News

BBPI's first community fire station, Stafford Rising Brook, went operational last week, less than a year after financial close was reached. This building is one of ten community fire stations in Staffordshire currently being rebuilt or newly developed by Fire Support, led by BBPI. All the stations have been designed with community and state of the art operational facilities and stations crewed around the clock are also to include fitness facilities that can be used by supervised groups. Community groups will have access to the facilities and the new stations will also allow for more safety activities to take place, such as student firefighter courses.

Rising Brook is a retained station in an area where there has never been a fire station. A whole new team of firefighters was recruited and trained; the recruitment process started over two years prior to the station opening and once trained, the firefighters spent time each month with wholetime crews to gain operational experience.

Key Milestones

Key milestones in the project have been celebrated at all of the stations undergoing construction. Sod cuttings, brick layings and the start of demolition work have been promoted through the local media in order to keep local people informed. This has created a sense of anticipation amongst the communities, who have all been invited to contribute to time capsules that are being placed under each new community fire station.

BBPI's Ian Bolden, General Manager for Fire Support said: “Since Financial Close in October 2009 seven of the ten fire stations have commenced construction on time and despite the snow in January and February, they have been kept on programme. I believe this is down to a true partnership approach in which design changes and construction difficulties have been overcome with the Authority and the FM Contractor, Cofely. Initial reaction on Stafford Rising Brook from all parties, including the Fire Authority, has been more than enthusiastic. This is an exciting venture for all stakeholders and will no doubt be watched by Fire Authorities all over the UK.”