The county has a service area of 1,044 square miles and a population of approximately 662,000 people. The service has been labelled as ‘urban with significant rural’ by the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. The map below (sourced from the latest online HMICFRS ‘digital analysis pack’) shows Super Output Areas (SOAs) and whether they are classed as ‘rural’ or ‘urban’: the map shows that almost 88% of the county is classed as rural, using Office of National Statistics definitions.

We have 32 pumping appliances across 21 stations throughout Gloucestershire and, as the county is largely rural, 16 of these are staffed entirely by on-call firefighters. Of the remaining five stations, two are staffed by full-time firefighters and three have a mixture of both wholetime and on-call firefighters. These five provide a more immediate response and cover those areas where there is a higher risk of incidents. Ensuring we have the right people, skills, and equipment in the right places is a key part of delivering an effective emergency service.