Kent Fire and Rescue Service

Kent Fire and Rescue Service
Operational area
Country  United Kingdom
Country  England
County  Kent
Agency overview
Employees 2,000
Facilities and equipment
Stations 55
Website
Official website

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 (140 mi); it has 55 fire stations, and 4 district fire safety offices. The FRS provides emergency cover to a population of nearly 2 million.[1]

The area meets the boundaries of the London Fire Brigade to the north of the county, Surrey to the north west and East Sussex to the south west of Kent.

History

The first fire brigade appeared in Kent in 1802 when the Kent Fire Office formed an insurance brigade in Deptford (which was at the time part of Kent). In the same year, and completely separately from insurance companies, Hythe became the first town in Kent to set up its own fire brigade, followed by Ashford in 1826.

By the 20th century, it was quite fashionable for local authorities to have their own fire brigades. Maidstone had seen the formation of its borough fire brigade in 1901 when the Royal Insurance Company provided a new Shand Mason horse-drawn steam fire engine, named The Queen. This company had taken over the Kent Fire Office in the same year, simultaneously disbanding their own brigade. Things often became very competitive between individual town and village brigades, in many instances, each one trying to outdo its neighbour. In 1910, Bromley became the first town in Kent to house motorised fire engines, with two new Merryweather vehicles being stationed there.

Until 1938, the provision of a fire brigade was a discretionary power, and naturally there were a few local authorities that regarded it as an unnecessary expense. However, due to the threat of war, Parliament enacted the Fire Brigades Act 1938 and made it a duty and so created over 1,600 individual fire authorities across the nation. It was these local brigades and the Auxiliary Fire Service – also formed in 1938 – that valiantly coped with the consequences of the Battle of Britain and much of The Blitz. In August 1941, local brigades and the AFS were absorbed into one organisation called The National Fire Service. It was in 1941 that the current Headquarters house The Godlands was requisitioned for war-time use by the National Fire Service and it has remained with the fire service ever since.

World War II brought dark days indeed for Kent fire-fighters. Fire-fighting has been and will probably always be a dangerous occupation, and the Roll of Honour 1899-1990, compiled by Geoffrey Cooper, an ex-Kent fire-fighter, details the deaths of Kent fire-fighters while on duty. Of the 122 'Kent' names listed, 15 were pre-1939, 16 were post-1939 and 91 died during World War II. Nationally, well over 1,000 fire-fighters died during World War II, with stories of fire stations and the water supplies needed for fire-fighting being targeted by German bombers, to maximise the damage caused by incendiary bombs. The last death on duty of a Kent fire-fighter was in 1990.

The fire service was returned to local authority control on 1 April 1948 under the Fire Services Act 1947, with responsibility in England and Wales being given to the 146 counties and county boroughs of the day. The County of Kent and the City and County Borough of Canterbury combined to form Kent Fire Brigade, taking over 79 fire stations from the National Fire Service.

Subsequent local government reorganisations have had their effect upon the brigade, most significantly in 1965 when eight fire stations in the northwest of the county were transferred to the newly created Greater London area. Further reorganisation in 1974 saw Canterbury lose its county borough status and the fire brigade became the exclusive responsibility of Kent County Council. In 1998, the structure of local government changed again and Kent combined with the new Medway Towns unitary authority for fire brigade provision.

On 1 October 2003, Kent Fire Brigade was renamed Kent Fire and Rescue Service to better reflect the requirements demanded of it for many years. These changes were reflected nationally by the enactment of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 which came into effect on 1 October 2004.

In the spring of 2011, Kent Fire and Rescue underwent changes to its structure, these included restructuring from three divisions to 5 area groups: North Kent, East Kent, West Kent, South Kent and Mid Kent. Each group consists of a number of clusters, which are made up of a number of certain stations where resources are locally managed. The Letter prefix for each division was dropped in the station call sign, for instance Swanley, under the old system was named as Station S31 the S standing for South Division, now it is just Station 31.

Fire Stations/Appliances

Station Callsign Station Name Duty System Appliances
K11 Ashford Wholetime/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPP, 1x WrC*, 1x TL, 1x GPV, 1x IRU*
K12 Chilham Retained 1x WrT
K13 Wye Retained 1x WrT
K14 Charing Retained 1x RPL
K15 Aldington Retained 1x WrT
K16 Dover Wholetime/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x CSU*
K18 Whitfield Retained 1x WrT, 1x CRV
K19 Folkestone Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPP, 1x L4V, 2x GPV, 1x SWRU+IrbT*
K20 New Romney Retained 1x WrL
K21 Hythe Retained 1x WrT, 1x FFU
K22 Dymchurch On Call 1x WrT, 1x L4V, 1x CRV
K23 Lydd Retained 1x RPL
K24 Cranbrook Retained 1x WrT
K25 Hawkhurst Retained 1x WrT, 1x GPV
K26 Tenterden Retained 1x WrL
K30 Dartford Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPP, 1x GPV, 1x L4V+ATV*
K31 Swanley Retained 1x WrT
K33 Swanscombe Retained 1x RPP
K34 Ash-Cum-Ridley Retained 1x WrL
K35 Thames-Side Wholetine/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x PCV, 1x CSU, 1x PM+MDD*
K36 Cliffe Retained 1x WrT
K37 Hoo Retained 1x WrT, 1x CRV
K38 Grain Retained 1x WrT, 1x CRV
K39 Strood Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x RPL, 1x GPV, 1x WrC, 1x PM+BFU*
K41 Chatham Retained 1x WrT
K42 Gillingham Retained 1x WrT
K43 Medway Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x ALP, 1x GPV, 1x CSU*
K44 Rainham Retained 1x WrT
K45 Sittingbourne Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x CSU*, 1x PM+ICCU*
K46 Teynham Retained 1x WrT, 2x GPV
K48 Sheppy Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x L4V, 1x GPV, 1x SWRU+IrbT*
K49 Eastchurch Retained 1x WrL, 1x CRV
K60 Maidstone Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x TL, 1x GPV, 1x CSU*, 1x DIM*, 1x PM+MDD*
K61 Maidstone USAR Wholetime 1x SDU, 1x GPV, 5x PM+5x USAR Pods
K62 Lenham Retained 1x WrT
K63 Headcorn Retained 1x WrT
K64 Marden Retained 1x WrT
K65 Larkfield Wholetime/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x WrC, 1x L4V, 2x GPV, 1x SWRU+IrbT*
K67 Borough Green Retained 1x WrT
K68 Sevenoaks Day Crewed/Retained 1x WrL, 1x RPP
K69 Westerham Retained 1x WrT
K70 Edenbridge Retained 1x WrL, 1x CRV
K72 Tonbridge Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x SWRU+IrbT*
K73 Paddock Wood Retained 1x WrL, 1x CRV
K74 Tunbridge Wells Wholetime/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x RPL, 1x CARP, 2x GPV, 1x WMU*
K76 Southborough Retained 1x WrT, 1x GPV
K80 Canterbury Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x TL, 1x PCV, 1x CSU*
K81 Alyesham Retained 1x RPL
K83 Wingham Retained 1x WrT
K84 Faversham Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x PRL, 1x WMU*, 1x ARU*, 1x L4V+BASU*
K85 Whitstable Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x L4V, 1x SWRU+IrbT*, 1x PM+HVP*, 1x PM+HVHL*, 1x PM+MDD*
K86 Herne Bay Wholetime/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x PCV, 1x L4V+ATV*
K87 Margate Wholetime/Retained 1x WrT, 1x RPL
K88 Westgate Retained 1x WrT, 1x GPV
K89 Thanet Wholetime/Cross Crewed* 1x RPL, 1x ALP, 3x GPV, 1x IRU*
K90 Ramsgate Wholetime/Retained 1x WrT, 1x RPL
K91 Deal Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed* 1x WrT, 1x RPL, 1x LiRU*
K92 Eastry Retained 1x WrT, 1x CRV
K93 Sandwich Retained 1x WrL

Fire Appliance Glossary/Callsigns


CBRN Response:


Urban Search & Rescue (USAR):

Pods:

Co-Responder

Kent Fire and Rescue Service works in partnership with the South East Coast Ambulance Service to provide emergency medical cover to select areas of Kent. Dymchurch, Eastchurch, Eastry, Edenbridge, Hoo, and Paddock Wood, have been identified as having a greater need for ambulance cover. The aim of a co-responder team is to preserve life until the arrival of either a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) or an Ambulance. Co-Responder Vehicles are equipped with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kent Fire and Rescue Service (accessed 9 Apr 2010)

External links

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