Billingshurst Fire Station: A summer of wild grass fires

A busy summer for Billingshurst firefighters!

First of all, we would like to apologise for our lack of activity in Village Tweet recently. However, we are now back and will be keeping you up-to-date with what’s going on at your local fire station.

We have had a very busy summer because of the dry weather causing field fires as well as attending other incidents. A few changes on station too… we welcomed Crew Manager Ryan Hek who transferred from Henfield. Ryan moved into the village and has settled into his new home with his partner. Ryan is also a Wholetime Firefighter in London and is on call for Billingshurst between shifts. He is a valuable team member, bringing experience and knowledge to our already great team. Connor and Ronnie have also transferred to London Fire Brigade, but are still on call at Billingshurst during shifts.

We are already discussing events for next year, as these take time to plan so we must start early. We will be looking to host a Charity Car Wash in March and an Open Day in the summer, which is one of our favourite days for the local community. We will also be attending fetes, schools and working alongside our local wardens. If you would like us to attend any local events, please do get in touch via our Facebook page.

This year we have been working hard on prevention. This includes talking to our local community at fetes about fire safety within the home. Did you know, that we offer FREE ‘Safe & Well’ visits? We come to your home and check you have working smoke detectors, while discussing fire safety within your home. If you don’t have working smoke detectors or require additional ones we will fit these free of charge.

We have attended a number of incidents in recent years, where we find that people do not have working smoke detectors. We want as many properties as possible to have working smoke detectors to give you that early warning that there could be a fire. It’s a completely FREE service and we would welcome you to get in contact. Just call 03458 729719 or email safeandwell@westsussex.gov.uk. Twitter: @Station49Fire Facebook: Billingshurst Fire Station Dan Game, Billingshurst Fire Station

Drone photo by Eddie Mitchell shows one of the fires attended over the summer: two large fields totally destroyed