Two multi-million pound fire stations in Sheffield have opened and are responding to 999 calls for the first time.
The stations at Parkway and Birley Moor will allow South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to provide a better service to the community, particularly to the south-east Sheffield area.
Area Manager Phil Shillito, head of emergency response, said: “These two new fire stations are central to the provision of our service in south and east Sheffield. They are located in the optimum positions to enable us to respond quickly and effectively to emergency incidents.
“The stations at Darnall, Mansfield Road and Mosborough have been part of our communities for more than half a century, but their lives as working fire stations had come to an end and it’s time to turn to an exciting new chapter in the provision of our core, emergency response service.
“The facilities highlight, in spite of a challenging economic backdrop, our relentless commitment to providing the best possible fire cover to the people of Sheffield and beyond.”
With the opening of the new stations, Darnall, Mansfield Road and Mosborough stations have closed. Darnall fire station opened in 1956 and Mansfield Road in 1965. Mosborough transferred from Derbyshire to Sheffield Fire Brigade in 1967.
The new, full-time station at Birley Moor will cover a much greater area of South Yorkshire than the existing part-time station at Mosborough, right on the Derbyshire border, was able to. It will house one full time and one part time fire engine.
Darnall and Mansfield Road stations were built to address risks in Sheffield’s major industrial sites, including the city’s major steelworks. The new Parkway station will be better placed to protect new housing developments in the area, plus road traffic collisions on Sheffield Parkway and the nearby road infrastructure. It will house a full time fire engine and an aerial appliance.