Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service
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|
| Operational area | |
|---|---|
| Country |
 England
|
| County |
 Warwickshire
|
| Agency overview | |
| Employees | 550 |
| Facilities and equipment | |
| Stations | 16 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England.
The service covers an area of 1,975.33 km² and a population of around 546,600 people. It employs 550 staff and has 16 fire stations with 32 fire engines.
The service is administered by Warwickshire County Council. Its headquarters are based in Leamington Spa.
A new interim Chief Fire Officer Andy Hickmott was appointed in May 2013 following Graeme Smith's retirement. He was in the fire service for 30 years and joined Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2009.
The service was created in 1948 by the Fire Services Act 1947 and was originally called Warwick County Fire Brigade.
It did not cover the cities of Coventry or Birmingham, which had their own fire brigades. In 1974 the service lost area to the newly created West Midlands Fire Service.
On 2 November 2007, crews were mobilised to a major fire at a vegetable packing plant operated by Wealmoor Ltd on an industrial estate in the village of Atherstone on Stour. Up to 100 firefighters and five ambulance crews were called to the scene and 16 fire engines were used to tackle the blaze. Part of the structure collapsed under the intensity of the fire.
Four firefighters of the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service were killed: Ian Reid, who died in hospital, and Ashley Stephens, Darren Yates-Badley, and John Averis whose bodies were recovered from the debris.
In February 2011, it was announced that two Watch Managers and one Station Manager, who were all at one time in command of the incident, were to face charges of manslaughter by gross negligence over the deaths of the men. They were acquitted in May 2012. Warwickshire County Council was charged with failing to ensure safety at work and pleaded guilty at a hearing in Wolverhampton in January 2012. It was fined £30,000 in December 2012.
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