25/11/10 - Demolition of Kidsgrove Fire Station

The new £2.9 million fire station, which will come complete with community facilities, is due to open in September 2011. The appliance and the retained firefighters, who work at the station, are now operating out of temporary accommodation, located on site.

Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive, Peter Dartford said: “The demolition work does signify the end of an era but also the start of a new one. This new station will be far from a ‘traditional’ fire station – instead of just being a response base, it has been specifically designed to allow for the integration of the community within the station.

“Several years ago these new community fire stations were just a vision, now they are becoming a reality.”

Cllr Simon Tagg added: “The community fire stations project is certainly picking up pace now, with Kidsgrove being ninth in a line of ten stations set to be built. It’s very exciting to think that September we will be throwing our doors open to the people of Burslem.

“This really will be a state of the art community station that will be the envy of other fire and rescue services across the country. “

Funding for the new station has come from a multi million private finance initiative (PFI) project. The consortium delivering the project is called Fire Support (see Notes to Editor 1) and construction company, Thomas Vale, have been contracted to carry out the build at Kidsgrove

Paul Clarke, Divisional Director said: “The plans for the new Fire Station at Kidsgrove is now on the way to becoming a reality. When complete, the community will have a Fire Station that is fit for the 21st century that will enable fire men to work in a flexible way that is for the ultimate benefit of citizens through better service delivery.”

Preparation work by the contractors, Thomas Vale, started on the site at the start of October. After the demolition phase, actual construction on the new station will commence.

In the coming months the fire service will be asking for contributions from the local community, to place in a time capsule, set to be buried in the grounds of the station.