Devon Fire and Rescue Service

The County of Devon covers an area of some 2591 square miles, consisting of both rural farming land and built up areas ranging from small hamlets to the urban areas of the cities of Plymouth and Exeter, along with the holiday areas of Torbay and Exmouth. The normal population is around 1 million, but this increases considerably during the summer months. As the third largest of the non-metropolitan counties, only exceeded in administrative area by North Yorkshire and Cumbria, Devon Fire & Rescue Service has the largest number of retained personnel in the Country.

The Devon Fire Brigade was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of Exeter City Fire Brigade, Plymouth City Fire Brigade and Devon County Fire Service and became the Devon Fire and Rescue Service in 1987. Due to local government re-organisation in April 1998 (when Plymouth City Council and Torbay District Council became Unitary Authorities), control of the DFRS transferred from Devon County Council to a combined Devon Fire Authority.

Devon Fire and Rescue Service has 58 fire stations to cover the County, as well as providing assistance to the neighbouring counties of Cornwall in the West, and Somerset and Dorset in the East, when required. There are 10 whole-time crewed stations, 1 day-crewed, 46 retained-crewed and 1 volunteer-crewed fire station. The Service is split up into 4 divisions, with divisional headquarters at Barnstaple, Torquay, Exeter and Plympton, the main headquarters complex, with the Brigade Control Room and the Breathing Apparatus training school at Clyst St. George, just outside Exeter, and the main Training School at Plympton, Plymouth, which also provides training for recruits from other fire brigades. There is also a commercial training centre at Camels Head fire station in Plymouth, which gives training to local companies in fire protection.

INCIDENT STATISTICS

Official Devon Fire & Rescue Service Web Site