An historic day for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service saw the launch of a brand new state-of-the-art fire station on Long Lane, Aintree, providing 24-hour emergency cover and improved operational response times to the surrounding area in the heart of the community.
This official operational opening of the new Aintree Fire Station - Station 19 – on Wednesday 1st May 2024 represents completion of the first phase of Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority’s exciting and forward-thinking project to bring a new multi-pump Fire & Rescue Station, state of the art Training Academy, and National Resilience Centre of Excellence to the 12-acre site.
Designed to be accessible to all, the new location will also offer youth engagement facilities and meeting rooms for community use to ensure a lasting legacy in the heart of the community MFRS serves, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The launch of this brand new state-of-the-art fire station on Long Lane marks the operational closure of the previous Aintree and Croxteth stations.
There was a fantastic community turnout to say goodbye at the old Aintree station on the evening of the crew’s final shift, at a building that has stood in service since 1926, with generations of firefighters, the public, and their families sharing memories from down the years.
Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan, Chair of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority Les Byrom and officers from across the service were at the Long Lane station to welcome crews as they arrived to start a new era.
Station Manager Mark Baldwin said: “The team are excited to be moving to the new station, and this move presents a fantastic opportunity to serve the communities of Croxteth and Aintree with direct access to world class training facilities the whole Service can be proud of. We are looking forward to serving the community with even faster response times from a modern fire station fit for the future set within a state-of-the-art facility.”
With all works on Long Lane site at an advanced stage, the project is nearing completion and will enable MFRS to provide outstanding facilities for a diverse range of operational and support staff to develop and maintain their skills. It will also be home to staff from the National Resilience Assurance Team (NRAT), International Search and Rescue team (ISAR) and secondary Fire Control, embedding National Resilience into the DNA of Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service.
The progressive vision for the facility will include immersive, realistic training zones such as a six-storey high-rise building, a row of terraced houses, a motorway setting, specialist vehicle garages, a High-Volume Pump (HVP) training area and a suite of practical training classrooms. A purpose-built command and control suite will enable scope to train for a range of incidents, simulating small scale incidents through to major incidents involving multiple agencies.
The multifunctional site will enable MFRS to implement a multitude of incident scenarios at the same time, exponentially improving the Service’s ability to train against foreseeable risk and emerging threats in conditions as close to real incidents as possible.
Through the roll out of these exciting and forward-thinking plans, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service continues to deliver improvements to frontline services, cementing the ambition to be the best Fire & Rescue Service in the country, whilst ensuring the safety of firefighters and the public.
For free fire safety advice, or to request a home fire safety check, call 0800 731 5958.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service also provides free smoke alarms for those over 65 or meeting certain criteria.