The Brigade's History
Organised firefighting in the Falkland Islands, a UK Overseas Territory, began in February 1898 with the formation of the "Stanley Volunteer Fire Brigade", served by a Merryweather and Son Greenwich Gem appliance.
In 1928, the first petrol driven machines, a Merryweather Hatfield Trailer Pump and Foamite Firefoam chemical engine Mode1 D, arrived on the Islands and in 1958 a Godiva Coventry Climax Trailer was introduced. After the 1982 conflict, a Carmichael Bedford Type B Water Tender arrived, followed by a second appliance in 1984.
The Stanley Fire Brigade remained a voluntary service until January 1985 when the Falkland Islands Government appointed a superintendent of Fire Services. The Falklands Fire Service became a stand-alone department in 1986, when the title of Superintendent was changed to Chief Fire Officer. In 2002 the Airport Fire Service was amalgamated into the Falkland Islands Fire and Rescue Service.
Most standard UK Home Office regulations are maintained, although some differ, mainly due to logistical problems. For HAZCHEM support and advice, the resources of Hampshire F&R Service are used.
Fire Risk & Response
The Falkland Islands experience frequent strong winds and because most of the buildings are constructed from timber and plasterboard, with corrugated iron for roofing, the risk of actual fire and subsequent fire spread is high. This is common knowledge amongst the Islanders so fire prevention is well publicised and well practised.
The Falkland Islands Fire and Rescue Service can and will respond to an incident anywhere in the Islands - in one case this resulted in a four day-long attendance! Crews can be ferried by helicopter to remote locations or indeed to incidents at sea; it is aimed to ensure all personnel are trained in dealing with ship fires. Sadly, on 21 May 1989, two members of the service were killed attending a maritime incident.
The last major incidents to take place occurred in April 1984 when the hospital in Stanley was severely damaged in a blaze that also left eight dead and in January 1989 when a person was killed in a fire caused by an electrical fault. Since then, with the exception of the two Firefighters mentioned above, no lives have been lost from fire anywhere in the Islands.
Today's Brigade
The Falkland Islands Fire and Rescue Service consists of the following staff:
Domestic Section
- Chief Fire Officer
- Station Officer / Commander (CFO's deputy for Domestic services)
- 1 Sub Officer
- 1 leading firefighter who will hold the rank of Sub Officer upon completion of training
- 40 retained personnel, of which 4 are female, split into 4 watches
- 4 retained leading Firefighters
Aviation Section
- Chief Fire Officer
- Airport Fire Officer (CFO's deputy for Aviation services)
- 3 Firefighters
- 1 Part-time to cover weekends to ensure manning levels are maintained
The Stanley Station is manned from 0800-1630 Monday to Friday. The station remains unmanned at night and at weekends, however there is always a watch on call, which consists of one full-time and three retained members.
Mobilising of personnel and radio monitoring is the responsibility of the Royal Falkland Islands Police who have a 24-hour manned ops room and receive the 999 calls. On receipt of a call, the Police will page the on-call Fire Officer. The response will be dependent on the information received.
The Airport section operates five days a week in the winter (April – September) and seven days a week in the summer (October – March). Airport Firefighters also attend the Domestic section.
Although the Stanley airport is a Category 2 aerodrome, all the firefighters are trained to Category 9/10. The airport staff also have the responsibility of maintaining firefighting equipment based at 35 remote grass airstrips and to provided the training on the equipment supplied.
The Fire Station in St Mary's Walk, Stanley, was occupied in 1988, although it has no drill tower or BA (breathing apparatus) training complex (old WWII bunkers deputise). However the station has its own workshops and BA charging and maintenance facilities, and holds over 80 BA cylinders, numerous Lightweight Portable Pumps and in excess of 28,000 litres of foam concentrate in store. An exhaust extractor system is installed in the main appliance bay.
The Command Group carries out all servicing of fire fighting equipment and hydrant testing but, unusually, all of the appliances' major maintenance as well. This is to save on the cost of sending mechanics out from the UK. They also service the fire extinguishers for all Falkland Island Government Departments and Agencies. A trailer containing an inflatable air shelter is kept at the fire station for use in the event of a major incident.
