Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory Fire and Rescue Authority responsible for all 999 fire brigade calls in Sefton, Knowsley, St. Helens, Liverpool and Wirral.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
Operational area
CountryEngland
CountyMerseyside
Agency overview
Established1974 (1974)
Chief Fire OfficerPhil Garrigan
Website
www.merseyfire.gov.uk Edit this at Wikidata
Rescue pumper at the Fire Service College, October 2022
Aerial appliance on Dale Street in Liverpool, June 2010

History edit

In 1974, the merger of the following borough fire brigades: City of Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bootle, Southport, St Helens, and Wallasey. As well as parts of Lancashire County Fire Brigade and Cheshire County Fire Brigade to create Merseyside Fire Brigade.

Merseyside Fire Brigade became Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority on 1 April 1986, as established by the Local Government Act 1985.[1]

In an effort to modernise fire services nationally, the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 received Royal Assent on 22 July 2004.[2][3] This legislation changed the name to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. The change of name also reflects the fact that the service, in addition to fighting fire, conducts rescues such as road traffic collisions and is heavily involved in prevention work in communities.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority Headquarters is located on Bridle Road, Bootle

Since 2013, the MACC relocated from Derby Road, Kirkdale to a purpose built joint control centre with Merseyside Police, which is also located at the Bridle Road site.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is made up of five area commands as follows: Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, and St Helens. Within these areas are:

  • 14 wholetime fire stations
  • Four (LLAR) Low Level Activity & Risk (Day cover 10:00–22:00, stand down 22:00–10:00)
  • One wholetime marine rescue station
  • Two wholetime / day-crewed station (30 minutes resilience)
  • One resilience station (30 minutes resilience)

Which provides Merseyside with 24-hour fire cover.

Performance edit

Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspections investigate how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows:

HMICFRS Inspection Merseyside
Area Rating 2018/19[4] Rating 2021/22[5] Description
Effectiveness Good Good How effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?
Efficiency Good Outstanding How efficient is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?
People Good Good How well does the fire and rescue service look after its people?

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Local Government Act 1985". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. ^ "The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 – Chapter 21". firesafe.org.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Merseyside 2018/19". Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). 20 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Merseyside 2021/22". Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). 15 December 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.

External links edit