Today we joined together to wish Chief Fire Officer Stuart Errington a long and happy retirement, following his last day at Fire HQ.
Stuart, our first ever “home grown” Chief, followed in his father Eddie’s footsteps joining CDDFRS on 11th January 1993 and worked as a firefighter in Newton Aycliffe and Consett before moving up the ranks working at the service’s training centre and eventually taking a secondment to work for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and leading on a Fire Control National Project. After re-joining the service, Stuart was promoted to Head of Risk in 2007. In 2012, he was appointed as Deputy Chief Fire Officer, becoming Chief Fire Officer in 2016.
Stuart has overseen the building of the service’s state-of-the-art training centre at Bowburn, as well as new and improved fire stations across the estate. He has prided himself in ensuring the service has some of the best equipment in the country resulting in CDDFRS being one of the most productive and well-equipped fire and rescue services in the UK.
Stuart officially retires at the beginning of January and will spend his last official day at work tomorrow on shift at Peterlee Fire Station with his son, Alex, who is an apprentice firefighter.
CFO Errington commented: “It has been a huge honour and privilege to be Chief Fire Officer for the past seven and a half years and to serve the communities of County Durham and Darlington for over 30 years.
“The whole team, and what we achieve everyday is very special and I am certain that the service will continue to focus on being the best fire and rescue service in the UK.
“I would like thank everyone who has supported me in my career and wish you all every success in the future.”
For the last time, over and out.
