Industry News

Tim Passmore, Police and Crime Commissioner and Suffolk County Councillor Richard Rout, formally opened the new shared Police/Fire station in Beccles (Friday 30 August 2019), along with Chief Constable Steve Jupp and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Dan Fearn. This is the eleventh shared community Fire and Police facility in Suffolk with stations already operating in Leiston, Newmarket, Saxmundham, Felixstowe, Woodbridge, Ixworth, Elmswell, Debenham, Framlingham and Clare. There are also plans for fur...

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has entered into an agreement with the Rapid Relief Team to support firefighters when they are attending prolonged incidents by providing food and refreshments. The Rapid Relief Team (RRT) is a non-profit charitable organization. Its volunteers are members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church and their mission is to provide voluntary support to the emergency services at large scale incidents. The volunteers make themselves available to support emergen...

As the condition of aging bridges, roadways, transportation resources, and grids across the U.S. has increasingly become the focus of discussion, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has issued Renovations Needs of the U.S. Fire Service, a new report on the fire service’s aging infrastructure. Two key findings within the report show that more than 21,000 firehouses across the country are beyond 40 years of age with total replacement costs estimated to be in the $70-$100 billion...

Manholes on-board ships or in industrial or offshore plants are generally only used from time to time. The manholes are closed most of the time and are only opened when there is a need for maintenance or other activities to be performed on the installation. Gaskets are used to ensure the steel sealing plates reliably seal off the manhole. The NOFIRNO gaskets supplied by Beele Engineering for these types of systems were recently subjected to one of the most severe fire tests possible. Tested To...

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is pleased to announce that the next NVFC Training Summit will take place June 26-27, 2020, in Orlando, FL. Pre-register here to save your spot and get updates as event information becomes available. NVFC Training Summit 2020 Launched in 2014, the Training Summit provides an opportunity for first responders from across the country to participate in valuable classroom training as well as exchange ideas and best practices with their peers. The NVFC&rsq...

Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) has welcomed the Ministerial Statement to the House, given by the then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, in which he updated members on building safety. In particular, he informed those present that following an independent investigation into timber fire doors, no issues had been found with the consistency of the fire-resistance performance of the doors tested. This is good news for the industry and adds fur...

The undergrowth fire on the Lydd Ranges is now fully extinguished after three days of firefighting. On July 26, 2019, the emergency phase of the incident led by Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) officially came to a close after all firefighting operations were completed. Duty of care has now been handed back to the land owner. Lee Rose, Assistant Director Channel Tunnel and Resilience at KFRS, said: “On behalf of the service and all other agencies that have been involved throughout the...

Firefighters have issued a summer heat safety plea following several incidents cornfields, grass and crop fires in Kent that have been linked to the hot and dry weather the county is currently experiencing. Countering wildfire incidents Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) deals frequently with rural fires, but during periods of hot and dry weather, incidents on grassland have the potential to become much bigger wildfires. Last year (2018), KFRS responded to almost 700 grassfires, and so far, t...

According to a recent study, just over half (54%) of UK Fire and Rescue Services struggle to record their response times to inbound messages and enquiries across their social media channels. With inbound enquiries from residents and other stakeholders increasing overall and the number of social media accounts being managed by the services also on the rise, tracking KPIs such as response time is key to effectively serving stakeholder needs on social. Social media is a vital channel to communicat...

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) is working with Kent Police as part of their ongoing mission to increase the use and awareness of Public Access Defibrillators (PADs). Public Access Defibrillators Kent’s emergency services already work together on a daily basis to help save lives and keep communities safe, but KFRS has now also gifted thirty defibrillators to Kent Police to help increase public access to PADs around the county.  We have since teamed with Kent Police and gifted t...

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS), Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) have joined forces to launch FireStoppers – a new way for North East communities to provide anonymous information on deliberate fires. All three Services have been significantly affected by deliberate fires: CDDFRS – 2695 deliberate fires (figures for the year ending December 2018) NFRS – has seen a 21.5% increase to...

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) staff and volunteers are visiting busy shopping areas this week as part of a kitchen safety campaign. Firefighters were called to nearly 300 kitchen fires last year, with at least 91 people being injured. Now, the Service hopes to tackle this by sharing its tongue-in-cheek ‘Recipe for Disaster’, which lists ingredients and instructions for a dangerous blaze. Its aim is to make people think twice about staying safe while cooking, by drawi...