Cardiff Central Fire Station
Staffing
Cardiff Central Fire Station is a wholetime station which is staffed 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year.
The station has 64 personnel divided into four shifts or watches and an Assistant
Divisional Officer in overall charge.
Location
The station is situated in Adam Street in the centre of Cardiff and forms
part of the South division.
Within the station area is:-
* Cardiff Bay with its light, medium and heavy industries
* Cathays park area, which hosts most of Cardiff's University teaching areas and The National Museum of Wales
* The city centre has many high rise office buildings and one of the country's newest and most popular shopping mall complexes
* Cardiff Castle and the new Millennium Stadium together with hotels and places of entertainment.
History
Cardiff City Fire Brigade's Central Fire Station was positioned in Westgate
Street until relocation to Adam Street in 1974 under the South Glamorgan Fire
and Rescue Service.
The old station was of Victorian design and took some considerable time and
effort to demolish due to the early use of reinforced concrete.
In 1996 three brigades were merged and Cardiff Central Station now forms part
of the much larger South Wales Fire Service.
Calls
Firefighters at Central attend approximately 2500 emergency calls per year,
and are faced with all manner of challenges such as:-
* getting across the city centre during the rush hour traffic jams
* helping people stuck in lifts (12 floors up)
* driving a 12 tonne Fire Engine through Cardiff Castle's Portcullis with only 2 centimetres to spare.
Community
The crews at Cardiff Central Station are committed to visiting schools to
promote 'Fire Safety in the Home'.
In addition to school visits, crews regularly attend shopping centres and residential
areas.
These visits enable crews to speak to people highlighting the need for smoke
alarms and their maintenance ensuring continued reliability.