16th June 2011

WEYMOUTH: Celebratory opening for new fire station

By Harry Walton

WEYMOUTH’S new £8.5 million community fire station on Radipole Lane will be officially opened on July 19th.

The previous day will see Blue Watch become the first crew to officially carry out their duties on the state of the art new site – twice the size of the old one at Boot Hill -- which will become fully operational after five years of planning.

Apart from the new fire station the site will offer many opportunities for the local and wider community with the building housing a variety of rooms for promoting safety to education and wider community use.

There will also be a fitness room, IT suite, kitchens and cafeteria for community use, a multi-purpose hall with a sprung floor and staging, two community rooms, meeting rooms and a universal room.

At the heart of the new facility will be FireWise, an innovative and compelling learning opportunity where visitors experience realistic fire scenarios to help them to learn how to keep themselves safe.

FireWise consists of three rooms; ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ the fire and is aimed at educating the public by showing them the devastating effects of fire. Groups will be able to view the rooms from behind fully fire-safe glass, watch as the fire takes hold in the room and see the devastating effects in the ‘after’ suite.

Chief Fire Officer Darran Gunter said: “Our new community fire station will provide a first class hub from which we can not only respond to emergency incidents, but also work with local communities within Weymouth and West Dorset to educate people in a wide range of life skills and general safety.

“It is a stunning example of a modern fire and rescue service protecting their local communities with a balance of prevention and response activities.”

People can get a first hand experience of the new fire station on July 23rd from 10am-4pm when a fair opened by double Olympic sailing gold medallist Sarah Ayton launches the facility.

People can tour the building, see the FireWise demonstration, ask any questions they have and enjoy live demonstrations by fire crews in the yard and tower areas, face-painting, FireFit, café, fire engines old and new, police dog displays and many other attractions.

Community safety education officer Dave Allen said: “We are really looking forward to opening the new facility and welcoming members of the public and community groups to what we have to offer.

“If anyone is interested in committing a few hours of their day per week, we are also looking for volunteers to help out in the café, on reception and in other key areas so please do get in touch if you are interested on [email protected] or call 07917 184189.”

WEYMOUTH: Celebratory opening for new fire station

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