HOW YOUR FIRE STATION IS CREWED

The County of Wiltshire and Swindon has 24 fire stations, which are mostly located in he major towns. Fire stations vary with the number and type of fire appliances they have on them. All have one or two of the traditional fire engines and some have specialist vehicles for rescues and other purposes.

There are a number of different ways we crew our fire stations. Some stations are crewed purely with retained firefighters and others have a mixture of full-time and retained firefighters.

Fire stations that are crewed only with retained firefighters fall into two categories:-

Those which have one fire appliance - have an establishment of 11, consisting of one Watch Manager (in charge), 2 Crew Managers and 8 firefighters.

Those which have two fire appliances - have an establishment of 16, consisting of two Watch Managers, 3 Crew Managers, and 11 firefighters.

Many of our fire stations are crewed with a mixture of full-time and retained firefighters. These fall into two categories:-

Fire stations crewed by full-time firefighters working a 24-hour shift system. - On this system our retained firefighters are used to cover the station response area when the full-time crew is at an incident and for larger incidents, ie. Swindon, Stratton, Salisbury.

Fire stations crewed during the working day by full-time firefighters . - On this system our retained firefighters are used during the day to cover the station response area when the full-time crew is at an incident and for larger incidents, ie. Trowbridge, Chippenham.

There are a number of variations on the above descriptions and you will find out exactly how your fire station is crewed by asking station personnel.