Kings Langley is one of the most available on-call fire stations in Hertfordshire.
After KingsNews made a Freedom of Information request to Herts County Council, the data shows just how busy firefighters at the station on Common Lane are.
Between January 1 and December 31, 2018, the station on Common Lane was available for 92.11 per cent of the year – around 336 days.
Manned by around 12 firefighters, they attended 204 calls which included 47 special services (lifesaving operations), 40 false alarms (good intent), 33 primary fires, 24 secondary fires, 23 operational standbys, 21 false alarm (automatic fire alarm), 13 mobilisations associated with training, exercises and tests, two false alarms (malicious) and one chimney fire.
The on-call station has four full-time firefighters who live in the area.
Their other colleagues include a part-time accounts manager, a contractor for BT, two electricians, a train driver and a train driver in training.
George Tucker, an on-call firefighter at the station, said: “I retired from being a police officer and I do this and run my own company.
“We have a range of professions and other on-call stations have a similar mix of background and occupations like contractors and school caretakers.
“That’s how we get our coverage by having that mix of people who are doing various things.
“Some people are always out of the village and others are available.”
He added: “No such beast is a typical week, we have had whole weeks without a call, and we’ve had five or six calls in a day.
“It really depends on all sorts of things beyond our control.
On average we’ll get between four or five calls a week, but the only regular and predictable thing is you’ll be surprised by what happens and what you go to deal with.”
0 Comments