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.
For over 160 years, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary independently assessed and reported on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces and policing, in the public interest.
In summer 2017, HMIC (now HMICFRS) took on inspections of England’s fire & rescue services, assessing and reporting on their efficiency, effectiveness and leadership.
