£200m firefighting tech contract awarded

A £200m IT contract will help save lives by getting firefighters to emergencies quicker and with better information about the incidents they face, according to ministers.

The eight-year contract is to be awarded to EADS Defence and Security Systems. It will supply the infrastructure for the new national network of nine regional control centres for the Fire and Rescue Service.

The regional control centres will relay information to firefighting crews and deploy the nearest firefighters to emergencies. They will be able to automatically back each other up during major incidents and in the event of one centre failing.

The FiReControl project will use satellite positioning to tell control operators which fire engines with the right equipment on board are the closest to an incident. Staff will be able use voice and data channels to communicate with firemen. The system will also use caller location, so that the site of an emergency call - by mobile or landline - can be identified automatically.

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In-cab displays will give firefighters access to information such as maps showing the quickest route to the incident, floor plans, the location of the nearest hydrants and details of how to deal with particular incidents such as handling chemicals.

Fire minister Angela Smith said the technology provided under this contract will help to identify the location of incidents more quickly and precisely and provide firefighters with information on the incident location. "Ultimately this will help to further reduce the number of lives lost to fire," she said in a statement.

Continuing with the current system of 46 control rooms, which use different IT systems, "is not an option", the government said. The cost of networking all existing control rooms and supplying them with the new technology would be more than double that of the Fire Control project, it said.

The department of Communities and Local Government said the project will be phased-in to avoid a single "big bang" handover day, which will give extra confidence to the public and firefighters as the system changes.