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Community Response
Incident Types
The role of the Fire Service has changed in recent years to include far more work related to non-fire activities. Many of these incidents are categorised as Special Service Calls.
Fire Control staff assess the incidents at the time of call to ascertain if the Fire Service can assist in some way when persons, animals or property are at risk and can be categorised as Special Service Calls.
Such calls can include incidents where human or animal life is at risk and the following are examples.
Road Traffic Collisions with persons trapped.
Hampshire has a large rural risk and the Service is called to many large animal rescues. A team of Animal Rescue Advisers with specialist knowledge are mobilised to all animal rescues.
More on animal rescue and learn about rural fire safety.
Fire Services now have responsibility for inland waterways, lakes and rivers and the rescue of people who have become trapped by fast flowing water.
This is not a frequent occurrence but requires personnel to be highly trained in the appropriate techniques.
This type of call is classed as a non emergency response but generates numerous calls each year. This may involve using appropriate keys to open lift doors that have become jammed. On occasions this can necessitate raising or lowering lifts to an appropriate floor when lifts fail between floors involving many crew members if the lift has to be manually raised or lowered using the winding mechanism.
Where people are trapped or large volumes of water have entered residential premises.
The HFRS Urban Search and Rescue Team provide trained specialists to assist Hampshire firefighters in performing rescues from heights. Incidents have included rescues from radio masts, tall buildings, tower cranes etc. The team are provided with a wide range of specialist rescue equipment to perform this important part of our rescue work.
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special service calls
