Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is a large rural service covering the picturesque Lake District to the Pennines in the east, and from the industrialised West Cumbrian coast to the estuaries in the south of the county. Cumbria is the third-largest county in England by area.
The service has 38 stations. There is a great emphasis on community safety work and much of the day-to-day operation of the service revolves around this concept. Since 2012 the service’s headquarters is based at Penrith, next to Cumbria Constabulary’s headquarters.
For over 160 years, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary independently assessed and reported on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces and policing, in the public interest.
In summer 2017, HMIC (now HMICFRS) took on inspections of England’s fire & rescue services, assessing and reporting on their efficiency, effectiveness and leadership.