15/10/10 - Fire Stations to be Rebuilt

Construction has started and Burslem Community Fire Station is due to be completed by August 2011 and Kidsgrove Community Fire Station is due for completion by September 2011.

During October the contractors, Thomas Vale Construction, will clear the site and prepare the land. The towers at both Fire Stations have already been demolished and preparation for the on-site temporary accommodation is underway.

Paul Clarke, Director at Thomas Vale Construction said: "We are strongly committed to helping the local community of Burslem and Kidsgrove and are proud to continue our collaboration with Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service and stakeholders in providing these innovative community fire stations. These two projects will contribute towards setting the standard for fire & rescue service provision in the County and across the UK.”

Demolition work on the existing stations will begin towards the end of November, by which point firefighters, the engines and equipment will have moved into the temporary on-site accommodation. Emergency response will be unaffected throughout the construction period.

Station Manager, Phil Smith said: “We are delighted that these much needed rebuilds are about to go ahead. The new stations will have improved facilities and will allow us to achieve our aim of strengthening links with the local community. Once these facilities are completed North Staffordshire will have benefitted from four brand new community fire stations.”

The current Burslem Fire Station on Hamil Road opened in 1956whilst Kidsgrove Fire Station on Lower Ash Road opened in 1965.

Chairman of the Fire and Rescue Authority, Cllr Len Bloomer commented: “It’s taken years of hard work to get to this stage, so to now see actual construction work in progress, it’s very rewarding. The current stations were built over 40 years ago at a time when we were purely a reactive service, not the pro-active service we are today.”

The stations are two of ten new stations being built under a multi million private finance initiative (PFI) project. The project has already seen Hanley Fire Station demolished and a brand new community fire station is currently being constructed in its place. A brand new community fire station is also due to open its doors later this month in Sandyford.