Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is a

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

fire and rescue service A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish conflagration, hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisd ...

covering the area of the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

in England. The fire service was formerly administered by

Berkshire County Council The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social servi ...

, but when that was abolished the service became the responsibility of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, made up of representatives from the six

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

Bracknell Forest Borough Council Bracknell Forest Council, also known as Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the local authority of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It ...

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot and Eton. It is home to Wind ...

Slough Borough Council Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough, in Berkshire, England. Slough is a unitary authority, having the powers of a county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no administ ...

, West Berkshire Council, and

Wokingham Borough Council Wokingham Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council (but designated a borough council) also exercising the functions of a county council. Elect ...

. RBFRS headquarters is located at Newsham Court, Pincents Kiln, in the

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

suburb of Calcot. It operates from 16

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...

s across Berkshire. Berkshire Fire and Rescue

Performance

In 2018/2019, every fire and rescue service in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

was subjected to a statutory inspection by

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since ...

(HIMCFRS). The inspection investigated how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows:

Fire stations and appliances

The service operates 16 fire stations 12 of which are crewed by wholetime

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions als ...

s and four use retained firefighters. Abbreviations (Callsigns): * PA - Pumping Appliance (P1/P2) * ALP - Aerial Ladder Platform (A1) * HRU - Heavy Rescue Unit (R1) * WART - Water & Animal Rescue Tender (R1) * WRB - Water Rescue Boat (B1) * L4P - Light 4x4 Pump (M1) * WrC - Water Carrier (W1) * CU - Control/Command Unit ** (L) - Large (C1) ** (S) - Small (C2) * HMEU - Hazmat & Environmental Unit (H1) * OSU - Operational Support Unit (S1) * PM - Prime Mover ** HVP - High Volume Pump (T8/T9) ** MDM - Mass Decontamination Module (H9) * HVPSU - HVP Support Unit (T3) The community fire station at

Theale Theale () is a large village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, southwest of Reading and 10 miles (16 km) east of Thatcham. The compact parish is bounded to the south and south-east by the Kennet & Avon Canal (which here incorp ...

, which opened in 2021, is also a base for South Central Ambulance Service and

Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. It the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, coverin ...

. It replaced the former Dee Road (Reading) and Pangbourne fire stations. Wokingham Road fire station in

is also home to the Red Cross Fire Emergency Support Service, who have their own specialist vehicle at the station. The Red Cross team are mobilised by RBFRS control staff to respond to people affected by incidents such as fire or flood. Established in Berkshire in 1993, they can provide food, clothing, and arrange emergency accommodation.

References

External links

*
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service
at

HMICFRS His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since ...

{{UK fire service Organisations based in Berkshire Fire and rescue services of England Organisations based in England with royal patronage

Performance

Fire stations and appliances

See also

References

External links