The Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service is the fire brigade of the

Isle of Man Government The Isle of Man Government () is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Lieutenant Governor, the personal representative of the Lord of Mann (currently Char ...

, providing fire and rescue cover throughout the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, an independent

Crown dependency The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and toge ...

located in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

between England and Ireland. The service operates under the Department of Home Affairs.

History

The Isle of Man received its first two

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

s from England in October 1803. These were independently operated by an insurance company and were horse-drawn and hand-operated. In the late nineteenth century, legislation was introduced permitting town commissioners to establish local fire brigades. The

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

commissioners did so in 1884, followed by Port Erin in 1903 and Laxey in 1920. Some larger settlements, such as Ramsey and Douglas, had entered into local arrangements with the military or with the privately owned insurance company fire brigades, for local fire cover. The outbreak of war brought calls for a unified fire brigade. In February 1940, the Local Government (Fires) Act was implemented, establishing a single Isle of Man Fire Brigade, with seven fire areas - Douglas,

Laxey Laxey () is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Man. Its name derives from the Old Norse ''Laxa'' meaning 'Salmon River'. Its key distinguishing features are its three working vintage railways and the largest working waterwheel in the wo ...

, Ramsey, Kirk Michael,

, Rushen and Castletown. These fire areas are the same today.

Structure and ranks

A total of 110 retained (part-time) firefighters are stationed across all seven of the island's fire stations. Douglas fire station has a permanent watch of full-time firefighters, numbering 32 in total, working in shifts. The service is headed by a Chief Fire Officer (Mark Christian, appointed 2023), and has a rank structure based on that of the United Kingdom.

Fire stations and appliances

The service has seven fire stations. The largest, at Douglas, is crewed by both wholetime

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s and

retained firefighter In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time on call to respond to eme ...

s, whilst the other six stations at Laxey, Ramsey, Kirk Michael, Peel, Rushen and Castletown, are staffed by retained crews only. Retained firefighters make up around two thirds of the total complement of just over 150 firefighters.

Ronaldsway Airport Fire and Rescue Service

In common with most international airports, the

Isle of Man Airport Isle of Man Airport (Manx language, Manx: ''Purt Aer Vannin'', also known as Ronaldsway Airport) is the main civilian airport on the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island at Ronaldsway near Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown, ...

, historically known as Ronaldsway Airport, maintains its own independent fire service. This service cooperates closely with the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service. The airport fire station is now considered too small for its current appliances and crews, and a contract has been awarded for the construction of a new £200,000 fire station, starting in 2022-2023.

Emergency services on the Isle of Man

* Isle of Man Ambulance Service * Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps * Isle of Man Coastguard * Isle of Man Constabulary (Police)

References

External links

* {{UK fire service Emergency services in the Isle of Man 1940 establishments in the Isle of Man