Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
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"passionate about changing and saving lives" | |
Operational area | |
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Country | England |
County | Dorset and Wiltshire |
Address | Five Rivers Health & Wellbeing Centre, Hulse Road, Salisbury, SP1 3NR |
Agency overview | |
Established | 1 April 2016 |
Annual budget | £54.8 million (2016) |
Fire chief | Ben Ansell |
Facilities and equipment | |
Stations | 50 |
Website | |
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Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is a statutory emergency fire and rescue service covering the local authority areas of Wiltshire, Swindon, Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England.[1]
The service was created on 1 April 2016 by the merger of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.[1] Its headquarters is at Salisbury, Wiltshire, some 10 miles (16 km) from the Dorset county boundary. The former headquarters at Poundbury, Dorset, and Potterne, Wiltshire, are retained as area offices;[2] emergency calls for the combined area have been answered by a control centre at Potterne since August 2015.[3]
Provision of the service is by the Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority, which has 18 elected members from all four constituent councils and is chaired by Dorset county councillor Rebecca Knox.[4]
In September 2016, Ben Ansell was appointed as the service's second Chief Fire Officer, succeeding Darran Gunter with effect from December 2016.[5]
Stations[]
The service has 50 fire stations covering its area: six in the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole council areas, 20 in the rest of Dorset, three in Swindon, and 21 in the rest of Wiltshire.[6]
The service uses a variety of duty systems including wholetime firefighters, retained firefighters (on-call), and day-crewed 08:30–18:30 Monday to Friday. Some stations also have fire service co-responders, supporting the work of South Western Ambulance Service.
Other facilities[]
- Fire & Rescue Service Headquarters, Salisbury
- Devizes Training Centre
- West Moors Training Centre
- Support offices in Poundbury (behind the fire station)
- Equipment & fleet workshops in Charminster
- Equipment workshop in Trowbridge (behind the fire station)
- Fleet workshop in Bowerhill, Melksham
Performance[]
In 2018/2019, every fire and rescue service in England and Wales was subjected to a statutory inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HIMCFRS). The inspection investigated how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows:[7]
Area | Rating | Description |
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Effectiveness | Good | How effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks? |
Efficiency | Good | How efficient is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks? |
People | Good | How well does the fire and rescue service look after its people? |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b "Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service: Your Fire and Rescue Service". dwfire.org.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Phillips, Alison (30 March 2016). "Wiltshire Fire Service flag lowered for last time". Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ Moore, Joanne (9 September 2015). "New joint control centre for Wiltshire and Dorset fire services opens". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ "Authority Members". Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Moore, Joanne (15 September 2016). "Service names new fire chief". Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Fire stations". Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ "Dorset & Wiltshire 2018/19". Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HIMCFRS). 20 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service. |
- Fire and rescue services of England
- Organisations based in Wiltshire