The unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington all compose the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service which is headed by Chief Fire Officer Paul Hancock. It is jointly manages by the councilors from the local communities of Cheshire, Halton, and Warrington. Therefore, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is headed by the Chief Fire Officer and the Service Management Team.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is responsible to 984,300 people living in 2, 334 square kilometers. That is why it has employed over 980 staff to look after the region. Other risks include the large urban areas of Warrington and Cheshire as well as the motorways and airports and the petrochemical industries.
The force performs a variety of tasks. It is not only inclined to saving burned houses or putting out fires but they also rescue people trapped in buildings and/or vehicles, road traffic accidents, people trapped in machines, chemical spills and toxic emissions. It is also inclined to community fire safety which means that they have initiatives to educate and inform the public about fire prevention measures. As a matter of fact, the force has received a number of awards over the years. Last year, they received the Innovation Strategy At A Local Level 2010 and British Safety Councils International Safety Award 2010 while this year they, so far they received the Fire Service of the Year 2011 and the Best Partnership Project 2011.
24 stations are installed in the four unitary areas and the headquarters is based at Winsford. 7 stations at Chester, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Warrington and Wildnes are all operating 24 hours a day. 1 station is open 24 hours with a supporting on-call personnel; 6 stations at Congleton, Knutsford, Northwich, Stockton Heath, Wilmslow, Winsford, and Birchwood are crewed only at daytime. And the rest 10 stations located at Audlem, Bollington, Frodsham, Holmes Chapel, Malpas, Middlewich, Nanatwich, Poynton, Sandbach, and Tarporley are all crewed by retained or on-call firefighters who just live nearby and can come to the station within 5 minutes after a call is received.
There are 36 fire equipments as well as other specialized equipments like the hydraulic platforms, hazardous material units, and command units.
