Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service

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A Dennis Dagger of Southport Fire Station
A Dennis Dagger of Southport Fire Station

The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory firefighting and rescue service responsible for all 999 fire brigade calls in Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens, Liverpool and Wirral.

The fire service itself was created in 1974 when the county of Merseyside was established. It was originally administered by the Merseyside County Council. However when this was abolished in 1986, its administration was taken over by the 'Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority' a joint-board of the five Merseyside boroughs.

The authority covers an area of 653 square kilometres and population of 1.4 million. Approximately 1800 staff at a number of administrative centres and at 26 community fire stations which house 42 fire engines. It is managed by three senior fire officers: Anthony Mcguirk - Chief Fire Officer, Michael Hagen - Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Bill Evans - Assistant Chief Fire Officer.

MACC (Mobilising and Communications Centre) Primary function is to accept and process emergency calls for the area of Merseyside. The control room is situated in Derby Road, Bootle. The control room is staffed 24/7 365 days a year. There are four watches: Red, white, Blue and Green and each watch is made up of both male and female staff. They are made up of -

  • 8 Fire control operators
  • 2 Leading fire control operators
  • 1 Senior fire control operator
  • 1 Fire control officer

The calls are received in a variety of ways that include 999, mobile telephone, and other emergency services i.e.

Ambulance Service, Police, Coast Guard, Air Traffic Control, Automatic Fire Alarms and alarm companies

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