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.
Fire stations and appliances
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service has split Cumbria into three areas, each containing two of the county's districts, they are:
Penrith Day Crew works 09:00–17:00 Monday to Sunday. At 17:00 PDC becomes the Retained appliance.
Fire appliance glossary / callsigns
Cumbria fire appliancesWater Rescue Ladder (WrL): P1/P2
Enhanced Rescue Pump (ErP): P1
Dual Role Pump (DrP): P1
Water Carrier/Driver Training (WrC): W1
Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP): A2
Command & Control Unit (CCU): ELS8
Joint Incident Command Unit (JICU): C1 (Shared between Cumbria Constabulary and North West Ambulance Service)
Wildfire Unit (WFU): M1
Welfare Unit (WelfU): S4
General Purpose Vehicle (GPV): T1
Prime Mover (PM): T8/T9
Rescue Boat (RB)
Mass Decontamination Unit (MDU)
Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) R1
Pods:
Environmental Protection Unit (EPU)
High Volume Pump (HVP)
High Volume Hose Layer (HVHL)
About The Special Appliances:
2013 Volvo FL Enhanced Rescue Pumps: The enhanced rescue pumps (ErP) combine the normal role of a WrL and a rescue unit. Thus making them slightly larger.
2006 Land Rover Defender Cobra Enabled Vehicle (CEV): A modified wildfire Land Rover to contain the Cold Cut Cobra System, which is currently on trial in Barrow.
Incidents of note
8 January 2005 – Carlisle and North Cumbria Floods,[1] 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.[2]
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).[3]
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.[4]
December 2009 – Dozens of firefighters fight a large blaze in Penrith's Morrisons Supermarket, which resulted in a complete rebuild of the store.
December 2015 – All areas of the county affected by major flooding from Storm Desmond. The worst affected areas were Carlisle, Cockermouth and much of the South Lakes, with thousands of homes/properties being destroyed and major damaged to affected areas.[citation needed]
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.[5]
April 2017 – a major fire broke out in the SIS Pitches factory in Maryport. Over 100 firefighters attended. This fire caused further structural damage and eventual collapse
