Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Encyclopedia
The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service is a statutory
fire and rescue service covering the area of the ceremonial county of Berkshire
in England. The fire service was formerly administered by Berkshire County Council
, but when that was abolished the service became the responsibility of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, made up of representatives from the six unitary authorities
of Bracknell Forest Borough Council
, Reading Borough Council, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
, Slough Borough Council
, West Berkshire Council
, and Wokingham Borough Council
.
The service's headquarters are located in Dee Road, in the Reading
suburb of Tilehurst
. It operates from 18 fire station
s across Berkshire.
The Service's control room transfers to the regional control centre in Fareham, between May 2012 and December 2012 as part of the FiReControl
project.
s, of which 11 are crewed day and night (wholetime) and the remainder are crewed by retained firefighter
s who live near to their fire station and can arrive there within five minutes of a call being received. The breakdown of stations is as follows:
Breakdown of the different areas and locations of each fire station station number: here
Note, the station numbers go up to '20'. Sonning used to be 08 but was closed in 2008 and Cookham was 12 until closure.
cover is Mortimer
. The aim of a co-responder team is to preserve life until the arrival of either a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) or an ambulance
. Co-responder vehicles are equipped with oxygen and automated external defibrillator
(AED) equipment.
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 covering the area of the ceremonial county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
in England. The fire service was formerly administered by Berkshire County Council
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, but when that was abolished the service became the responsibility of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, made up of representatives from the six unitary authorities
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Bracknell Forest Borough Council
Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority and borough in Berkshire in southern England. It covers the towns of Bracknell, North Ascot, Sandhurst, Crowthorne and surrounding villages and hamlets.-History:...
, Reading Borough Council, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998.It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland and Ascot Racecourse....
, Slough Borough Council
Slough Borough Council
Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough, in the South East England Region of the United Kingdom.This article deals mainly with the unitary authority which was first elected, on a shadow basis, in 1997. It became the local authority for Slough on 1 April 1998...
, West Berkshire Council
West Berkshire
West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...
, and Wokingham Borough Council
Wokingham (district)
Wokingham is a local government district in Berkshire, United Kingdom. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Sonning, Remenham, Ruscombe, Shinfield, Twyford, Wargrave, Three Mile Cross, Winnersh,...
.
The service's headquarters are located in Dee Road, in the Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
suburb of Tilehurst
Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is also, with different boundaries as described below, a civil parish in West Berkshire district.-History:...
. It operates from 18 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 across Berkshire.
The Service's control room transfers to the regional control centre in Fareham, between May 2012 and December 2012 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.
Fire Stations
Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service operates 18 fire stationFire 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, of which 11 are crewed day and night (wholetime) and the remainder are crewed by 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 who live near to their fire station and can arrive there within five minutes of a call being received. The breakdown of stations is as follows:
- 7 whole time stations
- 4 whole time/retained stations
- 7 Retained stations
Breakdown of the different areas and locations of each fire station station number: here
Berkshire Wholetime
- 01 Caversham Rd, ReadingCaversham, BerkshireCaversham is a suburb and former village in the unitary authority of Reading, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, within the royal county of Berkshire, on the opposite bank from the rest of Reading...
, 02 Wokingham Rd, Reading, 03 Dee Road, ReadingTilehurstTilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is also, with different boundaries as described below, a civil parish in West Berkshire district.-History:...
, 13 WindsorWindsor, BerkshireWindsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, 17 SloughSloughSlough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
, 18 LangleyLangley, SloughLangley is a large village in the unitary authority of Slough, Berkshire in South East England. It is situated 2 miles east of central Slough, and 20 miles west of London...
, 20 Whitley Wood, ReadingWhitley, BerkshireWhitley is a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.-Geography:Whitley, commonly known as one of the larger suburbs of Reading, is bounded to the north and east by a ridge of high ground carrying the road to Shinfield, to the west by the valleys of the River Kennet and the Foudry...
Berkshire Wholetime / Retained
- 04 NewburyNewbury, BerkshireNewbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
, 10 WokinghamWokinghamWokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
, 16 BracknellBracknellBracknell is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Reading, southwest of Windsor and west of central London...
, 19 MaidenheadMaidenheadMaidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...
Berkshire Retained
- 05 HungerfordHungerfordHungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
, 06 LambournLambournLambourn is a large village and civil parish in the northwestern part of the ceremonial county of Berkshire in England. Its metropolitan district has a population of 4,017, and is most noted for its associations with British National Hunt racehorse training....
, 07 PangbournePangbournePangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Pangbourne is the home of the independent school, Pangbourne College.-Location:...
, 09 WargraveWargraveWargrave is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, which encloses the confluence of the River Loddon and the River Thames. It is in the Borough of Wokingham...
, 11 MortimerStratfield MortimerStratfield Mortimer is a village and civil parish, just south of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire.Strictly speaking, the village of Stratfield Mortimer sits at the foot of Mortimer Hill which rises westward from the Foudry Brook. The much larger, and better known, village of Mortimer...
, 14 AscotAscot, BerkshireAscot is a village within the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting...
, 15 CrowthorneCrowthorneCrowthorne is also a suburb of Johannesburg, South AfricaCrowthorne is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire. It has a population of 6,711...
Note, the station numbers go up to '20'. Sonning used to be 08 but was closed in 2008 and Cookham was 12 until closure.
Co-responder Stations
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service works in partnership with the South Central Ambulance Service to provide emergency medical cover to a small part of Berkshire. The only area that has been identified as having a greater need for ambulanceAmbulance
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 Mortimer
Stratfield Mortimer
Stratfield Mortimer is a village and civil parish, just south of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire.Strictly speaking, the village of Stratfield Mortimer sits at the foot of Mortimer Hill which rises westward from the Foudry Brook. The much larger, and better known, village of Mortimer...
. 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.