Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service is an organisation constituted by the Derbyshire Fire Authority to provide fire and rescue services to the communities of Derbyshire. The organisation is structured around Area Commands, aligned Districts, which service the County of Derbyshire.
We have a total of 31 fire stations. These predominantly provide the Intervention, Prevention and Protection services to our communities, supported by other divisions of the organisation responsible for the Community Safety, Strategic Development, Human Resource and Corporate Services.
Under the Fire & Rescue Services Act 2004 we have a duty to attend incidents other than those involving fire, such as road traffic collisions, chemical emergencies, rescues, large scale emergencies.
We carry out an increasing range of activities to reduce the number of fires and other emergencies. Last year the Service attended 12,003 emergency incidents and 20,085 calls were dealt with by our command and control employees.
The 31 fire stations are made up of nine wholetime stations which are staffed on a 24/7 basis, three day-staffed stations and 19 staffed by personnel on the Retained Duty System (RDS). Across these stations we have 44 fire appliances and a variety of other specialist appliances such as Aerial Ladder Platforms, Water Carriers and Emergency Tenders.
Derbyshire Fire Authority currently employs 451 fire-fighters on the Wholetime Duty System (WDS) and 327 on the on the Retained Duty System (RDS), 40 Command & Control employees and 193 employees in support functions.
About Derbyshire
Derbyshire is home to approximately 9,95000 people (Registrar Mid-Term Estimate). This population is set to rise to an estimated 10,98000 by 2020 (ONS population projections). It is a county of contrast with busy extended urban areas and rural countryside.
There are more than 1,000 square miles which includes the City of Derby, many bustling market towns and picturesque villages. Much of the Peak District National Park falls inside the county which covers 555 square miles and attracts an estimated 22 million visitors each year. Of these an estimated 500 000 visit in an average summer week.
Derbyshire benefits from its central location and good transport infrastructure with the M1 and other main road networks running throughout the county.
Industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and tourism contribute to the County’s economy. Economic growth is ongoing with the recent redevelopment of the Derby City Centre Shopping Complex Westfield, and the Markham Vale industrial and commercial site in the Bolsover District.
The unemployment rate for Derbyshire is 3.4% compared with the national average of 3.3% (Census 2001).
Some areas are amongst the most deprived in the country, these areas particularly Derby City priority neighbourhoods have benefited from Central Government regeneration programmes.
Derbyshire’s communities are diverse and multicultural with a minority ethnic representation of 12.6% within Derby City and 1.5% across the remaining areas of the county. (Census 2001).
