West Midlands Fire Service


West Midlands Fire Service is the fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of West Midlands, England. The service is the second largest in England, after London Fire Brigade. The service has 38 Fire Stations with a blended fleet of vehicles and specialist resources.
The service is currently led by Chief Fire Officer Phil Loach, who is overseen by the West Midlands Fire Authority. The Fire Authority is made up of 15 councillors who represent the 7 councils within the West Midlands area. The Service's headquarters is located in Nechells in Birmingham, which is also the home to Staffordshire and West Midlands Fire Control. The control room, based at West Midlands Fire Service headquarters is the main incident management and mobilising centre for both West Midlands Fire Service and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Workstreams

The service divides its main functions into 3 areas. Response, prevention and protection.
Response covers responding to emergencies, risk-based attendance standards, dynamic mobilising and Fire Control. Prevention covers their up-stream firefighting work that includes safe and well visits, community engagement, vulnerable persons officers and other individual and home-based fire prevention work. Protection covers their work around commercial and business fire safety, licensing and safety around buildings such as high-rise and apartment blocks.

Vehicles

West Midlands Fire Service currently operates a fleet of 39 PRLs, 19 BRVs, 4 HPs and 3 BSVs in addition to various specialist appliances and transport vehicles.

Chief Fire Officers

The following people have held the office of Chief Fire Officer:
  • 2014 to present: Phil Loach
  • 2009 to 2013: Vijith Randeniya OBE
  • 2003 to 2008: Frank Sheehan
  • 1998 to 2003: Kenneth Knight
  • 1990 to 1998: Graham Meldum
  • 1981 to 1990: Brian Fuller
  • 1975 to 1981: Tom Lister CBE
  • 1974 to 1975: George Merrell CBE

    Role system

As with many other fire services, West Midlands Fire Service uses a rank structure that has evolved over time – the original titles are still used by some brigades.
Former titleCurrent title
FirefighterFirefighter
Leading FirefighterCrew Commander
Sub-OfficerWatch Commander A
Station OfficerWatch Commander B
Assistant Divisional OfficerStation Commander
Divisional OfficerGroup Commander
Senior Divisional OfficerArea Commander
Assistant Chief OfficerAssistant Chief Fire Officer
Deputy Chief OfficerDeputy Chief Fire Officer
Chief Fire OfficerChief Fire Officer

Fire Stations/Appliances

West Midlands Fire Service has no retained on-call firefighters. All fire stations within the service are full-time, and work on 2 types of shift:
  • CORE - covered by 4 watches, comprising Red, White, Blue and Green:
10-hour day-shift.
or 14-hour shift-night shift.
  • LATE - covered by 2 Watches of Orange and Purple:
12-hour shift running from 10AM to 10PM.
Tettenhall is the only solely late crewed station, and therefore Wolverhampton covers the area at night.

Birmingham City Centre is covered by 3 stations: Aston located and covering the northern side, Highgate located and covering the southern, central and eastern sides, and Ladywood covering the western side.

Station CallsignStation NameDuty SystemAppliances
A02AstonCore1x PRL, 1x BRV
A03Sutton ColdfieldCore1x PRL
A04ErdingtonCore1x PRL
A05Perry BarrCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x PM*, pods: 2x FDU, 1x WSU
A06Ward EndCore1x PRL, 1x BRV
A07HandsworthCore/Late/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x ICU, 1x WFU
B01SolihullCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL,1x BRV, 1x CSV*
B02SheldonCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x HVPSV, 2x PM*, pods: 1x HVP, 1x HVHL, 1x MDD, 1x MDR
B03CoventryCore2x PRL, 1x HP, 1x BSV
B04CanleyCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x WFU
B05FoleshillCore1x PRL, 1x BRV
B06BinleyCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV
B07Bickenhill/TRUCore/Cross Crewed*1x TRP, 1x TRS, 1x L4V, 1x PM*, pods: 1x MRU, 1x TRU, 1x WSU
B07Bickenhill/USARCross Crewed1x PCV, 1x SDU, 4x PM, modules: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
C01HighgateCore2x PRL, 1x HP
C02Woodgate ValleyCore1x PRL
C03SmethwickCore1x PRL, pod: 1x MPV
C04BournbrookCore1x PRL, 1x ICU
C05Kings NortonCore1x PRL
C06NorthfieldCore1x PRL, 1x BRV
C07LadywoodCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x BSV
C08BillesleyCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV
C09Hay MillsCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x DIM* 1x PM*, pods 1x BASU, 1x EPU, 1x GPU, 1x HSU, 1x ISU, 1x WFU
D01OldburyCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x HP
D02Brierley HillCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV
D03Haden CrossCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV
D05StourbridgeCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x IRU*
D07TiptonCore1x PRL
D08West BromwichCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x BRV, 1x BSV.
D09DudleyCore/Late1x PRL, 1x BRV
E01WalsallCore/Cross Crewed*2x PRL, 1x HP
E02BloxwichCore1x PRL
E03WillenhallCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x PM*, pods: 1x EPU, 1x HSU, 1x ISU
E04AldridgeCore1x PRL
E05WolverhamptonCore1x PRL, 1x BRV
E06Fallings ParkCore1x PRL, 1x BRV
E07BilstonCore/Cross Crewed*1x PRL, 1x CSV*
E08TettenhallLate1x PRL
E09Wednesbury/TRUCore1x TRP, 1x TRS, 1x WSU

Fire Appliance Glossary/Callsigns

*
*
*
*

  • Pump Rescue Ladder : 1 / 2
  • Brigade Response Vehicle : 5
  • Hydraulic platform : 4
  • Business Support Vehicle : 9
  • Incident Command & Control Unit : 7
  • Command Support Vehicle : 7
  • High Volume Support Pump Vehicle
  • Prime Mover : 8 / M32 / M96
Pods:

  • Hazardous substances Environmental Protection Unit
  • Foam Distribution Unit
  • General Purpose Unit
  • High Volume Hose Layer
  • High Volume Pump

  • Incident Support Unit
  • Major Rescue Unit
  • Multi Purpose Vehicle Carrier
  • Water Support Unit
  • Welfare support unit
  • Welfare Unit

    Technical Rescue Unit

  • Technical Rescue Pump : 1
  • Technical Rescue Support
  • Light 4x4 Vehicle
  • Prime Mover : 8

Pods:
  • Major Rescue Unit
  • Trench Rescue Unit
  • Water Support Unit

    Urban Search & Rescue

  • Personnel Carrier Vehicle
  • Search & Rescue Dog Unit
  • Prime Mover : M98 / M121 / M122 / M123

Pods:

  • Module 1 - Technical Search Equipment
  • Module 2 - Heavy Transport, Confined Space & Hot Cutting Equipment
  • Module 3 - Breaching & Breaking Equipment
  • Module 4 - Multi Purpose Vehicle
  • Module 5 - Shoring Operations

    CBRN Response

  • Detection, Identification & Monitoring : M4
  • Incident Response Unit : M45 / M62
  • Prime Mover : M32 / M96

Pods:

  • Mass Decontamination Disrobe
  • Mass Decontamination Rerobe

    Specialist Units

Technical Rescue Unit

Operating out of two locations, a primary base at Bickenhill fire station and a satellite base at Wednesbury fire station, the WMFS Technical Rescue Unit has purpose-built facilities to train in all specialist rescue disciplines, providing a local, regional and national response 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to any USAR/widescale flooding incident as well as the support necessary for specialist rescue incidents.
The team is made up of a Station Commander, Administration Officer, Equipment Maintenance Officer, USAR Training Officer, Search Dog Handler, and four watches each made up of a Watch Commander, Crew Commander and six Technicians. A further four watches are based at Wednesbury.
With shifts running along with the same colour watches as the core fire crews, watch based personnel work a 96-hour duty period with 48 hours on full duty and the remainder on the retained cover. Retained personnel can respond to base within 30 minutes of being required for multiple incident deployment.
The unit makes use of a wide range of vehicles and equipment to carry out their role. Each TRU base has two primary response vehicles:
  • Technical Rescue Support Unit – this 4x4 Mercedes Sprinter van provides a fast response capability for water, rope, and large animal rescues to get initial personnel and equipment to an incident as fast as possible.
  • Technical Response Pump – based on a modified Volvo FL Pump Rescue Relay, this appliance carries enhanced rescue equipment at the expense of some fire fighting equipment. This will respond to life-threatening incidents in the local station ground alongside the regular TRU callouts.
Additional vehicles and equipment that are based at Bickenhill:
  • 4 New Dimension Prime Movers – modified to be able to transport both New Dimension and regular WMFS demountable pods to the scene of an incident.
  • 5 Urban Search and Rescue Modules.
  • 1 Trench Rescue Unit.
Additional vehicles and equipment that are based at Wednesbury:
  • 1 Water Support Unit.

    West Midlands UK-ISAR

The United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to humanitarian accidents or disasters anywhere in the world. There are 18 team members in West Midland Fire Services UK-ISAR, split into a Red Team and a Blue Team. The role of the team is to respond to support the UK Government when deploying personnel and equipment in response to international disasters such as earthquakes.
When on international call, a deployment is made of a team of six including the team leader from one of the groups and a Group Commander to act as the Operations Commander or Deployment Commander in charge of the UK International Search & Rescue Group.
The team should arrive in the affected country within 24 hours of the disaster occurring and be self-sufficient for periods of up to 10 days. Extensive specialist training over and above that normally required for firefighters is given to all team members.
12 members of the West Midlands team were deployed as part of the UKISAR mission to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there on 12 January 2010. The team were joined by 2 further members who had been in Sweden as part of a training exercise at the time of the earthquake. The team were involved in the rescue of several people, including two-year-old Mia, who had been trapped for over four days.

Fire Investigation and Prevention Section (FIPS)

The Fire Investigation and Prevention Section was the first one formed in the United Kingdom in 1983, and in 25 years has attended over 8,000 incidents.
FIPS investigates the cause of fire in a variety of different types of incidents including large fires, fires where the cause cannot be immediately determined, and fires where people may have been injured or died.
FIPS works closely with the Police, other Services, and organisations such as insurance companies when investigating fires. The officers also work on special projects including arson reduction policies and strategies, human behaviour in fire, the main causes of fire, and the compilation of any information to identify trends in fire causes. This information is vital when undertaking targeted initiatives and campaigns relating to the education of fire safety awareness.

Notable Incidents

  • Disused Factory, Thimblemill Lane, Nechells – June 1985 – 30 Pump Fire, five-storey factory building destroyed.
  • Shannons Mill, Walsall – 2007 – 25 Pump fire. 3 Storey, listed, former leather tanning workshop.
  • Cornwall Road, Smethwick – 2009 – 25 Pump Fire, 2 Large Factories fully involved in fire.
  • Dartmouth Road, Smethwick – 2013 – 35 Pump Fire, 50,000 tonnes of plastic and Jayplas plastics and paper recycling plant on fire.

    Recruitment controversy

In January 2019 it was alleged that West Midlands Fire Service was using discriminatory practices in recruitment of new firefighters. Once candidates had passed a reactions test, they moved on to a numerical, verbal and mechanical reasoning exam. Media reports stated that ethnic minorities and females taking this test were deemed to have passed should they achieve a score of 60%. However, it was claimed that white male candidates were required to score at least 70%. Member of parliament David Davies condemned the policy, stating "It's totally bonkers. They should just be picking the best man or woman for the job. They shouldn't be lowering the target for anyone just to meet a target." The service has target of 60% of new recruits to be female by 2021 and 35% to be ethnic minorities. In repose to criticism, the organisation did not comment on whether it had different pass marks for different groups, stating "West Midlands Fire Service is committed to a workforce which reflects the diversity of all our communities" and "our recruitment shows our determination to challenge outdated perceptions about who can – and can’t – be a firefighter."