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30 August 2024
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Fire stations of the world: A new firefighting era in Portsmouth begins with the opening of the new Cosham Fire Station, UK
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The brand-new Cosham Fire Station has formally opened with a ceremony at the impressive Portsmouth site. Fire crews have moved from the previous site in Wayte Street, to the state-of-the-art, three-storey building shared with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary on Northern Road. Firefighters moved into their new home in mid-August, giving them time to settle into the larger site and take advantage of the modern facilities on offer. Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin and Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones welcomed the Lord Lieutenant Nigel Atkinson to open the building in a ceremony on 4 September 2024.
HIWFRS Station Manager Lee Sheen said, “As Station Manager I have been in a truly privileged position to work with so many great teams to plan, build and deliver a brilliant new site for our Cosham crews, who have played a huge role in this journey as well. This new station will benefit the local community and our organisation for years to come. It is fantastic to see it finally open and our teams delivering their life-saving response from here.”
Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin said, “We have built a modern fire station designed for 21st Century firefighters with excellent training facilities, bespoke decontamination areas and impressive sustainability features. At incidents our teams work closely with our police colleagues and now, like many of our other stations, we will be able to work closely on a shared site in Cosham, building on those already strong relationships. We are committed to investing in and improving our estate across Hampshire and Isle of Wight, to ensure that our teams can continue to provide the best possible service to our communities.”
Following approval from the Fire Authority to go ahead with the project, the ground was broken back in February last year, before a topping out ceremony took place last October.
Chairman of the HIWFRA, Cllr Rhydian Vaughan MBE said, “The official opening ceremony today marks a brand-new era for our Cosham firefighters, their police colleagues they work closely alongside, and the local community which they serve here in Portsmouth. The Service is at the forefront of modern firefighting with a focus on firefighter safety, blue-light collaboration, community engagement and sustainability. This is a momentous day for the organisation and it is an honour to be here representing the Fire Authority.”
The HIWFRS Property and Facilities team worked closely with our partners Morgan Sindall, the local crews, as well as police teams, to ensure the design met the needs of its future inhabitants.
Clifford Kinch, Area Director for Morgan Sindall’s South region, said, “The opening ceremony today marks a new beginning for crucial blue-light services in the local community, and more importantly how our emergency services can respond to the needs of the people and protect themselves in their daily duties. We’re really proud to be part of this important fire station improvement programme working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Services. By working with our client, we have designed facilities to meet the unique needs of the modern fire service in providing this new station that will enhance their day-to-day activities and train our future fire fighters.”
The new fire station boasts improved training facilities, separate clean and dirty zones for managing contamination, plus space for partners.
The new site is considerably larger than the previous station, at approximately two acres in size, it is one of our largest stations and includes community rooms available for hire away from the secure operational and partner areas.
The new station will serve as a unique and dynamic training hub in the east of the county, offering improved facilities not only for Cosham but for other stations as well.
Facilities include a BA chamber, road traffic collision area, ship firefighting hatches and lift rescue, increasing our availability to run multiple training courses simultaneously whilst cutting down the travel time of our staff from this and adjacent sites around the Portsmouth region who would previously have to head to our main training base at Eastleigh.
The work into designing the decontamination routes fits in with our Retrospective Design Principles, an ongoing project which more and more stations across Hampshire and Isle of Wight will benefit from ahead of its completion in 2025.
The building boasts impressive energy and sustainability technology, including solar panels, which will help us reach our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The new station will become just as important to the local community as the old site, which besides its role as a base for crews, opened its doors at the top of the high street, to host multiple vaccination clinics throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the build, the project team found the time to support the nurses on the Paediatric Starfish ward at the nearby Queen Alexandra Hospital with a donation of equipment such as new nursing trolleys, stools and fluid stands. Representatives from both HIWFRS and Morgan Sindall visited the hospital to see their equipment in daily use.
Alongside the big move, firefighters have been busy dealing with several significant incidents in the Portsmouth area in recent weeks. This includes a scrap metal fire in Petersfield, a huge fire in a waste processing unit in nearby Tipner and a house fire in Waterlooville.
The Cosham crews have also been continuing their fantastic fundraising efforts, with a final station car wash back in March, before the Red Watch team head stateside to take part in a 9/11 memorial stair climb for charity.
Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Neighbourhood Enforcement Teams and new Missing Locate Teams will work from the new building alongside fire and rescue colleagues. Visit the Police and Crime Commissioner’s website for more information on the police station
Station photos from Morgan Sindall Construction.
Source: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service
HIWFRS Station Manager Lee Sheen said, “As Station Manager I have been in a truly privileged position to work with so many great teams to plan, build and deliver a brilliant new site for our Cosham crews, who have played a huge role in this journey as well. This new station will benefit the local community and our organisation for years to come. It is fantastic to see it finally open and our teams delivering their life-saving response from here.”
Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin said, “We have built a modern fire station designed for 21st Century firefighters with excellent training facilities, bespoke decontamination areas and impressive sustainability features. At incidents our teams work closely with our police colleagues and now, like many of our other stations, we will be able to work closely on a shared site in Cosham, building on those already strong relationships. We are committed to investing in and improving our estate across Hampshire and Isle of Wight, to ensure that our teams can continue to provide the best possible service to our communities.”
Following approval from the Fire Authority to go ahead with the project, the ground was broken back in February last year, before a topping out ceremony took place last October.
Chairman of the HIWFRA, Cllr Rhydian Vaughan MBE said, “The official opening ceremony today marks a brand-new era for our Cosham firefighters, their police colleagues they work closely alongside, and the local community which they serve here in Portsmouth. The Service is at the forefront of modern firefighting with a focus on firefighter safety, blue-light collaboration, community engagement and sustainability. This is a momentous day for the organisation and it is an honour to be here representing the Fire Authority.”
The HIWFRS Property and Facilities team worked closely with our partners Morgan Sindall, the local crews, as well as police teams, to ensure the design met the needs of its future inhabitants.
Clifford Kinch, Area Director for Morgan Sindall’s South region, said, “The opening ceremony today marks a new beginning for crucial blue-light services in the local community, and more importantly how our emergency services can respond to the needs of the people and protect themselves in their daily duties. We’re really proud to be part of this important fire station improvement programme working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Services. By working with our client, we have designed facilities to meet the unique needs of the modern fire service in providing this new station that will enhance their day-to-day activities and train our future fire fighters.”
The new fire station boasts improved training facilities, separate clean and dirty zones for managing contamination, plus space for partners.
The new site is considerably larger than the previous station, at approximately two acres in size, it is one of our largest stations and includes community rooms available for hire away from the secure operational and partner areas.
The new station will serve as a unique and dynamic training hub in the east of the county, offering improved facilities not only for Cosham but for other stations as well.
Facilities include a BA chamber, road traffic collision area, ship firefighting hatches and lift rescue, increasing our availability to run multiple training courses simultaneously whilst cutting down the travel time of our staff from this and adjacent sites around the Portsmouth region who would previously have to head to our main training base at Eastleigh.
The work into designing the decontamination routes fits in with our Retrospective Design Principles, an ongoing project which more and more stations across Hampshire and Isle of Wight will benefit from ahead of its completion in 2025.
The building boasts impressive energy and sustainability technology, including solar panels, which will help us reach our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The new station will become just as important to the local community as the old site, which besides its role as a base for crews, opened its doors at the top of the high street, to host multiple vaccination clinics throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the build, the project team found the time to support the nurses on the Paediatric Starfish ward at the nearby Queen Alexandra Hospital with a donation of equipment such as new nursing trolleys, stools and fluid stands. Representatives from both HIWFRS and Morgan Sindall visited the hospital to see their equipment in daily use.
Alongside the big move, firefighters have been busy dealing with several significant incidents in the Portsmouth area in recent weeks. This includes a scrap metal fire in Petersfield, a huge fire in a waste processing unit in nearby Tipner and a house fire in Waterlooville.
The Cosham crews have also been continuing their fantastic fundraising efforts, with a final station car wash back in March, before the Red Watch team head stateside to take part in a 9/11 memorial stair climb for charity.
Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Neighbourhood Enforcement Teams and new Missing Locate Teams will work from the new building alongside fire and rescue colleagues. Visit the Police and Crime Commissioner’s website for more information on the police station
Station photos from Morgan Sindall Construction.
Source: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service
