Attending fires

When you dial 999 and ask for the Fire Service, your call is sent to the emergency call handling centre which routes all calls for this area to West Midlands Fire Control. Calls are normally answered within 1 to 5 seconds. Control will confirm with you the address of the incident and help will be despatched immediately.

How does Fire Control make this happen?

When your call is received, Control staff enter details in the Command and Control system.

This automatically finds the closest fire engines and officers to respond, and activates the turnout system at the nearest fire station - turning on the audible alarms, pagers for part-time fire-fighters, lights at night and any other facilities connected to it. The address of the call is sent to the fire station teleprinter, pagers and on selected vehicles, to mobile data terminals.

Control initially mobilise to each incident with a specific response which is called a Pre-Determined Attendance (PDA). The PDA to an incident will vary considerably dependent on many considerations, such as:

• Location
• Type of Incident
• Type of Property (e.g. High Rise/Hospital)
• Crewing (staff) required
• Equipment required
• Communicating with the Firefighters

Fire and Rescue operate 2 radio channels within their vehicles and all officers and appliances attending incidents can keep Control informed of where they are and what they are doing.

When they arrive at the incident, they may require more assistance and this is requested over the radio scheme. All requests for further assistance are monitored by Fire Control as they have a complete overview of all the resources which are available in the area and the neighbouring counties and can quickly mobilise additional fire engines to support those in attendance.

To ensure that all details, such as road and place names, are communicated accurately, Control use the nationally recognised phonetic alphabet.

How is cover maintained?

One of the important jobs that Fire Control staff have to do is to make sure that cover is maintained at fire stations. Control staff can make standby moves, mobilising fire engines to other fire stations to ensure that they are available for subsequent incidents.

How are False Alarms dealt with?

Every call and radio message is automatically recorded. This information can be used as evidence. People making malicious false alarm calls can be prosecuted.

False calls reduce availability and increase response times for real emergency situations.

Contact Details

West Midlands Fire Service Headquarters
Lancaster Circus,
Queensway,
Birmingham B4 7DE

Tel: 0121 380 7404 - In an emergency, dial 999.
Email: contact@wmfs.net
Website: www.wmfs.net