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At Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service we are continually looking at how we might make Norfolk, already a safe county, even safer. To do that we need to set ourselves standards so that we can measure how we are doing. Each month we will report the performance against these standards for the last full calendar month; we will endeavour to do this by the 20th of each month. The most recent summary of performance is shown below.
Understanding the Emergency Response Standards
Until recently the standards for how long it should take the fire and rescue service to get to an emergency were set nationally by the government. These standards were based on work conducted in the 1930s and were mainly designed to protect large buildings in urban areas. Since then there have been big improvements in building design, building fire safety and improved fire fighting equipment and fire protection systems, which have reduced the likelihood of major fires and large scale loss of life in this type of property. The majority of fire deaths and injuries now occur in the home.
In 2003 the government decided to withdraw these national standards and allow each fire and rescue authority to set their own local standards to reflect local priorities and needs. The old national standards were formally withdrawn in 2004, and have since been replaced with new standards that focus on protecting lives in homes as well as new legal duties including dealing with road traffic accidents. The old national standards also set much higher response standards for the centre of built up urban areas when compared to the rest of the county; the new standards are designed to deliver a consistent emergency response across the county. Our new standards were approved by the Cabinet of the Fire Authority (Norfolk County Council) on 9 October 2006. The minutes of this meeting can be viewed here.
If you have a query or comment about these standards please use our contact form. | 
