Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service employs 700* people. The service is run by Cornwall Council.
*Figures updated 9 December 2020
Find out who we are as an organisation, and meet our key people.
How we work
As you might imagine, our organisational structure is complicated. We split it into the following areas:
- Firefighters
- Wholetime Firefighters - (24hrs)
- On-Call Firefighters
- Officers and Operational Managers
- Tri-Service Safety Officers
- Critical Control Operators – our 999 call handlers
- Non-uniformed and non-operational – our essential support team
Firefighters
We use a combination of full and part-time staff and on-call firefighters. On-call firefighters carry out firefighting duties in addition to their usual employment.
We currently have :
- 167* Wholetime Firefighters
- 400* On-Call Firefighters-this figure fluctuates throughout the year due to retention and recruitment
Officers and Operational Managers
We currently have 22 Officers and Operational Managers.
Tri-Service Safety Officers
The Tri-Service Safety Officer (TSSO) is an innovative and flexible role. It combines the police, ambulance and fire and rescue service.
We currently have 7* Tri-Service Safety Officers
Critical Control Operators
- take emergency 999 calls
- find out details of incidents
- send fire engines
- deploy our resources to emergencies
They also use a six-watch system but have a different rank structure.
We currently have 22* Critical Control Operators
Non-uniformed and non-operational staff
It's not just firefighters who help make Cornwall a safer county. We have a range of non-uniformed and non-operational staff. They work behind the scenes to support our front-line services, including:
- IT
- Finance
- Procurement
- Community Safety officers
Meet our senior management team
Chief Fire Officer
Kathryn Billing
As of 10 May 2021 Kathryn has taken up the role of Chief Fire Officer.
Brief career history:
- Joined Cornwall County Fire Brigade (as the service was formerly known), as a retained firefighter in January 2000
- Has served across teams and commands throughout the service
- Has a Masters in Management and BEng Fire Engineering Degree
- Member of the Institute of Fire Engineers
- Leads on National Fire Chief Council work for Sector Led Improvement and Equality, Diversity, Inclusion
Follow Kathryn on Twitter at twitter.com/CornwallCFO
Assistant Chief Fire Officer
Antony Bartlett
- Joined Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service in November 1993 as an On Call retained Firefighter, then joining wholetime in 1995
- Spent four years as a firefighter at St Austell and Bodmin Community Fire Stations before joining the Training & Development Team
- Antony is keen on learning and is a Member of the Institute of Fire Engineer
- Leads on safeguarding within the service and holds a number of strategic command specialisms
- Antony was successful in the Assistant Chief Fire Officer role from August 2022
- Antony heads up the Operational Leadership Team and has responsible for ensuring the safe, efficient & effective delivery of the following: Response & Resilience, Prevention, Protection & Safeguarding, Phoenix Services, Critical Control Centre and Collaboration & Partnerships
Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Head of Service Development and Improvement
Vicky Wallens-Hancock
Vicky was appointed as Assistant Chief Officer in 2017.
Brief career history:
- Joined Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service in 2005 as an analyst
- Masters in Social Research (MSc) and a Level 7 qualification in Strategic Leadership.
- Vicky leads the Service Support functions. She is responsible for ensuring efficient, effective and safe service delivery. This is done through the provision of:
- buildings
- fleet equipment and engineering
- health and safety
- training
- people and organisational development
- service policy
- staff wellbeing
- risk based planning
- intelligence
- programme management
- communication and engagement
- information management and systems
- quality assurance
- local and national resilience
- business continuity
Follow Victoria on Twitter at twitter.com/vwallens
