Deeside’s newly refurbished Fire Station officially opened

Deeside’s newly remodelled fire station was officially opened yesterday Monday 14th March, after the completion of major refurbishment works at the site.

Councillor Meirick Lloyd Davies, Chair of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority, officiated at a special ceremony to mark the occasion.

The station, situated on Chester Road, Queensferry, represents the very first tri-service facility in North Wales as it also provides facilities for North Wales Police and the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust.

Work began on the project back in June 2014 and this investment has upgraded the station to create an up to date modern facility to serve the needs of the emergency services staff and the local community.

The extensive building works were completed by Mold based MPH Construction and involved opening up the existing fire station into the previous adjoining ambulance station, and extending the ground floor accommodation to include appliance bays to the rear, the previous fire training house was demolished and replaced with a new purpose built training tower.

Deeside firefighters respond to incidents in the Deeside, the wider Flintshire area and cover cross border incidents in Cheshire, Chief Fire Officer, Simon Smith said:

“We are delighted with the new facilities at Deeside and that we have been able to establish a partnership at the site with our colleagues in the police and ambulance.

We now have excellent modern facilities for the staff who are working at the location as well as meeting rooms for the use of community groups. In addition to responding to incidents, preventing fires from breaking out in the first place is a crucial part of the work of the modern fire and rescue service – so creating closer links with our community is vital to our work to protect local residents.

The co-location of our staff with emergency service partners brings numerous benefits, both organisationally and to our communities. We have excellent relations with police at other sites such as at our Joint Communications Centre in St Asaph and the new joint station at Nefyn, and will soon be working with our ambulance colleagues at a new purpose built facility which will be opened in Wrexham in the near future.”

The refurbishment has also included improved facilities for the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust, with flexible facilities, a dedicated restroom for ambulance staff, and parking for two ambulances – all provided as part of ambulance service plans for the future.

Karl Hughes, Locality Manager from the Welsh Ambulances Services NHS Trust said:

“We already enjoy a close working relationship with both the fire and rescue service and the police and having new, state-of-the-art premises also means that staff have a better working environment which can only be of benefit in providing the best possible service to the local community.”

North Wales Police will utilise an office for a police constable and will also make use of the shared meeting and training facilities. Not only will this arrangement assist in improved partnership working, but it will also assist the local Queensferry residents and businesses to access a police officer.

North Wales Police Inspector Dave Jolly said:

“North Wales Police is delighted to be a part of this shared facility. We can only be successful in preventing crime by working closely with our partners, and the joint location of public services is a positive step forward, given the financial constraints facing the organisations. It will enable us to maintain a strong community policing presence in the area.”