Hythe was the first town in Kent to form its own fire brigade in 1802 and it was succeeded by Ashford 24 years after. Several fire services were formed by the 20th century: Maidstone created its fire service in 1901, Bromley in 1910, etc.
The Fire Service Act 1947 permits the local authorities of 146 countries and county boroughs in England and Wales to supervise and control their fire services effective on April 1 1948. Thus, Kent, the City, and the County Borough of Canterbury united to form Kent Fire Brigade which covers 79 stations from the National Fire Service.
Local governments were reorganized subsequently which greatly affected the structures and jurisdictions of fire services, particularly in 1965 when the newly created Greater London took over the 8 fire stations in the Northwest of Kent. Due to further reorganizations, Kent and Medway Towns unitary authority jointly administered the brigade.
The name was changed into Kent Fire and Rescue Service on October 1, 2003 to mirror the responsibilities and roles the service has.
Today, Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service of Kent which covers 3,710 kilometers square and it is responsible to 1.65 million residents. It shares boundaries with London Fire Brigade, Surrey and East Sussex. The headquarters is based in Maidstone and it is headed by Chief Fire Officer Charlie Hendry.
The service has 66 operational fire stations of which 14 are operating 24 hours daily, 9 stations are operating only at daytime and the remaining 43 stations are crewed by on-call or retained firefighters who live nearby the stations so they can come over within 5minutes after a call is received. In addition, Kent is has a USAR or the Urban Search and Rescue station based at Maidstone.
For the wholetime/day-crewed operating stations, they are at Ashford, Larkfield, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Dartford, Faversham, Medway, Sheppey, Sittingbourne, Strood, Thames-side, Canterbury, Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Thanet, Whitstable, and Channel Tunnel.
Futhermore, for station operating based on retained duty system, they are at Aldington, Borough Green, Charing, Chilham, Cranbrook, Edinbridge, Hawkhurst, Headcorn, Horton Kirby, Lenham, Marden, Matfield, Paddock Wood, Rusthall, Seal, Southborough, Swanley, tenterden, Westerham, Wye, Chatham, Cliffe, Eastchurch, Gillingham, Grain, Halling, Hoo, Queenborough, Rainham, Swanscombe, Teynham, Aylesham, Dymchurch, Eastry, Hythe, Lydd, New Romney, Sandwich, St. Margaret’s, Sturry, Westgate, Whitfield, and at Wingham.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service, in partnership with South East Coast Ambulance Service is providing an emergency medical cover to the 6 areas in Kent identified to be needing more ambulance assistance. They give first aid while waiting for the arrival of either the Rapid Response Vehicle or an ambulance. The 6 fire stations operating as co-responders are Edenbridge, Paddock Wood, Eastchurch, Hoo, Eastry, and Dymchurch.
