Welcome to the website of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service which delivers Fire & Rescue services on behalf of the Fire Authority for the whole of Devon & Somerset (including Torbay and Plymouth).
As the Chief Fire Officer, I am proud to be at the helm of the largest non Metropolitan Fire & Rescue Service in the country. We have 85 fire stations, the second largest number in England and committed staff who are dedicated to making the two Counties of Devon and Somerset even safer. At its meeting in February, the Fire Authority approved a budget of £75m to allow us to deliver safety services to the 1.66m people who live here plus the additional 400,000 people who come to visit us.
You will know that the Fire & Rescue Service puts out fires, rescues people from road traffic accidents and other emergencies. However, you may not know that Devon & Somerset also: work with partners to influence young drivers to try and prevent people being killed or injured on our roads, engage young people in diversionary activities to reduce anti social behaviour and crime as well as rescuing people from water and height. We also have the largest number of fire appliances outside of London equipped to deal with the after effects of terrorism such as major flooding, major transportation incidents, public decontamination and collapsed structures; working within a national coordinated approach to attend incidents anywhere in the country.
Our newest recruit is a ‘human’ sniffer dog, called ‘Mickey’, who will help us locate people more quickly. He has been funded by the Department of Communities & Local Government to assist us provide an effective search and rescue service in the event of a major structural collapse.
We are reducing the number of operational incidents we attend through our prevention work and this will continue to be our priority, but when our services are needed, you can be assured that we aim to deliver the very best service we can to make you safe wherever you are in Devon & Somerset.
Lee Howell - Chief Fire Officer – February 2010.