - modified to be able to transport both New Dimension and regular WMFS demountable pods to the scene of an incident.
• 5 Urban Search and Rescue Modules
• 1 Water Support Unit
• 1 Trench Rescue Unit

West Midlands UK-ISAR

The United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team (UK-ISAR) is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to humanitarian accidents or disasters anywhere in the world. There are 18 team members in West Midland Fire Services UK-ISAR, split into a Red Team and a Blue Team. The role of the team is to respond to support the UK Government when deploying personnel and equipment in response to international disasters such as an earthquakes.

When on international call, a deployment is made of a team of six including the team leader from one of the groups and a Group Commander to act as the Operations Commander or Deployment Commander in charge of the UK International Search & Rescue Group (UKISARG).

The team should arrive in the affected country within 24 hours of the disaster occurring and be self-sufficient for periods of up to 10 days. Extensive specialist training over and above that normally required for firefighters is given to all team members.

12 members of the West Midlands team were deployed as part of the UKISAR (United Kingdom International Search And Rescue) mission to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there on 12 January 2010. The team were joined by 2 further members who had been in Sweden as part of a training exercise at the time of the earthquake. The team were involved in the rescue of several people, including two-year-old Mia, who had been trapped for over four days.

Fire Investigation and Prevention Section (FIPS)

The Fire Investigation and Prevention Section (FIPS) was the first one formed in the United Kingdom in 1983, and in 25 years has attended over 8,000 incidents.

FIPS provides 24-hour/365-day availability as required and the team includes a Dog Handler who, working together with his dog, provides arson detection searches at fires where it is suspected that accelerants such as petrol may have been used.

FIPS investigates the cause of fire in a variety of different types of incidents including large fires, fires where the cause cannot be immediately determined, and fires where people may have been injured or died.

FIPS works closely with the Police, other Services, and organisations such as insurance companies, when investigating fires. The officers also work on special projects including arson reduction policies and strategies, human behaviour in fire, the main causes of fire, and the compilation of any information to identify trends in fire causes. This information is vital when undertaking targeted initiatives and campaigns relating to the education of fire safety awareness.

FIPS Officers are also regularly called to give expert witness evidence at Civil, Criminal (Magistrates and Crown) and Coroners Court.

Future

WMFS has committed to keeping open its 38 fire stations, with at least one standard fire engine at all of them, as well as maintaining its five-minute target response time to high-risk incidents.

Coventry, Highgate, and Walsall fire stations will each have two fire engines available around-the-clock. The introduction of Brigade Response Vehicles is now complete, with a total of 19 now in active frontline service. The Brigade still faces tough times ahead in terms of a reduced budget, however the Brigade will be recruiting 50 New Firefighters in early 2015. The Brigade as per its vehicle replacement programme will purchase another 6/7 new Fire Appliances in 2015 and a further 6 in 2016 to replace ageing older appliances; these vehicles will gradually enter service throughout the prospective year. The Brigade are also looking into introducing AFA vehicles (automatic fire alarms) in the way of mini coopers. It is currently unknown how many of these vehicles will be rolled out or where their destined stations will be. During 2015/16 both Aston & Coventry fire stations are likely to be replaced with completely new stations, not to mention a vast amount of maintenance to other stations such as Highgate & West Bromwich which will both have complete Appliance bay door replacements, and extensive works both interior and exterior to all other stations.

Notable Incidents

• Disused Factory, Thimblemill Lane, Nechells - June 1985 - 30 Pump Fire, five-storey factory building destroyed.
• Shannons Mill, Walsall - 2007 - 25 Pump fire. 3 Storey, listed, former leather tanning workshop.
• Cornwall Road, Smethwick - 2009 - 25 Pump Fire, 2 Large Factories fully involved in fire.
• Dartmouth Road, Smethwick - 2013 - 35 Pump Fire, 50,000 tonnes of plastic and Jayplas plastics and paper recycling plant on fire.

See also

• Fire service in the United Kingdom
• List of British firefighters killed in the line of duty
• West Midlands Police
• West Midlands Ambulance Service
• West Midlands Search and Rescue

External links

• West Midlands Fire Service's website
• WHITE MEN NEED NOT APPLY: British Fire Service Lowers Standards For Women, Minorities Daily Wire, January 28, 2019