News

At the IESE Public Sector Transformation Awards ceremony held in London yesterday evening, CDDFRS picked up the award for Fire & Rescue Service of the year & we...

Congratulations to Firefighters Mark Jones, Stewart Walton, Crew Manager Glen McCloy and Watch Manager David Newton from High Handenhold Green Watch who have been honoured with a certificate...

Meet Barnaby the dog who had a lucky escape last week after getting stuck in the River Wear at Shincliffe after going in after his ball. Instinctively his...

We could not be prouder of Fire Control operator, Gemma Woodhouse who has been honoured with a certificate of appreciation today for giving lifesaving fire survival guidance to...

Firefighter Ryan Tipping who has just landed back in the UK after rowing the Atlantic! Ryan, along with a small team of rowers began their journey in Gran Canaria on the 22nd of December and after 59 days and 3000 miles they arrived in Barbados on Sunday the 20th of February.

We are extremely proud of Watch Manager Mark Harrison, Firefighters Angus Herdman, Mathew Jinks, Jamie Foster, Tom Pattison and John Richards from Consett Red Watch, who have been honoured with a certificate of appreciation for saving a man’s life in a house fire. WM Harrison and Firefighters Herdman, Jinks and Richards were all presented with their certificates by Chief Fire Officer Stuart Errington and Deputy Chief Fire Officer from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, Peter Heath at Consett Fire Station earlier today. 

Congratulations to Crew Managers Gary Sands, Gary Lawson, and Station Manager Craig Farrage who have been awarded a Chief Fire Officer’s Commendation today for saving the lives of two men who were trapped down a mine workings at High Skears, last April. On arrival at the incident, Station Manager Craig Farrage was met by Crew Manager Gary Lawson who had already been into the mine to find the casualties. He then informed him that the actual location of the incident was some considerable distance into the mine workings, down 2 vertical ladders, across a wooden bridging ladder and through a very restricted crawl space which opened to a final chamber that was a 25-to-30-meter vertical shaft that the 2 gentlemen were stuck down. One of which was stuck suspended in a harness. 

Work is underway to prepare for further storms which are expected to hit the region this week.   Durham County Council, emergency services and other key organisations are working together to plan for the impact of storms Dudley and Eunice, with both expected to bring a period of very strong winds from tomorrow (Wednesday 16 February).  Storm Dudley will hit the region first, with an amber warning in place on Wednesday afternoon and evening. This is followed by a yellow warning for wind until 9pm on Friday evening with Storm Eunice expected to bring further disruption. 

Councillor John Shuttleworth, Chair of County Durham and Darlington’s Fire and Rescue Authority has today, written a letter to the Minister of State for Building Safety and Fire, Lord Greenhalgh, questioning the way fire and rescue services are funded.

Firefighters and staff from County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service have surpassed the milestone of delivering 50,000 Covid vaccinations, following a drive to assist with the national vaccination programme. Twenty-five staff are now trained to administer the vaccinations, twenty-four firefighters and a corporate staff member have been working tirelessly alongside colleagues in the NHS to reach as many people as possible in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.