The service was created in 1948 as the Suffolk & Ipswich Fire Service but the name was changed into Suffolk Fire Service after the 1974 Local Government Review. Then, it was changed again into its present name after the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 in order to mirror its present responsibilities. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service of Suffolk in East Anglia, England.
The service has 35 operational stations installed all around the county. There are 4 stations operating 24 hours daily; 3 stations operating only at daytime; and the remaining 28 stations are operating on a retained/on-call duty system. All stations have on-call sections. The retained firefighters live nearby the stations so they can come over within 5 minutes after a call is received.
The stations at Colchester Road, Ipswich which has 2 Rescue Water Ladders, Rescue Water Tender, Turntable Ladder, Operational Support Unit and Incident Response Unit; at Princess Street, Ipswich wich owns 2 Water Rescue Ladder, Enhanced Rescue Tender, and Water Rescue Unit; and at Bury St. Edmunds which owns 2 Water Rescue Ladder, Enhanced Rescue Tender, Turntable Ladder, Water Rescue Unit, and a Unimog; and at Stradbroke Road, South Lowestoft which has 2 Water Rescue Ladders, Enhanced Rescue Tender, Water Rescue Unit, and a Unimog are all operating on a wholetime schedule.
For daytime crewed stations, they are at Felixstowe, Haverhill, and at Newmarket. For stations operating on a retained duty system the stations are in Aldeburgh, Beccles, Brandon, Bungay, Clare, Debenham, Elmswell, Eye, Framlingham, Hadleigh, Halesworth, Holbrook, Ixworth, Leiston, Long Melford, Mildenhall, Normanhurst, Nayland, Needham Market, Orford, Saxmundham, Southwold, Stowmarket, Stradbroke, Sudbury, Wickhambrook, Woodbridge, and Wrentham.
