Ryde Fire Station is now home to 4 watches – Blue, Green, Red and White – as it becomes the Island’s second wholetime station, enabling a 24/7 immediate response to those in the town and further afield.
In January last year, it was announced that Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service was to conduct a risk review of its operations to identify how it can best meet the evolving and unique needs and risks of the Isle of Wight now and in the future.
Ahead of that review being completed, a decision has been made to invest in more full-time firefighters at Ryde to ensure the station can provide an immediate response to incidents at all times of the day and night.
Until now, Ryde has been day crewed only between 07:00-19:00, 7 days a week – a step up from the 09:00-17:00, 5 days a week cover provided in years gone by. But thanks to this new investment, Ryde is now a wholetime station and is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This has been achieved by splitting watches in half and introducing new faces too.
This significant change has become all the more important due to the unavailability of flank station Bembridge, which has effectively been mothballed in recent years. East Cowes Fire Station – the flank station to the West – has also temporarily closed with the building demolished.
The only wholetime station on the Island until now had been Newport. However, unlike Newport, Ryde’s firefighters are responding to medical emergencies on behalf of the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service too. This means, at times, they are unavailable to immediately respond to fire and rescue shouts.
Ryde – known as Station JH74 – still maintains a retained (or on-call) duty system to support the wholetime operation. Retained firefighters are paged to respond to the Nicholson Road-based station to man the second away pump or special appliances such as the Aerial Ladder Platform and Mass Decontamination Unit.
Chris Thearle, Station Manager for Ryde Fire Station, says:
“This is a fantastic addition for not only Ryde but also for the wider island community. This long-term investment has demonstrated the service’s commitment to the island and will give greater flexibility and resilience in how we operate, ultimately making our crews and members of the public safer.”
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is also making a multi-million-pound investment in its fire station buildings. This includes upgrades to Newport and Ryde fire stations to create modern and fit-for-purpose workplaces, including improvements to contamination management and inclusive welfare facilities for crews.
As well as recent investment in stations and staffing, the service has purchased a number of new Volvo fire appliances. The first 2 CAFS pumps (foam equipped) have already been delivered to Newport and Ryde, with a smaller UHPL-equipped (COBRA) pump now also on the run at Ryde.
??? What do they mean, ‘inclusive welfare facility’s , not starting that 101 sexes cobblers are they. Also,splitting watches in half! So not really improving, just spreading the cover more thinly!!!.. hope I’m wrong, but great to see 24hour cover
It should be.
All we need now are 24 hours a day Police Stations
open 7 days a week like the good old days.
I strongly agree with that and at the same time get some real police with powers of arrest in them. Also it would be great if they were able to use their legs and be able to walk among us.