In 1974, the merger of the following borough fire brigades: City of Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bootle, Southport, St Helens, and Wallasey. As well as parts of Lancashire County Fire Brigade and Cheshire County Fire Brigade to create Merseyside Fire Brigade.
Merseyside Fire Brigade became Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority on 1 April 1986, as established by the Local Government Act 1985.[1]
In an effort to modernise fire services nationally, the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 received Royal Assent on 22 July 2004.[2][3] This legislation changed the name to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. The change of name also reflects the fact that the service, in addition to fighting fire, conducts rescues such as road traffic collisions and is heavily involved in prevention work in communities.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority Headquarters is located on Bridle Road, Bootle
Since 2013, the MACC relocated from Derby Road, Kirkdale to a purpose built joint control centre with Merseyside Police, which is also located at the Bridle Road site.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is made up of five area commands as follows: Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, and St Helens. Within these areas are:
- 14 wholetime fire stations
- Four (LLAR) Low Level Activity & Risk (Day cover 10:00–22:00, stand down 22:00–10:00)
- One wholetime marine rescue station
- Two wholetime / day-crewed station (30 minutes resilience)
- One resilience station (30 minutes resilience)
Which provides Merseyside with 24-hour fire cover.
