Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Encyclopedia
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is the statutory
fire and rescue service
for the county of Essex
in the east of England
, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of almost 400,000 hectares and a population of over 1.7 million people.
The service attends an average of 24,490 emergency incidents per year, mostly traffic collisions and conflagration
s (3,117 of which were 'primary' fires in 2009/10). During the same period, the service dealt with 905 primary fires that had been started deliberately, and 1,703 deliberate 'secondary' fires (those that do not threaten life or valuable property). Hoax calls in 2009/10 numbered 530.
ECFRS employs 1,640 staff, comprising 874 full-time firefighter
s, 479 retained firefighter
s, 43 control personnel and 244 support staff.
There are 50 fire station
s throughout the county, 12 of which are wholetime and generally located in the more densely populated areas; 34 are retained and four are day-crewed, providing cover throughout the rest of Essex.
Major risks covered include Stansted
and Southend airport
s, Harwich seaport
, Lakeside shopping centre
, Coryton oil refinery
, docks at Tilbury
and part of the M25
and M11 motorway
s and A12 trunk road.
As well as attending fires, traffic collisions and other rescue operations, ECFRS provides emergency response to hazardous materials
incidents and one of the United Kingdom's urban search and rescue
(USAR) teams: a team of officers with special training and equipment to conduct rescues from collapsed buildings and enclosed spaces. Their resources include a search dog trained to locate people trapped in rubble. Another primary role of the service is preventative community safety work; in 2010 ECFRS fitted over 7,000 smoke alarms in houses across the county.
. In 2002 the service was divided into seven Community Commands, to reflect the increasing need for the fire service to work in closer contact with communities. They are:
The Chief Fire Officer
is David Johnson, since July 2005.
The Emergency Operational Fire Control is situated in Hutton
. 46 control staff handle approximately 500,000 calls each year, including over 60,000 999
emergency calls. The control staff also carry out incident co-ordination, appliance mobilisation and movements to ensure strategic fire cover, movement of personnel and advanced call handling to give life protecting advice via the telephone. Radio communications are made between incidents and Fire Control and control staff liaise with other emergency services and provide additional resources when requested by firefighting personnel. Emergency calls are handled in an average of 54 seconds from the time of answering to the time of dispatching the fire crew.
There are five firefighter training centres, located in Basildon
, Chelmsford
, Orsett
, Witham and Wethersfield
.
The service workshop is in Lexden
, and it is here that the operational fleet of 73 frontline fire appliances
and 25 specialist appliances are maintained, and the reserve fleet of spare appliances are stored.
s in operation:
These appliances are equipped with a high-pressure two-stage main pump also capable of making foam via an onboard foam inductor system, two high-pressure hose reels, a set of rescue ladders, a light portable fire pump, four breathing apparatus sets, two spare breathing air cylinders and hydraulic rescue equipment, as well as other miscellaneous tools.
In addition, there are a number of specialised appliances:
The service is also reviewing requirements for a breathing apparatus tender. The standard appliances (Rescue Pumps and Water Tenders) are crewed by at least four and as many as six firefighters, while specialist units such as the Aerial Ladder Platforms and Rescue Tenders are crewed by a minimum of two.
USAR appliances, based at Lexden, include:
The service's driving school is at Chelmsford, and is home to three emergency fire appliance driving (EFAD) pumps and two multi-purpose driver training lorries.
Training centres at Wethersfield and Witham each have two designated training pumps.
This is a complete list of Essex's 50 fire stations, the duty system, appliances allocated to them, and number of emergency callouts in 2008:
Southend fire station is also home to the UK's first dedicated Young Firefighters' Centre, opened in July 2010.
(USAR) team.
The team is equipped to rescue victims trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings, or major transport accidents, for example. They are able to locate and safely extract trapped person, and can shore up unstable buildings so that firefighters can continue with rescue operations.
The USAR team are equipped with prime mover
s, specialist hook-lift vehicles that can be loaded with one of five different equipment pods, depending on what situation the team are going to face. These pods include hose layers and high-volume pumps, technical rescue, timber for shoring up unstable structures, and even a multi-purpose skid loader
that can access tight spaces, explore voids, and move heavy loads of debris.
Following the September 11 attacks new risks were shown to the world for which rescue services would need to be better prepared, and the British government responded with the announcement that USAR units were to be established throughout the country. The Lexden base became the UK's first such facility.
ECFRS was chosen as one of the 17 strategically suitable services partly because it already had 14 officers trained in urban rescue, members of the UK Fire Service Safety & Rescue Team who were part of the rescue effort that was sent to Bam
in Iran
after it was hit by a major earthquake in December 2003
where they helped in the search for victims amongst the ruins of the ancient city.
The station commander at Lexden, a specialist co-ordinator of search and rescue operations, was also sent with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to Haiti
in January 2010 after a major earthquake
struck the country.
In February 2011, six ECFRS firefighters, including two from the USAR unit at Lexden, joined the UK's International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team sent to assist with rescue efforts in New Zealand's second city Christchurch
after an earthquake hit the region.
Formed in 1992, the UK's ISAR team comprises specialist search and rescue officers drawn from 13 brigades who are on call 24 hours a day. The ECFRS team's primary role is urban search and rescue but it has also trained and involved in water rescue and working at height.
, where seven firefighters from the Swift Water Rescue team helped rescue victims trapped by the floods with a specialist fireboat.
, Hertfordshire
, in December 2005. Fire appliances from Orsett, Hadleigh, Harlow, and foam appliances from Grays, Maldon and Epping assisted in operations at the largest ever blaze in peacetime Britain.
Other emergency services:
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
fire and rescue service
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
for the county of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in the east of England
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...
, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of almost 400,000 hectares and a population of over 1.7 million people.
The service attends an average of 24,490 emergency incidents per year, mostly traffic collisions and conflagration
Conflagration
A conflagration or a blaze is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, or property. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused , or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage or diversion, and also can be the consequence of...
s (3,117 of which were 'primary' fires in 2009/10). During the same period, the service dealt with 905 primary fires that had been started deliberately, and 1,703 deliberate 'secondary' fires (those that do not threaten life or valuable property). Hoax calls in 2009/10 numbered 530.
ECFRS employs 1,640 staff, comprising 874 full-time firefighter
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
s, 479 retained firefighter
Retained firefighter
A retained firefighter, also known as a Firefighter working the Retained Duty System , RDS Firefighter, part-time firefighter or on-call firefighter, in the United Kingdom and Ireland is a professional firefighter who may have full-time employment outside of the fire service but responds to...
s, 43 control personnel and 244 support staff.
There are 50 fire station
Fire 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...
s throughout the county, 12 of which are wholetime and generally located in the more densely populated areas; 34 are retained and four are day-crewed, providing cover throughout the rest of Essex.
Major risks covered include Stansted
London Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
and Southend airport
London Southend Airport
London Southend Airport or Southend Airport is a regional airport in the district of Rochford within Essex, England.During the 1960s, Southend was the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It remained London's third-busiest airport in terms of passengers handled until the end of the 1970s,...
s, Harwich seaport
Harwich International Port
Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite Port of Felixstowe...
, Lakeside shopping centre
Lakeside Shopping Centre
The Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London...
, Coryton oil refinery
Coryton Refinery
Coryton Refinery is an oil refinery in Essex, England, situated on the estuary of the River Thames some from the centre of London.The refinery is located between Shell Haven Creek and Hole Haven Creek, which separates Canvey Island from the mainland....
, docks at Tilbury
Port of Tilbury
The Port of Tilbury is located on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It is the principal port for London; as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facilities for containers, grain, and other bulk cargoes. There are also...
and part of the M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
and M11 motorway
M11 motorway
The M11 motorway in England is a major road running approximately north from the North Circular Road in South Woodford in north-east London to the A14, north-west of Cambridge.-Route:...
s and A12 trunk road.
As well as attending fires, traffic collisions and other rescue operations, ECFRS provides emergency response to hazardous materials
Dangerous goods
Dangerous goods are solids, liquids, or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. They are often subject to chemical regulations. "HazMat teams" are personnel specially trained to handle dangerous goods...
incidents and one of the United Kingdom's urban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces due to natural disasters, structural collapse, transportation accidents, mines and collapsed trenches.USAR teams in different countries may be organised in a...
(USAR) teams: a team of officers with special training and equipment to conduct rescues from collapsed buildings and enclosed spaces. Their resources include a search dog trained to locate people trapped in rubble. Another primary role of the service is preventative community safety work; in 2010 ECFRS fitted over 7,000 smoke alarms in houses across the county.
Organisation
ECFRS's headquarters is located in WithamWitham
Witham is a town in the county of Essex, in the south east of England with a population of 22,500. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the larger towns of Chelmsford and Colchester...
. In 2002 the service was divided into seven Community Commands, to reflect the increasing need for the fire service to work in closer contact with communities. They are:
- Basildon and Castle Point Community Command
- Chelmsford and Maldon Community Command
- Colchester and Tendering Community Command
- Harlow and Epping Community Command
- Southend and Rochford Community Command
- Thurrock and Brentwood Community Command
- Uttlesford and Braintree Community Command
The Chief Fire Officer
Chief Fire Officer
A Chief Fire Officer or CFO is the highest ranking Officer in the UK Fire & Rescue Service. There are currently 59 Chief Fire Officers serving in the United Kingdom in charge of County Fire Services....
is David Johnson, since July 2005.
The Emergency Operational Fire Control is situated in Hutton
Hutton, Essex
Hutton is a former country village in south Essex. Today, it acts more as a commuter suburb of Brentwood. It has good links to Central London via Shenfield train station which is just from Hutton...
. 46 control staff handle approximately 500,000 calls each year, including over 60,000 999
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
emergency calls. The control staff also carry out incident co-ordination, appliance mobilisation and movements to ensure strategic fire cover, movement of personnel and advanced call handling to give life protecting advice via the telephone. Radio communications are made between incidents and Fire Control and control staff liaise with other emergency services and provide additional resources when requested by firefighting personnel. Emergency calls are handled in an average of 54 seconds from the time of answering to the time of dispatching the fire crew.
There are five firefighter training centres, located in Basildon
Basildon
Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...
, Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
, Orsett
Orsett
Orsett is a village and ecclesiastical parish located within Thurrock unitary district in Essex, England, situated around 5 km north-east of Grays...
, Witham and Wethersfield
Wethersfield, Essex
Wethersfield is a village and a civil parish on the B1053 road in the Braintree district of the English county of Essex. It is near the River Pant. Wethersfield has a school, a post office, a fire station and two places of worship. Nearby settlements include the town of Braintree and the village of...
.
The service workshop is in Lexden
Lexden
Lexden is a suburb of Colchester, Essex, England. It was formerly a village, and has previously been called Lessendon, Lassendene and Læxadyne. Lexden is mentioned in the Domesday Book....
, and it is here that the operational fleet of 73 frontline fire appliances
Fire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
and 25 specialist appliances are maintained, and the reserve fleet of spare appliances are stored.
Appliances
ECFRS has the following fire applianceFire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
s in operation:
- 52 Rescue Pumps: the standard firefighting vehicle mobilised to all emergency calls.
These appliances are equipped with a high-pressure two-stage main pump also capable of making foam via an onboard foam inductor system, two high-pressure hose reels, a set of rescue ladders, a light portable fire pump, four breathing apparatus sets, two spare breathing air cylinders and hydraulic rescue equipment, as well as other miscellaneous tools.
- 21 Water Tenders: similar to the Rescue Pump except with less emphasis on rescue equipment and greater water capacity.
In addition, there are a number of specialised appliances:
- 5 Aerial Ladder Platforms (ALP): extendible ladder platforms with rescue cages, stretchers and additional lighting, these vehicles provide high-level access and firefighting capability, with a vertical reach of almost 100 ft, almost 80 ft sideways, and up to 55 ft below ground level.
- 4 Light Water Tenders (Steyr PinzgauersPinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain VehicleThe Pinzgauer is a family of high-mobility all-terrain 4WD and 6WD military utility vehicles. They were manufactured in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom, by BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The vehicle was originally developed in the late 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Graz, Austria, and was named...
) (LWrT) - 4 Rescue Tenders (RT): these lorries are fitted with forklift trucks, enhanced rescue gear including vehicle stabilisation and heavy-lift air bags, specialist casualty stretchers, casualty stabilisation and first aid equipment, an inflatable boat and salvage gear.
- 3 Foam Tenders (FT): introduced in 2011, these new units are cheaper to maintain and easier to use than the previous dated vehicles, and can provide state-of-the-art foam proportioning equipment for transport incidents and refinery fires.
- 3 Control Units (CU)
- 3 FireboatFireboatA fireboat is a specialized watercraft and with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipment....
s (Fbt) - 2 Water Bowsers (WrB)
- 1 Hose Layer (HL)
- 1 Animal Rescue Unit (ARU): introduced in April 2011, the ARU is based on an all-terrain UnimogUnimogUnimog is a range of multi-purpose auto four wheel drive medium trucks produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The name Unimog is pronounced in German and is an acronym for the German "UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät", Gerät being the German word for machine or device...
chassis and is fitted with a HiabHydrauliska Industri ABHydrauliska Industri AB is a Finnish manufacturer of loader cranes, demountable container handlers, forestry cranes, truck-mounted forklifts and tail lifts. In some countries, 'HIAB' is used as a synonym for a loader crane of any make...
crane capable of extending up to 13.7 m and lifting weights of up to 3,250 kg. The vehicle is also equipped with three 'pods' containing all the equipment that crews might need to carry out specialist animal rescues; its crew is specially trained in large animal rescue and welfare. - 1 Flood Response Unit (FRU): two additional FRUs will be added to the fleet in the future.
- 1 Welfare Module (WM)
- 1 Environmental Module (EM): to help crews contain pollutants at incidents, this unit carries a wide range of equipment including pumps, oil and chemical absorbent materials, booms, drain-blockers and over-drums for containing leaking chemical containers. It was launched in July 2011.
The service is also reviewing requirements for a breathing apparatus tender. The standard appliances (Rescue Pumps and Water Tenders) are crewed by at least four and as many as six firefighters, while specialist units such as the Aerial Ladder Platforms and Rescue Tenders are crewed by a minimum of two.
USAR appliances, based at Lexden, include:
- 1 Incident Response Unit (based at Chelmsford) (IRU)
- 1 High Volume Pump (HVP)
- 5 prime moversTractor unitA tractor unit, prime mover , road tractor, or traction unit is a heavy-duty commercial vehicle within the large goods vehicle category, usually with a large displacement diesel engine, and several axles. The tractor unit serves as a method of moving trailers...
with various demountable pods - 1 Search Dog Unit
- 1 USAR personnel carrier
The service's driving school is at Chelmsford, and is home to three emergency fire appliance driving (EFAD) pumps and two multi-purpose driver training lorries.
Training centres at Wethersfield and Witham each have two designated training pumps.
Fire stations
This is a complete list of Essex's 50 fire stations, the duty system, appliances allocated to them, and number of emergency callouts in 2008:
| Station | Number | Duty system | Standard appliances | Specialist appliances | Callouts in 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basildon Basildon Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford... |
W52 | Wholetime | 2 | 1 (CU) | 3121 |
| Billericay Billericay Billericay is a town and civil parish in the Basildon borough of Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, has a population of 40,000, and constitutes a commuter town east of central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces... |
W68 | Retained | 1 | 1 (LWrT) | 379 |
| Braintree Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.Braintree has grown contiguous... |
W78 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 899 |
| Brentwood Brentwood, Essex Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway.... |
W51 | Wholetime | 2 | 0 | 1456 |
| Brightlingsea Brightlingsea Brightlingsea is a coastal town in the Tendring district of Essex, England, located between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, situated at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. It has an estimated population of 8500.... |
E20 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 105 |
| Burnham Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town in the Maldon district of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch.-History:Historically, it has benefited from its location on the coast - first as a ferry port, later as a fishing port known for its oyster beds, and most recently as a... |
E43 | Retained | 1 | 2 (LWrT, FBt) | 224 |
| Canvey Island Canvey Island Canvey Island is a civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary in England. It is separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks... |
W54 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 912 |
| Chelmsford Chelmsford Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester... |
E34 | Wholetime | 2 | 3 (ALP, IRU, WrB) | 2462 |
| Clacton Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring peninsula, in Essex, England and was founded in 1871. It is a seaside resort that attracted many tourists in the summer months between the 1950s and 1970s, but which like many other British sea-side resorts went into decline as a holiday... |
E12 | Wholetime | 2 | 1 (CU) | 1,347 |
| Coggeshall Coggeshall Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street , and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade... |
E24 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 233 |
| Colchester Colchester Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the... |
E10 | Wholetime | 2 | 2 (ALP, RT) | 3058 |
| Corringham Corringham, Essex Corringham is a small English town within the unitary authority of Thurrock and one of the traditional parishes. It is situated in the east of the borough of Thurrock and has over time come to be considered an area within the larger neighbouring town of Stanford-Le-Hope. The parish church... |
W66 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 437 |
| Dovercourt Dovercourt For the neighbourhood in Toronto see Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-JunctionDovercourt is a small seaside town in Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086... |
E11 | Day crewed | 2 | 0 | 338 |
| Epping Epping Epping is a small market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. It is located north-east of Loughton, south of Harlow and north-west of Brentwood.... |
W89 | Retained | 1 | 1 (WrB) | 365 |
| Frinton Frinton-on-Sea Frinton-on-Sea is a small seaside town in the Tendring District of Essex, England. It is part of the Parish of Frinton and Walton.-History:... |
E18 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 281 |
| Grays Grays Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex and one of the Thurrock's traditional parishes... |
W50 | Wholetime | 2 | 2 (ALP, RT) | 2626 |
| Great Baddow Great Baddow Great Baddow is an urban village in the Chelmsford borough of Essex, England. It is close to the county town, Chelmsford and, with a population of over 13,000, is one of the largest villages in the country.... |
E33 | Day crewed | 1 | 0 | 517 |
| Great Dunmow Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is an ancient market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England in which the great Shannon Gray, also known as Hazzah Potter, lives... |
W87 | Retained | 1 | 1 (LWrT) | 700 |
| Halstead Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish located in Braintree District of Essex, England, near Colchester and Sudbury. It has a population of 11,053. The town is situated in the Colne Valley, and originally developed on the hill to the north of the river... |
W81 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 445 |
| Harlow Harlow Harlow is a new town and local government district in Essex, England. It is located in the west of the county and on the border with Hertfordshire, on the Stort Valley, The town is near the M11 motorway and forms part of the London commuter belt.The district has a current population of 78,889... |
W70 | Wholetime | 2 | 2 (ALP, RT) | 2794 |
| Hawkwell Hawkwell Hawkwell is the second largest village and civil parish in the district of Rochford in Essex, England Rayleigh being the largest. The 2001 census gave a population for the parish of 11,231.... |
E47 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 187 |
| Ingatestone Ingatestone Ingatestone is a small town in Essex, England, with a population of about 4500 people. To the immediate north lies the village of Fryerning, and the two form the civil parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning.... |
W67 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 285 |
| Leaden Roding | W88 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 102 |
| Leigh Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea , sometimes called Leigh, is a civil parish in Essex, England. It is part of Southend-on-Sea for administrative purposes. It became a civil parish in 1996. The council tax was increased to support it. A town council was formed. Leigh is the only parish in Southend... |
E31 | Wholetime | 1 | 2 (CU, FRU) | 1412 |
| Loughton Loughton Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill... |
W72 | Wholetime | 2 | 0 | 1350 |
| Maldon Maldon, Essex Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk... |
E46 | Retained | 2 | 3 (FT, WM, EM) | 514 |
| Manningtree Manningtree Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".Manningtree is a claimant for the... |
E17 | Retained | 1 | 1 (LWrT) | 281 |
| Newport Newport, Essex Newport is a large village in Essex near Saffron Walden, in which Newport Free Grammar School is located. The village has a population of just over 2,000.... |
W84 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 297 |
| Old Harlow Old Harlow Old Harlow is the historic part of the new town and district of Harlow, Essex in England.Old Harlow is situated in the North-East area of the town and is the oldest area of the town. Old Harlow pre-dates the first written record in the Domesday Book of 1086, so it not sure when the town first come... |
W82 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 279 |
| Ongar Chipping Ongar Chipping Ongar is a small market town, and a civil parish called Ongar, in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. It is located East of Epping, South-East of Harlow and North-West of Brentwood.-Geography:... |
W71 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 237 |
| Orsett Orsett Orsett is a village and ecclesiastical parish located within Thurrock unitary district in Essex, England, situated around 5 km north-east of Grays... |
W55 | Wholetime | 2 | 1 (FT) | 1318 |
| Rayleigh Weir Rayleigh, Essex Rayleigh is a market town and civil parish in the District of Rochford in Essex, England, located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea. It lies to the east of central London. It has a population of 30,196, having expanded rapidly in the 1960s.-Toponymy:... |
E35 | Wholetime | 2 | 1 (HL) | n/a |
| Rochford Rochford Rochford is a small town in the Rochford district of Essex in the East of England. It is sited about 43 miles from Central London and approximately 21 miles from the Essex county town, Chelmsford... |
E49 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 214 |
| Saffron Walden Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a medium-sized market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and approx north of London... |
W85 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 553 |
| Shoeburyness Shoeburyness Shoeburyness is a town in southeast Essex, England, situated at the mouth of the river Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea, and is situated at the far east of the borough, around east of Southend town centre... |
E42 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 406 |
| Sible Hedingham Sible Hedingham Sible Hedingham is a large village and civil parish in the Colne Valley in Braintree District of Essex, in England. It has a population of 3,665.... |
W80 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 74 |
| South Woodham Ferrers South Woodham Ferrers South Woodham Ferrers is a town and civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It is approximately from London and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 16,629. The town is located east of Fenn Creek, and near where it meets the River Crouch... |
E32 | Day crewed | 1 | 1 (ARU) | 330 |
| Southend Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated... |
E30 | Wholetime | 2 | 2 (ALP, RT) | 3301 |
| Stansted Stansted Mountfitchet Stansted Mountfitchet is a village and civil parish in the county of Essex, England, near the Hertfordshire border, north of London. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533. The village is served by Stansted Mountfitchet railway station.... |
W83 | Retained | 1 | 1 (FT) | 741 |
| Thaxted Thaxted Thaxted is a town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, with about 2,500 inhabitants.-History:Thaxted appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Tachesteda, Old English for "place where thatch was got." Once a centre of cutlery manufacture, Thaxted went into decline with the rise of Sheffield... |
W86 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 156 |
| Tillingham Tillingham Tillingham is a small village and civil parish with 1,015 inhabitants in 2001, located from Burnham-on-Crouch and from Bradwell-on-Sea, in Maldon District and the ceremonial county of Essex in England... |
E44 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 55 |
| Tiptree Tiptree Tiptree is a village in the English county of Essex, situated south-east of Colchester and around north-east of London. Surrounding villages include Messing, Tolleshunt Knights, Layer Marney, Inworth, Birch, Great Braxted, Great Totham and Little Totham.... |
E23 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 179 |
| Tollesbury Tollesbury Tollesbury is a village in England, located on the Essex coast at the mouth of the River Blackwater. It is situated nine miles east of the historic port of Maldon and twelve miles south of Colchester.... |
E45 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 56 |
| Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey, Essex Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24 km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from The Abbey... |
W73 | Day crewed | 1 | 0 | 375 |
| Weeley Weeley Weeley is a small village in Tendring, East Essex, England. It is served by Weeley railway station on the Sunshine Coast Line, with services operated by National Express East Anglia. It is open Monday - Saturday but closed Sundays. It has bus links to Clacton-on-sea and ColchesterIt was host to the... |
E19 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 205 |
| West Mersea West Mersea West Mersea is a small town in the Colchester borough of Essex, England. It is the larger of two settlements on Mersea Island, located south east of Colchester. The smaller settlement on the island is the village of East Mersea.... |
E22 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 110 |
| Wethersfield Wethersfield, Essex Wethersfield is a village and a civil parish on the B1053 road in the Braintree district of the English county of Essex. It is near the River Pant. Wethersfield has a school, a post office, a fire station and two places of worship. Nearby settlements include the town of Braintree and the village of... |
W79 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 68 |
| Wickford Wickford Wickford is a town in the south of the English county of Essex, with a population of more than 32,500. Located approximately 30 miles east of London, it falls within the District of Basildon along with Basildon, Billericay, Laindon and Pitsea.... |
W69 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 460 |
| Witham Witham Witham is a town in the county of Essex, in the south east of England with a population of 22,500. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the larger towns of Chelmsford and Colchester... |
E25 | Retained | 2 | 0 | 596 |
| Wivenhoe Wivenhoe Wivenhoe is a town in north eastern Essex, England, approximately south east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two separate settlements but with considerable development in the 19th century the... |
E21 | Retained | 1 | 0 | 271 |
Southend fire station is also home to the UK's first dedicated Young Firefighters' Centre, opened in July 2010.
Urban search and rescue team
State-of-the-art equipment, multi-purpose vehicles, a sniffer dog and a purpose-built base staffed with a highly trained and experienced team comprise the county's urban search and rescueUrban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces due to natural disasters, structural collapse, transportation accidents, mines and collapsed trenches.USAR teams in different countries may be organised in a...
(USAR) team.
The team is equipped to rescue victims trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings, or major transport accidents, for example. They are able to locate and safely extract trapped person, and can shore up unstable buildings so that firefighters can continue with rescue operations.
The USAR team are equipped with prime mover
Tractor unit
A tractor unit, prime mover , road tractor, or traction unit is a heavy-duty commercial vehicle within the large goods vehicle category, usually with a large displacement diesel engine, and several axles. The tractor unit serves as a method of moving trailers...
s, specialist hook-lift vehicles that can be loaded with one of five different equipment pods, depending on what situation the team are going to face. These pods include hose layers and high-volume pumps, technical rescue, timber for shoring up unstable structures, and even a multi-purpose skid loader
Skid loader
A skid loader or skid steer loader is a small rigid frame, engine-powered machine with lift arms used to attach a wide variety of labor-saving tools or attachments. Though sometimes they are equipped with tracks, skid-steer loaders are typically four-wheel drive vehicles with the left-side drive...
that can access tight spaces, explore voids, and move heavy loads of debris.
Following the September 11 attacks new risks were shown to the world for which rescue services would need to be better prepared, and the British government responded with the announcement that USAR units were to be established throughout the country. The Lexden base became the UK's first such facility.
ECFRS was chosen as one of the 17 strategically suitable services partly because it already had 14 officers trained in urban rescue, members of the UK Fire Service Safety & Rescue Team who were part of the rescue effort that was sent to Bam
Bam, Iran
Bam is a city in and the capital of Bam County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 73,823, in 19,572 families.The modern Iranian city of Bam surrounds the Bam citadel. Before the 2003 earthquake the official population count of the city was roughly 43,000. There are...
in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
after it was hit by a major earthquake in December 2003
2003 Bam earthquake
The 2003 Bam earthquake was a major earthquake that struck Bam and the surroundingKerman province of southeastern Iran at 1:56 AM UTC on Friday, December 26, 2003. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 6.6; estimated by the United...
where they helped in the search for victims amongst the ruins of the ancient city.
The station commander at Lexden, a specialist co-ordinator of search and rescue operations, was also sent with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
in January 2010 after a major earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
struck the country.
In February 2011, six ECFRS firefighters, including two from the USAR unit at Lexden, joined the UK's International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team sent to assist with rescue efforts in New Zealand's second city Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
after an earthquake hit the region.
Formed in 1992, the UK's ISAR team comprises specialist search and rescue officers drawn from 13 brigades who are on call 24 hours a day. The ECFRS team's primary role is urban search and rescue but it has also trained and involved in water rescue and working at height.
2007 Oxfordshire floods
ECFRS assisted in the emergency response to floods in Oxfordshire in 20072007 United Kingdom floods
The 2007 United Kingdom floods were a series of destructive floods that occurred in various areas across the country during the summer of 2007. The most severe floods occurred across Northern Ireland on 12 June; East Yorkshire and The Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, The Midlands, Gloucestershire,...
, where seven firefighters from the Swift Water Rescue team helped rescue victims trapped by the floods with a specialist fireboat.
Buncefield fire
Essex was one of 16 brigades called in to attend the large Buncefield oil depot fire near Hemel HempsteadHemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, in December 2005. Fire appliances from Orsett, Hadleigh, Harlow, and foam appliances from Grays, Maldon and Epping assisted in operations at the largest ever blaze in peacetime Britain.
See also
- Fire services in the United Kingdom
- Orsett Hall fire
Other emergency services:
- Essex Air AmbulanceEssex Air AmbulanceEssex Air Ambulance is an air ambulance service serving the county of Essex and surrounding areas, in the east of England. It is one of twenty-five air ambulance services in the United Kingdom....
- East of England Ambulance ServiceEast of England Ambulance ServiceThe East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the authority responsible for providing National Health Service ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in the East of England region.It is one of 12 Ambulance Trusts providing...
- Essex PoliceEssex PoliceEssex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex in the east of England.It is one of the largest non-metropolitan police forces in the United Kingdom, employing approximately 3,600 police officers and operating across an area of over and with a population of...