Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
HMICFRS region and HMI
- His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services (HMI): Kathryn Stone is HMI for Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service
- HMICFRS region: The service is in HMICFRS’s Western fire region
HMICFRS’s assessment of Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Service
Our Fire and Rescue Service assessments give you information about how your local fire and rescue service has performed in several important areas. In our latest assessments of Devon and Somerset FRS, we made the following graded judgments:
About the service
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service is the largest non-metropolitan fire and rescue service in England. It works to protect the 1.7 million people who live in Devon and Somerset. An additional 400,000 people visit the region every year.
The service aims to secure properties from damage of flood or fires, provide specialist animal rescue and respond to medical trauma on behalf of the South West Ambulance Service Trust.
Fire officers liaise with organisations to ensure that their buildings are adhering to fire safety legislation. They also visit homes and give safety advice and install smoke alarms.
The service also carries out school educational visits, road traffic collision educational programmes, youth inclusion programmes, arson reduction programmes and targeted home safety visits.
The service has 84 stations, the second largest number in England.
Connect with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
Recent news
- Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has improved in some areas, but further progress is needed in prioritising fire prevention
- Fire and Rescue Services make progress to improve culture, but more must be done to tackle unacceptable behaviour
- Terms of reference: Home Secretary’s commission for a thematic inspection of the handling of misconduct in fire and rescue services
- Fire and Rescue Services improving – but more change urgently needed
- Chief Inspector: Fire and Rescue Services are improving, but more change is urgently required
Recent publications
- Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2023–2025: Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
- Standards of behaviour: The handling of misconduct in fire and rescue services
- Terms of reference: Home Secretary’s commission for a thematic inspection of the handling of misconduct in fire and rescue services
- Fire and Rescue Service inspections 2021/22 – Round 2, Tranche 2
- Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2021/22 – Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service