Prior to 1947, various fire independent services were formulated which were administered by volunteers in villages, towns and cities throughout Cumbria. Then in 1974, Cumbria Fire Service was born as a result to the reorganization of the local government and it included Cumberland Fire Service, Westmoreland Fire Service, Carlisle and Barrow Fire Services and some areas in Lanchashire and Yorkshire. It was only in 2005 that the service changed its name into Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.
The service has 38 operational fire stations of which 6- Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Kendal, Whitehaven, Workington and Penrith- are crewed 24 hours and the remaining 32- Ambleside, Arnside, Broughton-in-Furness, Coniston, Dalton-in-Furness, Grange-over-Sands, Kirkby Lonsdale, Milnthorpe, Sedbergh, Staveley, Ulverston, Walney, Windermere, Alston, Appleby, Brampton, Kirkby Stephen, Lazonby, Longtown, Patterdale, Penrith, Shap, Aspatria, Bootle, Cockermouth, Egremont, Frizington, Keswick, Maryport, Millom, Seascale, Silloth, and Wigton- are crewed by retained or on-call firefighters. The headquarters can be found at the central Cockermouth and the training center is at Penrith.
