FIRE Magazine
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Fire service control room celebrates 40th anniversary
Four decades of taking emergency calls were marked today (Monday 16th Feb) as Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service’s fire control celebrated its 40th anniversary.
The control room brought together the previous centres, based in Peterborough and Cambridge, under one roof as a single control function. It went live in February 1986 at Service Headquarters in Huntingdon, where it remains today.
Colleagues joined Deputy Chief Fire Officer Jon Anderson to celebrate the anniversary with the on duty watch.
He said: “Our Control colleagues are often our Service’s unsung heroes. They are the first point of contact when someone is in desperate need of help, providing a reassuring and calm voice in someone’s chaos and often panic.
“We all recognise that the job is far more than call handling. They will send our fire engines and officers to emergences, ensure there is adequate cover across the county, inform and notify countless colleagues, groups and partner agencies, keep incident logs, manage radio messages and so much more. Teamwork is key, as is resilience, being able to cope under pressure, initiative, decision making and empathy, all qualities our control colleagues have in abundance and demonstrate day in, day out.”
Jon continued: “In just recent years colleagues have faced several different challenges, from getting to grips with a new IT system to take emergency calls and mobilise resources, to seeing repeated record numbers of calls in a day, thanks to heatwaves, floods and Storm Babet. But our Control colleagues have stood up to these challenges and have continued to demonstrate unrivalled commitment, professionalism and dedication to ensure the day job is done, and that whatever happens, our communities receive the very best service we can give.”
Control marked their four-decade milestone with colleagues based at CFRS’s Headquarters in Huntingdon where Control is based. An array of cakes topped the celebrations as conversations marvelled at how much technology had changed in that time!
