Quick Facts

Date formed:
1st April 1948 (originally named “Essex Fire Brigade”)

Purpose:
To protect and save life, property and the environment

Area covered:
366,980 hectares, across 14 local authority areas:
· Basildon
· Braintree
· Brentwood
· Castle Point
· Chelmsford
· Colchester
· Epping
· Harlow
· Maldon
· Rochford
· Southend
· Thurrock
· Tendring
· Uttlesford

Population of the area covered by ECFRS
1.688 million (source: Office for National Statistics mid-2007 population estimates)

Other offices: 
1 Headquarters building (Kelvedon)
1 Control centre and offices (Hutton)
1 Service Workshops (Lexden, Colchester)
5 Training sites (Basildon, Chelmsford, Orsett, Wethersfield and Witham)
7 Community Command Headquarters

Fire appliances in use:
89 rescue pumps
39 water tenders
21 special appliances
6 boats (inland water rescue)

Staff:
1,441 firefighters (923 wholetime and 518 retained)
46 Control personnel
253 Support staff

Response:
On average, we attend 24,490 incidents a year (67 a day), based on the last 10 years’ activity

Fire stations:
51, of which:
· 13 are wholetime (a crew is based at the station at all times)
· 33 are retained (the crew responds to emergencies from their home or place of work, nearby)
· 5 are day crewed (wholetime during the day, retained at night)