Dorset Fire and Rescue Service
Encyclopedia
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, South West England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Service Headquarters were located in Colliton Park, Dorchester, but as of October 2008 moved to a new purpose built location in Poundbury
Poundbury
Poundbury is an experimental new town or urban extension on the outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England.The development is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. It is built according to the principles of Prince Charles...
.
History
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service was formed by mainly volunteer brigades after more services across the United Kingdom began to form. In its early days, the service was owned by local county councils. Between the years of 1948 and 1974, the FRS had eighteen part-time stationsFire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
and three full time stations, this however has changed in more recent years. The borough of Bournemouth and the borough of Christchurch became part of the county of Dorset, therefore merging in to the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.
As part of the FiReControl
FiReControl
FiReControl was a project, initiated in the UK in March 2004, to reduce the number of control rooms used to handle emergency calls for fire services and authorities. Presently there are 46 control rooms in England that handle calls from the local public for emergency assistance via the 999 system...
project, Dorset Fire and Rescue's control room was planned switch over to the regional control centre in Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
. Originally scheduled to take place in March 2010, the cutover date was revised to July 2011,
however the plan was scrapped in December 2010.
Fire Stations
The service now has a total of 26 fire stations, this number has increased since its very early days; however the majority of the stations in use today are operated by retained fire fighters.A full list of Dorset's fire stations and front-line and special appliances can be found here
Wholetime
- All in Bournemouth. (22) RedhillRedhillRedhill can refer to:* Redhill, South Australia, Australia* Redhill, Nottinghamshire, England* Redhill, Shropshire, England* Redhill, Somerset, England* Redhill, Surrey, England**Redhill railway station**Redhill Aerodrome* Redhill, Singapore, Singapore...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2 {one reserve}), Incident Support Unit), (23) WestbourneWestbourne, DorsetWestbourne is an affluent residential and shopping area of Bournemouth, Dorset. It is located in between Branksome, Poole and the centre of Bournemouth, just off the main A338. Poole Road, mainly full of specialised shops and small cafes, runs though the centre Westbourne with Seamoor Road curving...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2 {one reserve}), Aerial Ladder Platform, PCV), (24) SpringbourneSpringbourneSpringbourne is a suburb of Bournemouth. It occupies the north-east part of the main built-up area, north of Boscombe. Its formal boundaries are Windham Road to the west, the Wessex Way to the north, Ashley Road to the East and the railway line to the south.Its main road, Holdenhurst Road, was...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2 {one reserve}), Support Vehicle, Station Utility Vehicle)
Wholetime / retained
- (07) Weymouth (Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Aerial Ladder Platform, Specialist Rescue Tender, PCV), (18) PoolePoolePoole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Prime Mover, Specialist Foam Tender, Specialist Rescue Tender (x2), Support Vehicle, PCV, 4x4 Heavy off Road vehicle), (26) ChristchurchChristchurch, DorsetChristchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), 4x4 Heavy Rescue Unit, Breathing Apparatus Tender, Prime Mover)
Day-crewed / retained
- (21) FerndownFerndownFerndown is a town and civil parish in the East Dorset district of Dorset in southern England, situated immediately to the north of unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. The parish, which until 1972 was called Hampreston, includes the communities of Hampreston, Longham, Stapehill and...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2 {one reserve}), 4x4 Landrover)
Retained
- (01) Lyme RegisLyme RegisLyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
(Water Ladder Rescue, Station Utility Vehicle), (02) CharmouthCharmouthCharmouth is a village at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England, with a population of 1,687 according to the 2001 census.-The village:...
(Water Ladder Rescue, 4x4 Landrover), (03) BridportBridportBridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Prime Mover, Breathing Apparatus Unit, 4x4 Landrover (x2)), (04) BeaminsterBeaminsterBeaminster is a small town and civil parish in the West Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, at the head of the valley of the River Brit. Beaminster is south of Bristol, west of Bournemouth, east of Exeter and northwest of the county town of Dorchester...
(Water Ladder Rescue, 4x4 Landrover), (05) Maiden NewtonMaiden NewtonMaiden Newton is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, north of Dorchester. Located on the River Frome, the village has a population of 952 , of whom 29.7% are retired. Maiden Newton railway station, which serves the village, is situated on the Heart of Wessex Line...
(Water Ladder Rescue, 4x4 Landrover), (06) Isle of PortlandIsle of PortlandThe Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Station Utility Vehicle), (08) Dorchester (Water Ladder Rescue, Heavy Rescue Unit, 4x4 Landrover), (09) SherborneSherborneSherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Station Utility Vehicle), (10) Sturminster NewtonSturminster NewtonSturminster Newton, known to locals as Stur, is a town in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. It is situated on a low limestone ridge in a meander of the River Stour. The town is at the centre of a large dairy agriculture region, around which the town's economy is built...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Station Utility Vehicle), (11) GillinghamGillingham, DorsetGillingham is a town in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. The town is the most northerly in the county. It is 3 miles south of the A303 lying on the B3092 and B3081. It is near to the town of Shaftesbury which lies 7 miles to the south east. Neighbouring hamlets included Peacemarsh, Bay...
(Water Ladder Rescue, Environmental Support Vehicle, Station Utility Vehicle), (12) ShaftesburyShaftesburyShaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), 4x4 Landrover), (13) Blandford (Water Ladder Rescue, Heavy Rescue Unit, Incident Support Unit, Incident Response Unit), (14) Bere RegisBere RegisBere Regis is a village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England, situated north-west of Wareham.The village has one shop, a post office and two pubs, The Royal Oak and The Drax Arms. The parish church is St. John the Baptist Church...
(Water Ladder Rescue, 4x4 Landrover), (15) WarehamWareham, DorsetWareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Water Carrier, 4x4 Landrover), (16) SwanageSwanageSwanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester. The parish has a population of 10,124 . Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks,...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), 4x4 Landrover), (17) HamworthyHamworthyHamworthy is a parish and inner suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. Hamworthy lies on a peninsula of approximately and is bounded by Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre...
(Water Ladder Rescue (x2), Support Vehicle, Incident Command Vehicle, 4x4 Landrover), (19) Wimborne (Water Ladder Rescue (x2), 4x4 Landrover), (20) CranborneCranborneCranborne is a village in East Dorset, England. In 2001 the village had a population of 779 people. The town is situated on chalk downland called Cranborne Chase, part of a large expanse of chalk in southern England which includes the nearby Salisbury Plain and Dorset Downs.-History:The village...
(Water Ladder Rescue, 4x4 Landrover), (25) VerwoodVerwoodVerwood is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. The town lies north of Bournemouth and north of Poole. The town has a population of 14,820 according to latest figures from Dorset County Council, making it the largest town in Dorset without an upper school in terms of population.-Early...
(Water Ladder Rescue, 4x4 Landrover)
Co-responder stations
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service works in partnership with South Western Ambulance ServiceSouth Western Ambulance Service
The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is the authority responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service in the English counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset...
to provide emergency medical cover to a small part of Dorset. The only 2 area that has been identified as having a greater need for ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
cover is Lyme Regis and Beaminster. The aim of a co-responder team is to preserve life until the arrival of either a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) or an ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
. Co-responder vehicles are equipped with oxygen and automated external defibrillator
Automated external defibrillator
An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of...
(AED) equipment.