Increased fire brigade cover for Yate, Chipping Sodbury and surrounding area

Avon Fire & Rescue Service has announced that it will be expanding its fire cover by crewing Yate Fire Station 24 hours a day, in preparation for the expected increases in local population.

At the moment firefighters work out of the station between 8am and 5pm, with retained firefighters on call for the night shifts, responding to 999 calls from home or work via a pager.

From Thursday 1 January Yate Fire Station will be crewed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by a Wholetime Duty System, supported during peak times by their Retained Duty colleagues.

This is similar to the Bath and Weston-super-Mare stations, which have Wholetime and Retained Duty firefighters working together to protect the community.

Yate Fire Station Manager Steve Kendrick said: "I am delighted that Avon Fire & Rescue Service is expanding its resources at Yate Fire Station. We are hoping the new arrangements will mean we can spend more time working with community groups and members of the public to highlight fire safety messages. The changes will also mean we can be more flexible when offering free Home Fire Safety Visits, booking appointments at a more convenient time for members of the public."

"Obviously this means local groups can now use the Community Safety Centre in the evenings, which has a free meeting room and Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities. There will also be facilities for the local Police Community Support Officers so that they can use the fire station as a base."

Author's note: This is a nice meeting room if you want a good venue for a committee meeting - recommended.