The Fire Services Act 1947 created the Fife Fire and Rescue Service which is the statutory fire and rescue service of Fife, Scotland. It is in-charge of 1,300 kilometers square area with a 345,600 population. The service is not split into area commands like some other fire services in UK.
The service takes a variety of tasks like fire prevention, fire protection, putting out fires, search and rescue operations, raod accidents, community safety, etc.
It has 14 fire stations in operation and most of them are operating based on a retained duty system which means to say the retained firefighters live nearby the stations so they can come over within 5 minutes after a call is received. The 5 fulltime operating stations are located Pitreavie, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy, Lochgelly and Methil. The other 8 stations are crewed by retained firefighters and they are installed in Anstruther, Auchtermuchty, Burntisland, CUpar, Newburg, St. Andrews, St. Monans and in Tayport.
The headquarters is at Thornton and it employs approximately 550 staff.
