Fire brigades in the United Kingdom
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Fire brigades in the United Kingdom are organised on a territorial basis. Each fire brigade has a fire and rescue authority, composed of members nominated by local authorities.
Organisation
In England the brigades are organised on a county basis, with each 1974 county having its own brigade. In Scotland and Wales they are on a regional basis, with eight and three brigades respectively. Northern Ireland has a single brigade, the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade. In Northern Ireland, the members fire authority are instead appointed by ministers.
It is currently planned to group the existing fire brigades in England by the government office regions, creating a single main control centre for the entire regions. Whether or not this means all brigades will function under a single banner remains unclear as there are many significant issues which stand in the way of this becoming reality. In the meantime, Regional Management Boards (RMBs) have been put in place to investigate and implement initiatives between the involved fire authorities. Examples of issues being examined by these RMBs include procurement of equipment and recruitment and promotion initiatives.
In order to reflect the increasing importance of roles other than putting out fires, many brigades have rebranded themselves, usually as a "fire and rescue service". For instance, Strathclyde Fire Brigade was renamed Strathclyde Fire and Rescue in 2004. Greater Manchester's fire service also has recently changed its name.
England
| Avon Fire Brigade |
| Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service |
| Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service |
| Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service |
| Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service |
| Cheshire Fire Brigade |
| Cleveland Fire Brigade |
| Cornwall County Fire Brigade |
| County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Brigade |
| Cumbria Fire Service |
| Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Devon Fire & Rescue Service |
| Dorset Fire & Rescue Service |
| East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service |
| Essex County Fire & Rescue Service |
| Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service |
| Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Hereford and Worcester Fire & Rescue Service |
| Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Humberside Fire Brigade |
| Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service |
| Kent Fire Brigade |
| Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| London Fire Brigade |
| Merseyside Fire Service |
| Norfolk Fire Service |
| Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service |
| North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Somerset Fire & Rescue Service |
| South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service |
| Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| Suffolk Fire Service |
| Surrey Fire and Rescue Service |
| Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade |
| Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service |
| West Midlands Fire Service |
| West Sussex Fire Brigade |
| West Yorkshire Fire Service |
| Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service |
Wales
| Brigade | principal areas covered |
|---|---|
| Mid and West Wales Fire Brigade | Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys Swansea |
| North Wales Fire & Rescue Service | Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Wrexham |
| South Wales Fire & Rescue Service | Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan. |
Wales saw a reduction in the number of fire brigades in 1996, from 8 (the number of former administrative counties) to 3, made up of groups of the new principal areas.
Scotland
The Scottish brigades are still broadly based on the system of regions introduced in 1975. Fire authorities are now joint boards.
| Brigade | Unitaries (if different) |
|---|---|
| Central Scotland Fire Brigade | Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Stirling |
| Dumfries and Galloway Fire Brigade | |
| Fife Fire & Rescue Service | |
| Grampian Fire Brigade | Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray |
| Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service | Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) |
| Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade | East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, West Lothian |
| Strathclyde Fire and Rescue | Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire |
| Tayside Fire Brigade | Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross |
History
During the Second World War the many local authority fire brigades had been merged to form a single National Fire Service. After the war, in 1948, under the Fire Services Act 1947, fire was restored to local authority before, but to the county councils and county boroughs rather than the smaller areas that had previously existed.The number of fire brigades was subsequently reduced again by mergers in 1974/1975 and in 1986.
In Scotland the brigades from 1948-1975 covered generally groups of counties and were Angus, Central, Fife, Glasgow, North Eastern, Perth and Kinross, South Eastern, South Western, Western.
Stations
Urban areas have professional firefighters on-call at all hours. In rural areas, there are often fire stations manned by part-time retained firefighters. In addition there are a number of independent fire brigades, such as the Peterborough volunteers, the Downe House School brigade and those run by large industrial concerns. As well as responding to fires and such like, British fire brigades also have a legal obligation (in the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004) to respond to any emergency, which can pose a threat to life, and the environment. Many of these legal changes have come about as a result of the increased terrorist threat and recent industrial action.
There was a firefighter's strike in 2003 and 2004, as part of a pay dispute. During this time, basic emergency fire cover was provided by the armed forces in Operation Fresco.
References
- http://www.fire-uk.org
- http://www.firekills.gov.uk
- http://www.nifb.org.uk/ Northern Ireland Fire Brigade
- http://www.strathclydefire.org/ Strathclyde Fire and Rescue
- http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/Fire/15130/1021
- http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19953230_en_2.htm
- http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19953218_en_2.htm
- http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19953229_en_2.htm
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