Fire Service

Culcheth's Fire Service is provided from the fire station base in Birchwood. This is part of Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service which covers the council areas of Cheshire, Halton and Warrington from a headquarters in Winsford. The Birchwood station has fulltime firefighters working day shifts, with cover at night provided mainly by part-time 'on-call' staff who carry an alerter and must be capable of reaching the station in a short time.

The Fire Service is there 24 hours a day to respond quickly to emergency calls from the public. Apart from fires, emergency calls may be to incidents where people are trapped in vehicles following a road accident, trapped in machinery, or other less life threatening circumstances. They may also be called to chemical spillages and toxic emissions. Recently they have also taken on responding to cardiac arrest situations in the locality, where they can often arrive before the ambulance. Firefighters also deal with many other domestic situations such as flooding, storm damage, people unable to gain access to premises, animals in distress etc. There are about 270 call-outs a year at Birchwood Fire Station but about 40% of those are false alarms. The number of incidents is smaller than previous decades but firefighters have to maintain their high standard of training.

The Fire Service also provides safety advice for the community and businesses. Firefighters will carry out free home fire safety checks and often provide lessons and demonstrations for schools, colleges and community organisations. They will visit businesses and public buildings to check compliance with fire safety regulations and provide advice when necessary. Each year Birchwood Fire Station holds an Open Day with activities and demonstrations for both children and adults.

Like other public services there is pressure to make financial savings while maintaining high quality. There are plans for the Cheshire police and fire services to save money by sharing some support services. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and Cheshire Constabulary will bring together most of their back office and professional services and establish a single, shared headquarters site by April 2018. It is estimated that the programme will produce combined annual savings of nearly £1.5 million and therefore help to maintain frontline resources. It is interesting that the boss of the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is also the chief officer for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, thus sharing the costs of his employment.

You can find out further information, carry out an online home safety check or book a home visit through the Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service website here.