Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is the best performing authority in the country for reducing accidental fires in the home and reducing attendance to unwanted automatic fire alarms.

The confirmation has come as part of a national bench marking exercise which involved 42 fire and rescue services from across the country.

Warwickshire came top of its class as far as the rate of accidental dwelling fires per 10,000 dwellings is concerned and had the lowest attendance to false automatic fire alarm calls.  The service also came fourth in reducing fires in commercial properties.

Chief Fire Officer Graeme Smith said: "I am delighted that Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is the best performing authority when it comes to driving down the risk of fires in the home. This is a huge achievement and one which can be attributed to our pro-active fire safety campaigns and our excellent operational rescue capability.

"Our impressive stats of having no fire fatalities in the home in the last year, is also something for us to be proud of. Recent coverage of Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service on BBC's Real Rescue's is a tribute to that, with interviews with a family of nine who lives were saved when we rescued them from a house fire in Nuneaton in November 2011.

"As the Chief Fire Officer, my aim is to make communities safer and I believe the outcome of this bench marking exercise clearly demonstrates that we are doing just that."

Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Councillor Richard Hobbs said: "I would like to congratulate the Service on this success. Within the last two years, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service have undergone a huge programme of change in an effort to increase the safety of our residents. The outcome of that change is clearly evident, with the service ranking first in reducing accidental fires in the home and reducing attendance to unwanted automatic fire alarms. Well done to all involved."

 

Warwickshire launch Command Support Unit 

Warwickshire FRS has also welcomed the delivery of a new state of the art Command Support Unit (CSU) at a showcase event with councillors.

Based on the long wheel base Mercedes Sprinter high roof panel van, the Command Support Unit will be able to be mobilised to anywhere in the county at any time, to act as a central base from which to manage a major incident. The unit will usually be deployed where an incident has five or more appliances in attendance.

This technically advanced vehicle boasts state of the art equipment which will allow real time transfer of data and information to commanders to assist in critical decision making processes, as well as essential planning and monitoring during the emergency phase of an incident. It also has the capability of bringing together different levels and sources of information, which is then captured and relayed to the incident commander on a 40" monitor located on the external briefing area of the vehicle.

Assistant Chief Officer Jim Onions said: "We are really pleased to be launching our new Command Support Unit. The new vehicle will replace our existing CSU, providing much improved equipment and facilities including a mobile command suite equipped with four fully functional and interactive workstations. This will allow operational commanders to get instant access to vital sources of information specific to the incident they are managing."

Cllr Richard Hobbs, Warwickshire County Council's Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said: "Investing in state of the art vehicles, such as the new Command Support Unit is a real credit to the service and the County Council. As well as containing the very latest in technology, the new vehicle will ensure that we have an enhanced capability, not only to manage major incidents, but also to ensure that we have the right equipment, vehicles and information for firefighters to do their job."

In addition to providing a secure base from which personnel and resources can effectively be coordinated, the vehicle also provides a focal point to assist partner agencies in identifying the primary control point when they arrive at an incident ground.

 

For further information and images of the new unit, visit: http://www.facebook.com/warwickshirefireandrescueservice or to see the new unit in action, check out the video on-line at http://youtu.be/8p6dcCYv6q8 

 

Photo: Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Jim Onions and Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Councillor Richard Hobbs

 

Posted July 16th, 2012 at 1410 by Andrew. Comment by emailing andrew.lynch@pavpub.com