Ben Cairns joined the Service as the new Director Of Community Risk Management on Monday, July 1, 2024.
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) has appointed Ben Cairns as Director Of Community Risk Management.
The experienced Firefighter started his fire and rescue journey in 1996 as an On-Call Firefighter for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS), after the then 18-year-old’s mum spotted an advert in a local newspaper.
He said: “It wasn’t as romantic a notion as it being a childhood dream, my mother saw a post in the local paper recruiting Retained Firefighters, I didn’t have a clue what they were!”
But it didn’t take Ben long to catch the firefighting bug and just a year later he swapped his day job working as a vehicle technician for a wholetime position and he says the rest is history.
Over the course of his 27-year-long career, Ben’s worked in a variety of roles.
He moved up the ranks in his native NYFRS, eventually taking on the role of Head of Transformation and Change, which he was most proud of.
Next, he took a secondment within their Local Resilience Forum, helping co-ordinate the response to Covid-19.
Most recently, he served as an Area Manger at Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, before taking on his new Director position with us on Monday, July 1, 2024.
Excited to play a valuable role in helping to lead the Service, he said: “I am incredibly privileged to be in a position that can have a significant positive impact on people’s lives.
"I look forward to helping and supporting my colleagues achieve and be the very best they can.
"As a long serving public servant, I look forward to continuing to support and strengthen the great work that CDDFRS deliver for their communities.”
In his spare time, Ben enjoys spending time with his wife, Kay, and their twin teenage sons, Ollie and Harry. He is also a keen cyclist and golfer.
Good luck in your new role Ben and a big welcome from all of us at CDDFRS!
