Tavistock Fire Station

21/03/2026

Today at High Down, Lydford, Wildfire crews from Tavistock, Okehampton and Middlemoor, one of our drone team and wildfire advisers came together with Dartmoor commoners, Dartmoor National Park and Dartmoor Landscape Recovery to carry out training on wildfires and swaling.

Fires were lit across the moorland where areas were due to be burnt this year to test the capabilities of all our equipment and working together
Commoners with with fogging units on quad bikes worked alongside the fire service with their all terrain vehicles and blowers to achieve a satisfactory result and to learn how to deal with different situations from each other.

Swaling is carried out in areas across Dartmoor from the 1st of October until the 31st of March before the nesting season starts.
You may see fires across Dartmoor over the next few days if the weather holds, all commoners follow the Swaling Code of Conduct https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/living-and-working/farming/swaling/swaling-code-of-conduct

If you see fires across Dartmoor and believe they aren’t controlled or with no one with them please ring 999 as soon as possible our control room will be aware of any controlled burns which saves us attending if not required.

Thank you to all the commoners from right across Dartmoor who attended, to Ian & Tracy for organising and bringing us together and a very special thanks to Lydford Farm Shop who supplied the best pasties for lunch.

18/03/2026

For local information
This Thursday evening 19/3/26 we will be holding a multi pump fire exercise / training for all our local crews at Lawsons, Parkwood road in Tavistock.
This is to train our crews wearing breathing apparatus, search and rescue in a fire situation

There will be smoke used, so should you see any coming from the building between 1800 and 2100 don’t be alarmed our control room will be aware, however if you are in any doubt or see flames just ring 999

06/03/2026

29/01/2026

On Tuesday we were called to Crowndale road to rescue two occupants from their vehicle
With the constant rain at the moment please consider if you should be driving through flood water at all, as little as 300mm, around a foot of water is enough to float your vehicle.

Give it some thought, if you take the chance are you going to be able to get out of your car if it breaks down, if water gets in, it will cut out and damage the engine.
The cost will be expensive and even written off, in running water your vehicle could be swept away

Consider what is in the water when you have to get out, if there should be an open manhole under the water, debris of all shapes and sizes and many contaminants, try and get to the safety of higher ground

Crews in flood rescue suits managed to move the vehicle and it’s occupants out of the water, although they were a little wet and cold they were uninjured.

With more rain coming please be careful and don’t drive through flood water

13/11/2025

Recently around Tavistock we have had a few arson calls, please be vigilant and call us or the police if you see anything suspicious especially at night around the town.

This morning at 0530 two appliances from Tavistock and a third from Yelverton attended a building fire at Tavistock bus station kiosk
Fortunately the fire was out on our arrival and was outside of the building

The fire had been extinguished using a fire extinguisher which was left at the scene
If anyone has any information about this incident could they contact the police on 101 using log number 93 13/11/25.

We will look through cctv around the area but are keen to know what has happened so if you have seen anyone acting suspicious in the area or know who put the fire out please let us know

09/11/2025

We were honoured to attend Remembrance Sunday parade in Tavistock today, standing alongside veterans, serving personnel, and our community to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for our freedom.

04/11/2025

This week we said farewell to firefighters Charlie Cruise and Chris Griffiths after completing 54 years between them
Charlie with an outstanding 36 years behind him, joined the service back in 1989 has now retired from the service after serving at Tavistock for his entire career

Chris joined us in 2007 and has been with us for 18 years, he is leaving us to focus on his business as a motor mechanic

Statues and certificates were given to both as a huge thank you from us for their commitment, dedication to the service and Tavistock community

Unfortunately for us this will sadly leave us with 2 spaces for someone to join us.
This could be an opportunity for you, it’s one of the most satisfying and rewarding jobs you could do.
We will be looking at availability during evenings and some parts at weekends, hours will be varied depending on your availability and our cover requirements.
If you would like to know more, come along any Thursday evening when we train from 1830 until 2100 or email me on [email protected]
You can also look at https://www.dsfire.gov.uk/careers/vacancies/on-call

11/10/2025

A big thank you to all those who used our Fire Station car park for Goose Fair this year.
We raised an amazing £705 for the https://firefighterscharity.org.uk/ which will be used to aid firefighters and their families who need some extra care a support through difficult times so a massive thank you to each and everyone of you who donated.

This has been an extremely busy week for us as well as Goose fair we have attended 3 serious fires and a few other incidents.

On Monday we attended a house fire in Tavistock, 5 appliances, from Tavistock, Yelverton, Bere Alston Princetown and Okehampton and the platform from Greenbank attended

In the early hours of Tuesday our 2 appliances were sent to Princetown to assist Princetown and Yelverton who were in attendance at a large barn containing hay, cattle and farm machinery,

In the early hours of Thursday morning we were called by the police in assisting a man from a roof in Pixon lane. Crews from Camelshead, Crownhill and Greenbank also attended with the Hydraulic platform and line working capabilities

At 0030, on Friday morning 4 appliances, 2 from Tavistock, Yelverton and Bere Alston were called to a house fire in Tavistock and not known if persons were trapped, on arrival the fire was confirmed fortunately that it was a detached double garage which was totally destroyed by fire, all persons were accounted for.

07/10/2025

Tomorrow is Tavistock Goose Fair, we will be allowing cars to park at the fire station in Abbey Rise to raise money for the firefighters charity. Come along from 0830 we are the closest parking to the fair and will be busy. Get your space early and have all the fun of the fair

05/10/2025

Congratulations go to Crew Manager Chris Hicks from Tavistock Fire Station who has completed 20 years dedicated service with us

Chris was presented with his good conduct and long service medal by His Majesty’s Deputy Lord Lieutenant Dinah Cox OBE, at a recent award ceremony held at Service Headquarters

Pictured with Chris are other award winners and colleagues from Tavistock

20/09/2025

Come on down and see us at Tesco”s, Plymouth Road retail park Tavistock today from 1300 if your interested in joining our team
Learn what it’s really about and how we work

19/09/2025

RECRUITMENT
Do you need a challenge, doing something to help others, a great job / new hobby working and training with us
We have opened our recruiting at Tavistock Fire Station.
Come along and see us and learn what it’s all about

On Saturday we will be at Tesco doing some community engagement, come along and talk to us and see if it’s something you could do.
We will be there from 1300

Working for us may be something you can do with your current employment, some companies will let you respond to an emergency from your work, perhaps you work from home, are self employed or perhaps it’s something you can do in your spare time.
How it works, when someone is in need of our services and ring 999 our control room set off our pagers, we respond to the fire station from whatever we are doing (working, sleeping, DIY, exercising etc) we have to be able to get to the station get our fire kit on and be on the fire appliance within 5 minutes.
We cover a wide range of emergencies including road traffic incidents, rescues from various situations, flooding, hazardous material incidents and even some fires.
You will learn skills which you may never have the chance to learn elsewhere, like firefighting, water rescue, first aid skills, rope work, driving, LGV and off road, working at height, ladders and pumping, to name a few
We are specifically looking for you to be available during the evenings and some weekend cover. Contracts will be tailored to suit your availability and our needs between 40 to 60 hours (more may be available)
It may sound like a lot of hours but these are hours of availability, generally only a few of them are at the station, around 5 or 6 on average per week, carrying out either training or on an emergency call, the rest as long as your within 5 minutes of the station will be at home or work just being available for an immediate response.
You need to be at least 18 years old and able to reach 8.8 on the bleep test, there is no age limit as long as you have a good level of fitness as we are tested every year. You do not need qualifications although there will be some online entrance test.
To become a fully qualified firefighter will take around 2 years which includes on and off station training as well as some day time and evening courses.
If you think you may have what it takes come along to our training night, meet us and see what the job is really about. We train every Thursday from 1900 until 2100 or email us at [email protected]
You can do something in your community which will save lives and work as part of our team.
Please feel free to come to the fire station at Abbey Rise on a Thursday evening if you are interested and for more information.