Sutton Coldfield Fire station unveiled as Technical Rescue Unit

Lord Lieutenant John Crabtree OBE and MP Andrew Mitchell joined Chief Fire Officer Phil Loach and councillor Greg Brackenridge, chair of the WMFRA, at the launch of the new unit.

The Sutton station, based in Lichfield Road, follows Wednesbury and Bickenhill in becoming the base for a team of specialist firefighters, enhancing technical rescue capability.

A fire engine will remain based at the station, ready to respond 24/7 to urgent, life-threatening incidents within the five-minute response standard.

But, while TRU firefighters will still respond to incidents which pose a risk to life, including fires in homes and road traffic collisions, they will also be trained and equipped for rope rescues, water rescues and boat response, building collapses and shoring of dangerous structures, incidents involving large vehicles, such as HGVs and trains and responding with other agencies to terrorism incidents.

Chief Fire Officer Loach said: "Sutton Coldfield, through an evidence-based approach, became an obvious choice to enhance Technical Rescue capability whilst we continue to deliver all of the other local capabilities, with prevention through home safety checks, and protection services.

"We are proud now to have a station on the Coventry side of the brigade, the Black Country side and now, with Sutton, in and around Birmingham. So we have good, balanced technical rescue capability across the area.

"I want to be clear that we are enhancing our services in Sutton Coldfield. We will make Sutton Coldfield even safer, and want people to be assured that all services will be there. We want to make Sutton stronger and we want the community to use the station to engage with us.

"And we want to make our community healthier. We want to play a wider role in closing that gap of health inequalities because a firefighter is a trusted person and we can reach out to people to deliver on our vision of being safer, stronger and healthier."

Mr Mitchell added: "I want to thank the Fire Authority and all those who serve on it.

"As the MP here, I have been coming out of this fire station for the last 21 years.

"You always worry that a brilliant facility like this may become under used and may disappear.

"And the great joy I have as MP today is that this is clear evidence of the Fire Service investing in this great facility and putting additional assets here, which will serve the local community and give huge confidence to people here.

"You can rest assured that the fire service in Sutton Coldfield will be loved and respected even more than they are all ready for the work they are now doing here.

"I have always adored the Fire Service, they do a brilliant job and my constituents love them."