West Midlands Fire Service
| Operational area | |
|---|---|
| Country |
 England
|
| County |
 West Midlands
|
| Agency overview | |
| Established | 1974 |
| Employees | 1,322 |
| Fire chief | Phil Loach |
| Facilities and equipment | |
| Stations | 38 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the second-largest fire and rescue service in the country & only one of two fire services in which all stations are full-time, delivering emergency services to 2.83 million residents across seven local authority areas in the county of the West Midlands in England.
The brigade is run under the command of the Chief Fire Officer Phil Loach and the Strategic Enabling Team (SET), providing emergency response from 38 strategically located fire stations, divided into six Command Areas. Responsibility for the running on the brigade lies with "West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority", which is a joint-authority, made up of councillors from the seven local authorities in the West Midlands.
The service was created in 1974 when the West Midlands county came into being. Prior to its creation, each of the county boroughs in the West Midlands area (Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, Warley, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton) had their own fire brigade. The largest of these brigades was the City of Birmingham Fire Brigade. WMFS was created by a merger of these, plus parts of Warwickshire Fire Brigade.
The service was originally headquartered in the former City of Birmingham Fire Brigade headquarters at Lancaster Circus which were opened on 2 December 1935 by HRH Duke of Kent. It is now a Listed building. However, the service moved to purpose built, modern headquarters on Vauxhall Road, Nechells, in 2008.
The following people have held the office of Chief Fire Officer:
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Wikipedia