| London Fire Brigade | |
|---|---|
London Fire Brigade area |
|
| Coverage | |
| Area | Greater London |
| Size | 609 square miles (1,577 km2) |
| Population | 7,753,600[1] |
| Operations | |
| Formed | 1865 (as Metropolitan Fire Brigade; renamed as London Fire Brigade in 1904) |
| HQ | 169 Union Street, Southwark |
| Staff | 7,000 |
| Stations | 112 (including one independent river station) |
| Co-responder | No |
| Chief Fire Officer | Ron Dobson, CBE, QFSM (officially Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning) |
| Website | London Fire Brigade |
| Fire authority | London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority |
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.
Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world (after the Tokyo Fire Department, New York City Fire Department and Paris Fire Brigade) with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire stations.[2]
Ron Dobson is the Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning, which includes the position of Chief Fire Officer. Dobson replaced Sir Ken Knight in 2007; Knight had been Commissioner since 2003.[3] Statutory responsibility for the running of the LFB lies with the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.
In 2008/09 the LFB received 229,308 999 calls, of which it mobilised to 138,385. These included 29,215 fires, of which 13,841 were of a serious nature,[4] making it one of the busiest fire services in the world. In the same period, it received 6,022 hoax calls, the highest number of any UK fire service, but only mobilised to 2,653 of them.
As well as firefighting, the LFB also responds to serious traffic collisions, floods, "trapped in lift" releases and other incidents such as those involving hazardous materials, and major transport accidents. It also conducts emergency planning and performs fire safety inspections and education. It does not provide an ambulance service as this function is performed by the London Ambulance Service as an independent NHS trust, although all firefighters are trained in first aid and all fire appliances carry first aid equipment including basic resuscitators.
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Historically, the London Fire Brigade was organised into two divisions: Northern and Southern, divided in most places by the River Thames and each commanded by a Divisional Officer. Both divisions were divided into three districts, each under a Superintendent with his headquarters at a "superintendent station". The superintendent stations themselves were commanded by District Officers, with the other stations under Station Officers.[5]
However, the brigade is now reformed into five divisions: Northern, Eastern, Western, Southeastern and Southwestern. 21 fire stations are located in the Northern Division and have call signs prefixed "A"; 26 are in the Eastern Division with call signs prefixed "F"; Western Division consists of 21 stations with "G"-prefixed call signs; 22 are under the Southeastern Division with an "E" prefix; and the remaining 22 are based in the Southwestern Division, call signs prefixed "H".[6]
The internal LFB organisation consists of four directorates that all report to the Commissioner. They are[7]:
In May 2007, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that Sir Ken Knight had been appointed as the first Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser to the British government.[8] Knight was succeeded as LFB Commissioner by Ron Dobson.
The LFB's headquarters since 2007 is located at 169 Union Street in Southwark, adjacent to the brigade's training centre.[9]
Fire and rescue authorities in England come under the government department formerly known as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). This department was responsible for legislation covering fire authorities; however, in 2006, a structural change to central government led to the creation of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). It is now responsible for fire and resilience in England, including London.[10]
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 changed many working practises; [11] it was brought in to replace the Fire Services Act 1947 and repealed several existing acts, many going back fifty years. The full list of acts repealed can be found here: [12]
The 2004 Act was drafted in response to the Independent Review of the Fire Service, [13] often referred to as the Bain Report, after its author Professor Sir George Bain. It recommended radical changes to many working procedures and led to a national firefighter strike in 2002–2003.
Further changes to the legislative, organisational and structural fabric of the brigade, which could include varying the attendance time, the location of front line appliances and number of personnel, plus mandatory performance targets, priorities and objectives are set by the DCLG in the form of a document called the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework. The framework is set annually by the government and applies to all brigades in England. Responsibility for the rest of the UK fire service is devolved to the various parliaments and assemblies. On country-wide issues, the Chief Fire Officers Association provides the collective voice on fire, rescue and resilience issues.[14] Membership is made up from senior officers above the rank of Assistant Chief Officer, to Chief Fire Officer (or the new title of Brigade Manager).
Following a multitude of ad-hoc firefighting arrangements and the Great Fire of London, various insurance companies established firefighting units to fight fires that occurred in buildings that their respective companies had insured. As the demands grew on the primitive firefighting units they began to co-operate with each other until, on 1 January 1833, the London Fire Engine Establishment was formed under the leadership of James Braidwood.[15] With eighty firefighters and thirteen fire stations, the unit was still a private enterprise, funded by the insurance companies and as such was responsible mainly for saving material goods from fire.
Several large fires, most notably at the Palace of Westminster in 1834[16] and warehouses by the River Thames in 1861,[15][17] spurred the insurance companies to lobby the UK government to provide the brigade at public expense and management. After due consideration, in 1865 the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act was passed,[15] creating the Metropolitan Fire Brigade under the leadership of Captain (later Sir) Eyre Massey Shaw. In 1904 the brigade was renamed as the London Fire Brigade.[15] The LFB moved into a new headquarters built by Higgs and Hill[18] on the Albert Embankment in Lambeth in 1937.[19]
During the Second World War fire brigades were amalgamated into a single National Fire Service. The separate London Fire Brigade for the county of London was re-established in 1948.[15] With the formation of Greater London in 1965, this absorbed most of the Middlesex Fire Brigade, the borough brigades for West Ham, East Ham and Croydon and parts of the Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey and Kent brigades.[15]
In 1986 the Greater London Council (GLC) was disbanded and replaced by a new statutory authority, called the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA).[15] On 3 July 2000 the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) took over statutory responsibility of the LFB.[20]
At the same time, the Greater London Authority (GLA) was established to administer the LFEPA and coordinate emergency planning for London. Consisting of the Mayor of London and other elected members, the GLA also takes responsibility for the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), Transport for London (TfL) and other functions.
In 2007 the LFB vacated its Lambeth headquarters and moved to a site in Union Street, Southwark.
Extract from: London Fire Brigade key dates[21]
Ron Dobson is the current commissioner, having taken up the role in 2007. Dobson has served in the LFB since 1979 and was awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in 2005, and in 2011 a CBE for his distinguished contribution to the fire and rescue service.[22]
The London Fire Brigade, along with many UK fire and rescue services has adopted a change in rank structure. The traditional ranks – to the left of the column below – have been replaced in the LFB, by new titles more descriptive to the job function.[23][24]
The old titles are still in use in many of the UK's other brigades and fire authorities.[25]
| Former title | Modern title |
|---|---|
| Firefighter | Firefighter |
| Leading Firefighter | Crew Manager |
| Sub-Officer | Watch Manager A |
| Station Officer | Watch Manager B |
| Assistant Divisional Officer | Station Manager |
| Divisional Officer | Group Manager / Area Manager |
| Deputy Assistant Chief Officer | Area Commander |
| Assistant Chief Officer | Assistant Commissioner (LFB) Brigade Manager (outside London) |
| Deputy Chief Officer | Deputy Commissioner (LFB) |
| Chief Fire Officer | Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning (LFB) |
| 1833–1938 | 1938–1965 | 1965–1992 | 1992–2001 | 2001–2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fireman 4th Class | Fireman | Fireman/Firewoman | Firefighter | Firefighter |
| Fireman 3rd Class | Senior Fireman | Leading Fireman/Firewoman | Leading Firefighter | Crew Commander (A) |
| Fireman 2nd Class | Sub-Officer | Sub-Officer | Sub-Officer | Crew Commander (B) (or Watch Commander A [one-pump stations only]) |
| Fireman 1st Class | Station Officer | Station Officer | Station Officer | Watch Commander (B) |
| Junior Fireman | Assistant District Officer | Assistant Divisional Officer (Station Commander from 1986) |
Assistant Divisional Officer (or Station Commander) | Station Commander (or Deputy Group Commander) |
| Senior Fireman | District Officer | Divisional Officer | Divisional Officer | Divisional Officer (or Group Commander) |
| Senior District Officer | Deputy Assistant Chief Officer | Assistant Chief Officer (or Area Commander) | Assistant Chief Officer (or Area Commander) |
|
| Deputy Superintendent | Deputy Chief Officer | Deputy Chief Fire Officer | Deputy Chief Officer | Deputy Chief Officer |
| Assistant Chief Fire Officer (or Area Commander) |
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| Superintendent | Chief Officer | Chief Fire Officer | Chief Fire Officer | Chief Fire Officer |
Professional firefighter training usually lasts about four months and takes place at the LFB's specialist training centre in Southwark. On successful completion, the newly-qualified firefighter is posted to a fire station to work on a shift pattern – currently two day shifts (nine hours), followed by two night shifts (15 hours), followed by four days off. Working patterns were the subject of scrutiny in Professor Bain's Independent Review of the Fire Service.[26]
After training school, firefighters serve a one-year period of probation, and many choose to take formal promotion exams. Qualification and full pay are not reached until the candidate completes their large goods vehicle (LGV) driving course as well as their development folder which usually takes around 12–18 months. Ongoing training – both theoretical and practical – continues throughout the firefighter's career.[27]
In December 2010 the LFB and Fire Brigades Union (FBU) agreed on a new shift pattern for front line firefighters: two 10½-hour day shifts then two 13½-hour night shifts followed by four days off.[28]
The agreement followed two eight-hour daytime strikes by the FBU[29] in protest at the LFB's intention to change the shift pattern from two nine-hour day shifts then two 15-hour night shifts followed by three days off, to two 12-hour day shifts then two 12-hour night shifts followed by four full days off.[30]
Firefighters usually gain promotion by taking examinations. Until July 2006, these were administered by the Fire Services Examinations Board who set national written exams for promotion to the rank of Leading Firefighter, Crew Manager and Watch Manager (see above).[31]
Some promotion exams can be substituted by qualifications from the Institution of Fire Engineers. Firefighters and civilians such as building inspectors, scientists, surveyors and other practising professionals, take these qualifications either by written test or research.
Future promotion exams will be set using the Integrated Personal Development System (IPDS).[32]
In addition to conflagrations, LFB firefighters respond to "special services".[33]
A special service is defined as every other non-fire related emergency, including:
and other rescue operations including persons trapped under trains, train derailments, plane crashes, and waterborne rescues such as in the Marchioness disaster.
The full scope of the brigade's duties and powers is enshrined in the Fire and Rescue Act 2004. Firefighters and, in some cases, specialist teams from the brigade's fire investigation unit also investigate arson incidents, often working alongside the police and providing evidence in court. In 2008/09, deliberate fires accounted for 28% of all those attended by the LFB, a 28% reduction on the previous year.[4]
The other core duty of the brigade is to "prevent damage", and day-to-day fire prevention duties.
The LFB provides fire cover according to a system of four risk categories which have traditionally been used across the UK, where every building is rated for its risk on a scale from "A" down to "D". The risk category determines the minimum number of appliances to be sent in a pre-determined mobilisation.
Category "A" includes areas with a high density of large buildings and/or population, such as offices or factories. Three fire engines are to arrive at "A" risks within eight minutes, the first two within five minutes.
Areas with a medium density of large buildings and/or population, such as multi-storey residential blocks, will generally be classified "B" risk. Two fire engines will be deployed, with one to arrive within five minutes and the second within eight minutes.
Category "C" covers lower density, suburban areas and detached properties. One fire engine should arrive at a "C" risk incident within ten minutes. More rural areas not covered by the first three categories will be considered "D" risk. One fire engine should arrive at "D" risks within 20 minutes.
In 2007/08, the first fire engine mobilised to a 999 call arrived within five minutes 58.8% of the time, and within eight minutes 90% of the time. The second fire engine deployed arrived within eight minutes 81.9% of the time, and within ten minutes 92.4% of the time.
In 2008/09, the average response time of the first fire engine was five minutes and 41 seconds, and of the second fire engine was six minutes and 38 seconds.[4]
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 gives the UK fire services the ability to call upon other services or fire authorities in what is known as mutual assistance.[35] For example, the LFB played a comprehensive role in assisting Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service at the Buncefield fire in 2005.
The other fire services that adjoin the LFB are:
The LFB also mobilises to support BAA firefighters at London Heathrow Airport, and firefighters at London City Airport.
The LFB, along with all other UK fire and rescue services, determines the size of a fire or special service by the final number of appliances mobilised to deal with it. For example, two appliances are despatched to a "B" risk area in response to a fire call in a residential house. The officer-in-charge can request additional appliances by transmitting a radio message such as, "make pumps 4", or if persons are believed to be involved or trapped, "make pumps 4, persons reported".[36] The control room will then deploy a further two appliances making a total of four. Informally, firefighters refer to such fires as 'a make up' or 'a 4-pumper'; [37] when the fire is out, if no other pumping appliances were despatched, this would be recorded as a '4-pump fire'.
If an incident is more serious, it can be escalated straight to a 6-, 8- or 10-pump fire and beyond – in London this is usually completed in even numbers, though it is not uncommon for a 10-pump fire to be 'made up' to 15 if necessary. A call to, say, a large warehouse ablaze could be escalated straight to a 10-pump fire. The 2007 Cutty Sark fire required 8 pumps;[38] as a serious incident escalates, the brigade deploys senior officers, Command Units and any specialist appliances required.
Examples of 25-pump fires include the blaze at Alexandra Palace in 1980,[39] and at The Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea, in 2008, the latter also involving four aerial appliances. The King's Cross fire was a 30-pump fire,[40] as was the blaze at Oxford Street shops on 26 April 2007. Pumping appliances can only operate with a minimum crew of four, and a maximum of six (although this is rare) so it is possible, theoretically, to work out the number of firefighters attending an incident by multiplying the number of pumps by five. For example, the Cutty Sark fire was described as "an 8-pump fire attended by 40 firefighters".[38]
Core services are paid for by London's council tax payers and through central government funding known as a grant settlement; each council tax payer's bill will include a precept – a specific part of their bill that contributes to the funding of the fire brigade. Those in need of the LFB's services in an emergency do not pay, but the brigade can provide additional special services for which it may charge where there is no immediate threat to life or imminent risk of injury.
Examples of these special services which may be charged for include the clearing of flooded commercial premises, the use of brigade equipment for supplying or removing water, and making structures safe in cases where there is no risk of personal injury to the public.
LFB firefighters and watch officers often visit residential and commercial premises to advise on hazard risk assessment and fire prevention. They also provide safety education to schools and youth groups. Each of the London boroughs has a central fire safety office that collates and coordinates fire prevention work in accordance with legislation, and they are supported by a dedicated team of specialist officers.
In 2008/09, the LFB made 48,768 home fire safety visits, up 9% from the previous 12 months. Over 83,000 children were seen by the brigade's schools team. 50% of all serious fires attended occurred in the home, and in 59.7% of house fires attended no smoke alarm had been fitted, despite the LFB fitting over 78,000 in homes that year.[4]
The LFB has 112 fire stations, including one independent river station, across the 32 London boroughs and the City of London.[41] They are staffed 24 hours per day by full-time employees of the brigade, and are linked to a control centre in the Docklands.[42] This centre was opened in 2004; calls to it are fed from 999 operators at BT, Cable & Wireless and Global Crossing.
Central London stations can attend up to 8,000 calls per year, inner-city stations about 3,000 to 4,000 calls per year (these tend to be the stations that are busy serving the poorer densely-populated areas), and outlying or suburban fire stations may attend around 1,500 calls which include road traffic accidents, grass fires and house fires.[43]
Some UK fire authorities use part time, or 'retained', firefighters who live and work near their local station and are on-call, but the LFB is one of only two UK fire services where all operational staff are full-time employees.
Each station has four shifts, or 'watches': red, white, blue and green; with a Watch Manager in charge of each. The overall management of the station falls to the Station Manager, who will also attend serious incidents, as well as spending time on call.
A group of one (City of London) to six (Tower Hamlets) stations within a borough are managed by a Borough Commander (Group Manager) who interacts strategically on a local level with the Borough Commander for the police and the chief executive of the local authority.
More than half of the LFB's fire stations have two conventional fire appliances, also known as pumps and pump ladders. These are generally the busier stations receiving over 2,000 emergency calls (known colloquially by firefighters as "shouts") per year. They may also be stations of strategic importance, or those located in areas considered high risk. The remaining stations have a single pump and generally attend fewer than 2,000 calls per year. Many stations also have other specialist vehicles allocated to them.
The LFB's current full operational fleet consists of:
The programme of improvements in staffing and equipment undertaken by the LFB since the September 11 attacks to improve London's resilience and its capability to deal with major emergencies, including the threat of terrorism has included: ten Incident Response Units; two Scientific Support Units; four different types of urban search and rescue (USAR) vehicles and ten USAR personnel carriers; three mass decontamination resilience units; and six equipment carriers known as Operational Support Units.[44]
Architecturally, fire stations vary in age and design from Edwardian era red-brick fire houses to modern spacious blocks complete with additional specialist facilities.[45] Early fire stations were originally built with horse-drawn appliances in mind and with traditional features such as the fireman's pole, used by firefighters to gain rapid access from their upstairs quarters to the fire engine garages below when summoned. The oldest station still operational in London is at Clerkenwell.
More modern fire stations, though constructed without such features, often have more spacious accommodation and facilities for staff of both sexes, public visitor areas such as community safety offices and other amenities. An example of these is the new fire station in Hammersmith which opened in 2003,[46] just a few hundred yards along Shepherd's Bush Road from the previous local fire station which had been constructed in 1913.[47]
The creation of the Greater London Council in 1965 saw the number of LFB stations increase. The LFB absorbed some stations from the county brigades. At the time there were a handful of smaller brigades: Middlesex, Croydon, West Ham and East Ham – they were all incorporated into the LFB.[48] By 1965 the LFB had 115 stations, plus two river stations. The LFB has an ongoing policy of upgrading existing fire stations, and building new stations to replace those that are no longer suitable for the requirements of a modern day fire service.[49] It has gained one new station at Heathrow Airport, but in recent years the total number of stations has reduced slightly, with some permanent closures:
In February 2010, Boris Johnson officially opened the LFB's first new station for over ten years, at Harold Hill. The mayor hailed the station's exceptional environmental sustainability, calling it the "greenest station in the capital".[55]
In October 2007, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that the location for the new regional control centre, dedicated to the capital and part of the FiReControl project, would be at the Merton industrial estate in the London Borough of Merton.[56]
The geographical area covered by the LFB along with the major transport infrastructure and the political, business and administrative bases typical of a capital city has seen the brigade involved in many significant incidents.
A "major incident" is defined as any emergency that requires the implementation of special arrangements by one or more of London's emergency services and will generally include the involvement, either directly or indirectly, of large numbers of people.[57]
Any member of any of the emergency services can initiate a major incident. Responsibility for the rescue of persons involved lies with the LFB. The care and transportation of casualties to hospital is the responsibility of the London Ambulance Service. Police will ease these operations by co-ordinating the emergency services, local authorities and other agencies.[57]
When a major incident is declared the services, along with civilian agencies, use a structural system known as gold-silver-bronze command that allows them to follow a set procedure for incident management. Put simply, gold relates to strategic control of an incident, silver to tactical command, and bronze to operational control. The term gold command can also relate to an emergency service building, mobile control unit or other base that becomes the focal point (often remotely) for the incident's management.[57]
Additionally, a major incident can lead to the government activating its coordination facility, known as COBR.
Notable incidents, some declared "major incidents" and some in which firefighters lost their lives, where the LFB has played a significant role include:
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