Date: 24th October, 2016
The Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service, Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP, visited Marlborough Community Fire Station on Friday (21 October) as part of a visit to the area.
Mr Lewis said: “During my visit to Dorset and Wiltshire, I had the pleasure of learning about the important work that has been on-going at the Fire and Rescue Authority since the merger in April this year, as well as seeing first hand one of the country’s designated flood response stations and the specialist equipment it has available for communities in the event of a flood.”
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority Chairman, Cllr Rebecca Knox, said: “We were delighted to welcome the Minister to Marlborough Fire Station and have the opportunity to discuss with him the positive outcomes of our recent combination and showcasing how we believe we are leading the way in terms of modernising the fire service and progressing our collaboration work with partners.”
Chief Fire Officer Darran Gunter said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the recently appointed Minister to Marlborough. We took the opportunity to provide him with an update on our new safety centre at Wroughton, our work on strengthening the on-call retained duty system that currently operates over 80% of our Service, and the Minister was able to see what life is like as an on-call firefighter in Marlborough through discussions with the crew and demonstrations.”
Mr Lewis received a guided tour of the fire station and community elements, and was given information on rural fire safety, the Service’s youth engagement programmes and road safety initiatives.