Firefighters throughout Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service will be rolling up their sleeves this weekend to take part in the National Car Wash to raise vital funds for The Fire Fighters Charity.
Firmly established on the fire and rescue service calendar, the National Car Wash is the charity's largest national fundraising event of the year. Motorists are invited to take their car along and have it washed in return for a donation to The Fire Fighters Charity, the UK’s leading provider of services that enhance quality of life for serving and retired fire service personnel...
Fire crews have worked through the night to tackle a fire hitting a farm building in Okehampton. Crews were first called to the scene shortly after 4am and work to douse the flames continued until nearly 10am this morning. The fire, thought to be accidental, started in a single story farm building filled with large amounts of hay, straw, corn and animal feeds as well as some light farm machinery, half of which was consumed by the flames. The fire was extinguished by fire crews using three hose reel jets, one compressed air foam systems jet and two breathing apparatus wearers. Devon and...
Dartmoor Training Area and Okehampton Battle Camp were the location of a simulated aviation incident for a training exercise recently. The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust’s Hazardous Area Response Team, who organised the exercise at Okehampton, were testing their capabilities, and those of several other agencies, in responding to a mass casualty exercise.
Exercise Indigo was designed to identify and explore the quality of care received by patients in a mass casualty situation and involved personnel from Devon and Cornwall Police, Devon and Somerset Fire and...
A Sidmouth man in his 30s tragically died this weekend after a car he was working on collapsed onto him. Two crews of Firefighters from Sidmouth fire station were called to the man’s family home on Betjeman Close at around 6:30pm on Saturday evening. The crews found the man had already been released from the fallen car and gave CPR to the badly injured man. Fire crews then called for police assistance to take the man from the scene. A police helicopter arrived on scene at 7:30pm and airlifted the man to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A file is being...
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service has leapt up to 54th place in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list.
This makes the Service one of the UK’s leading organisations for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equality, according to Stonewall, the national LGB campaign and support group.
The Service’s employee network Fire Pride has again been recognised by Stonewall as a 'Star Performer Network Group,' one of 75 groups nationwide to be recognised in this way.
The accolade is given to employee network groups which make an invaluable contribution to the experience of...
Firefighters responded to over 250 calls in Devon and Somerset yesterday as storm winds battered the South West. People were rescued from cars and unsafe buildings by the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) often in the same area simultaneously. Area Manager Phil Martin said that people were gambling with their lives if they chose to drive through floodwater. He said: “Your car can float in as little as 30cm of water and it takes much less than that to knock someone off their feet. “People must ask themselves, is it worth gambling with your car and maybe even your life to...
Firefighters in England and Wales will walk out on strike between 7pm and midnight tonight (Christmas Eve) in their long running dispute with the government over pensions.
The Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue service (DSFRS) have said that they have “substantial contingency plans in place to ensure that we will continue to respond to emergency incidents.”
The strike comes after last night’s storm saw DSFRS make over 250 calls to weather related incidents last night including several life threatening emergencies
The fire brigades Union (FBU) has a recall agreement...
Firefighters will strike again on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in an ongoing pension dispute between the Government and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).
Three more strikes have been announced by the FBU following strikes last Friday and Saturday.
Devon and Somerset fire and rescue authority have said that seven incidents requiring firefighters took place during last weekend’s strikes and were attended by non-FBU firefighters.
Speaking ahead of last weekend’s strike Fire Minister Brandon Lewis said: “Once again the FBU’s actions cast doubt over their claims that...
A 62 year-old woman who threatened to harm herself and others has been arrested in Chawleigh this morning.
Police were called to a property in the village of Chawleigh, near Crediton just after 8:30 this morning (Monday 16 December) after reports that the woman was causing an obstruction.
On arrival they found the woman carrying a can of petrol and making threats to harm herself and others as well as damage the property.
Officers called for support from police negotiators and firearms officers and the fire service due to the nature of the threats.
