Recognising excellence

Technology has always been an important part of the Fire and Rescue Service. Over the decades, it has adopted new technologies to combat the changing nature of emergency rescues.

And technology is now embedded in all emergency services, from AI-driven breathing apparatus that pushes data directly to the wearer to drones that identify hazards that human eyes simply cannot see.

The real question is not whether this new technology works, but when are all services going to adopt it?

In this month’s Fire, we look at the critical part drone technology plays in fire and rescue. To that end, I spoke with Lee Newman and Darryl Ashford-Smith, two veterans of the emergency services, who are behind the UK Emergency Robotics Responders Organisation (UKERRO).

Newman first realised the importance of drones after seeing them used in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy; while Ashford-Smith recognised their importance as part of his work with Scottish Mountain Rescue.

Both could see that drones will help the Fire and Rescue Service to improve its situational awareness in incidents and potentially make the difference between life and death.

Several years on and the partnership is now behind the UKERRO event that takes place on April 29-30 in Greater Manchester. They’re building off last year’s event with more attendees, sponsors and a host of international speakers.

For Newman, drones are now an integral part of the emergency service’s toolkit. Drones see what people can’t – and process that information faster. The issue for Newman and Ashford-Smith is what are the reasons for various fire and rescue service’s failure to adopt them? The full story is on page 23.

March 8 was International Women’s Day and to celebrate the event we profile two women in the Fire and Rescue Service who have done a huge job in promoting women in fire and leadership positions – although neither would necessarily want to put themselves forward as champions.

Louise Harrison took up her post as CEO and CFO at Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service in December 2023, in circumstances that would have tested anyone: the Service was in special measures, the senior leadership team bruised, and her own appointment was immediately challenged on the grounds that she had never fought a fire. By her own admission, it was terrifying.

What followed during the next two years was a systematic, painstaking effort to rebuild governance, restore transparency and bring the service back to a level of performance that satisfied HMICFRS. And by March 2025, BFRS had formally exited special measures.

Harrison’s background in the Merseyside Police – one of the country’s most scrutinised forces – gave her an instinct for accountability under pressure and the kind of institutional honesty that comes from working somewhere regularly challenged from the outside. Whether a non-firefighter can lead a fire service is a question that once generated real debate. Harrison’s story answers it (see page 19).

Meanwhile, Kathryn Billing, CFO at Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, has spent more than 25 years building the same case from the inside. Her perspective is rooted in something deeply personal: a father who believed his daughters could take on anyone and do anything, and a mother who navigated the promotions system at a time when having children was treated as a disqualification.

That upbringing forged someone who does not see barriers and has, consequently, become one of the Service’s more determined advocates for structural change.

These stories sit alongside Michelle Skeer’s appointment as interim head of HMICFRS – the first woman to hold that position – and Frankie Shepherd’s efforts to recruit more women to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (see page 6). Progress is real. It is also, as Billing would say, still insufficient.

Andrew Chilvers

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