Prevention, Protection and Response
Fire crews are ensuring those who live, work and travel in Essex are increasingly better protected from accidental blazes.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is focused on reducing the number of accidental dwelling fires, keeping the most vulnerable and communities safer.
Since 2017, the number of accidental dwelling fires has continued to drop – from 831 in 2017/2018 to 725 in 2021/2022.
The success has come from a focus on risk management and education around living safe, being safe on the road and around water and safeguarding.
This work is carried out via community safety partnerships, combining resources to tackle key issues facing residents.
As well as preventing residential incidents, the service works to protect the county’s businesses, economy and environment from fire.
Protection teams look to reduce the impact of fire in commercial premises, working closely with businesses, supporting them to meet their fire safety responsibilities, guiding them on how to keep to regulations, and making sure protecting people from fire is their priority.
A total of 1,071 full audits have been carried out on buildings within Essex, as well as 113 desktop audits as part of a Building Risk Review.
When needed, the Service responds to emergencies including fires, road traffic collisions, specialist rescues, maritime incidents, flooding, and incidents relating to hazardous materials.
A modern fleet of fire appliances, including specialist appliances such as aerial ladder platforms, heavy rescue pumps, incident command units and water rescue units, ensure crews can respond effectively.
Service Control answers 999 calls, mobilises the appropriate response to emergencies and liaises with blue light partners and third party providers – including Essex Police, East England Ambulance Service, National Rail, Highways Agency, energy companies and water companies.
Control also ensures the service maintains its fire cover throughout the county, making sure appliances are distributed across Essex to reach all incidents within the agreed timespan.
The work is part of the Service’s commitment to prevention, protection and response.
While the prevention and protection work aims to reduce the need for emergency intervention, when that urgent response is needed the commitment is that it will be timely, professional and appropriate.
