County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering an area of 2432 km2, for the unitary authority areas of County Durham and Darlington. The service area borders with Cleveland Fire Brigade, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.

History

The service was formed on 1 April 1948 as a result of the Fire Services Act 1947. The first chief fire officer was C.V Hall and was appointed this position on 19 September 1947. The large area covered by the FRS was then divided into three areas, consisting of: Divisions A-C.

Performance

Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspection investigates how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has been rated as follows:

Fire stations

The service divides its 15 fire stations and 1 Technical Services Centre into two divisions: North and South. Fire stations are crewed by wholetime firefighters, daytime firefighters, on-call (retained) firefighters, or a combination of the different crewing systems. The service headquarters are located in Belmont. The service operates its own training school and workshops, which are located in Bowburn.