Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service
{{Short description|Fire and rescue service in western England}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{primary sources|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox fire department
| name = Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service
| logo = Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service logo.svg
| image_size = 250
| motto =
| country = England
| subdivision_type1 = Counties
| subdivision_name1 = Herefordshire
Worcestershire
| subdivision_type2 =
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| address =
| coordinates =
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| established = 1 April 1974
| annual calls = 7,901 {{small|(2020{{ndash}}21)}}
| annual budget = £35.8{{nbsp}}million {{small|(2020{{ndash}}21)}}
| employees = {{Plainlist|
- 228 wholetime firefighters
- 379 retained firefighters
- 22 Fire Control staff
- 119 support staff}} {{small|(2021)}}
| CFO = Jonathon Pryce '
| ALSorBLS =
| reference2 =
| divisions = 3
| battalions =
| stations = 25
| engines = 34
| tillers =
| platforms = 2
| squads =
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| hazmat =
| usar = 5 modules
| bulldozers =
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| fireboats =
| rescue boats = 3
| light and air =
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
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 {{convert|1514|sqmi}}, and a population of around 780,000 people.{{cite web | url = https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/fire-and-rescue-services/hereford-and-worcester/ | title = Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service | publisher = HMICFRS | access-date = 31 March 2021}}
The service was created in 1974 when The County Of Hereford Fire Brigade and The Worcester City & County Fire Brigade were merged to create The County Of Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade. The two counties split up again in 1998 but the fire service remained, and is now run by a joint fire authority.{{cite web | url = https://www.hwfire.org.uk/assets/files/fra-annual-report-2020-21-v6-r1.pdf | title = Fire Authority Annual Report 2020-2021 | publisher = Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority | access-date= 31 March 2021}}
Operations
The service's Chief Fire Officer is Jonathon Pryce, replacing Nathan Travis, who retired in March 2021.{{cite news | url = https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/19195954.herefordshires-new-fire-chief-named/ | date = 29 March 2021 | title = Herefordshire's new fire chief named | first = John | last = Wilson | work = Hereford Times | access-date = 31 March 2021}}
In October 2019, HWFRS entered into a formal alliance with neighbouring Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Alex |title=Shropshire fire service alliance with Hereford and Worcester is approved |url=https://cdn-www.shropshirestar.mna.arcpublishing.com/news/2019/10/10/shropshire-fire-service-alliance-with-hereford-and-worcester-is-approved/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=Shropshire Star |date=10 October 2019 |location=Telford}} The alliance covers procurement, following previous cooperation on computer systems, fire control and risk management. In June 2020, the two services announced that they were considering a single fire control centre.{{cite news |last1=Goddard |first1=Ben |title=Single fire control centre could be created to serve three counties |url=https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/18530872.single-fire-control-centre-created-serve-three-counties/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=Hereford Times |date=20 June 2020}}
HWFRS has 332 wholetime operational staff, 369 retained (part-time) staff, 21 Fire Control staff, as well as about 98 non-uniformed support staff.
Neighbouring fire services include: Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Mid and West Wales, South Wales and the West Midlands.
Performance
Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspections investigate how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Herefordshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows:
Fire stations
HWFRS splits its fire stations into three districts {{ndash}} North and South, both of which are located in Worcestershire, and West in Herefordshire.{{cite web | url = https://www.hwfire.org.uk/about-us/the-fire-service/fire-stations/ | publisher = Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service | title = Fire Stations | access-date = 6 May 2021}}
Each fire station is crewed using one of three duty systems, or a combination:
- Wholetime {{ndash}} five fire stations are crewed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by full-time firefighters,{{cite web | url = https://www.hwfire.org.uk/join-us/wholetime-firefighter/ | publisher = Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service | title = Wholetime firefighters | access-date = 29 March 2021}} working on a variety of shift patterns of two nine-hour day shifts and two 15-hour night shifts followed by four days off.
- Retained {{ndash}} the majority of fire stations use retained firefighters, who are on call and live or work within five minutes of the station.{{cite web | url = https://www.hwfire.org.uk/join-us/retained-firefighter/ | publisher = Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service | title = On-call firefighters | access-date = 29 March 2021}}
- Day-crewed {{ndash}} three day-crewed stations are crewed for 12{{nbsp}}hours a day by full-time firefighters working on a shift pattern of four 12-hour shifts (07:00{{ndash}}19:00) then four days off. The fire station is crewed by the retained firefighters at night
{{As of|2021}}, there were 228 wholetime and 379 retained firefighters across the 25 fire stations.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Official website}}
- [https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/fire-and-rescue-services/hereford-and-worcester/ Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service] at HMICFRS
{{UK fire service}}
Category:Organisations based in Herefordshire
Category:Organisations based in Worcestershire