Today we had a talk from Jo Turton, the Chief Fire Officer for Essex. She said there was some opposition to her appointment some 18 months ago, not because she was a woman but because she had not come up through the Fire Service. Her background is in other public sectors.
The Essex County Fire and Rescue Service covers some of the areas of the country where there are most likely to be problems, including busy roadways, river crossings, large industrial areas and ports. Last year there were over 14,000 calls. Only 5,000 of those related to fires; most of the calls the Service receives are to road traffic accidents. Our Fire Stations hold specialist cutting equipment but this makes them a target for thieves, so protective measures have to be taken.
The Fire and Rescue Service can also find itself rescuing animals, including large farm animals, from awkward places they have managed to get themselves into, including ditches.
Chelmsford’s Fire Station houses the greatest number of Fire Appliances in the county and is manned 24 hours a day. The day is split into two shifts. Each firefighter works four days, of which two will be on the day shift and two on the night shift. He or she then has four days off.
Some of the rural Fire Stations are covered by volunteer firefighters, who carry pagers. They are required to live and work within five minutes’ journey of their nearest Fire Station. The Service has arrangements with various employers so that their employees who are volunteer firefighters can “down tools” and rush to the Fire Station when their pagers go off. Volunteer firefighters receive the same training as full-time firefighters.
Of course, the Fire and Rescue Service works in close cooperation with the ambulance and police services. They often find themselves attending the same incident. If the ambulance service needs to break into a house to get to someone they believe requires urgent assistance they call on the Fire and Rescue Service as they have the right to break in, whereas the police can only break in if a crime is suspected.
Firefighters also visit schools, commercial premises and homes to give advice on fire safety.