The service was formed on 1 April 1948 as a result of the Fire Services Act 1947. The first chief fire officer was C.V Hall and was appointed this position on 19 September 1947. The large area covered by the FRS was then divided into three areas, consisting of: Divisions A-C.
Performance
Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspection investigates how well the service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has been rated as follows:
How effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?
Efficiency
Good
Good
How efficient is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?
People
Requires improvement
Good
How well does the fire and rescue service look after its people?
Fire stations
The service divides its 15 fire stations and 1 Technical Services Centre into two divisions: North and South.[3]
Fire stations are crewed by wholetime firefighters, daytime firefighters, on-call (retained) firefighters, or a combination of the different crewing systems.[3]
The service headquarters are located in Belmont. The service operates its own training school and workshops, which are located in Bowburn.[4]