Ascot Fire Station is located just off Ascot High Street, fronting Station Hill with Windsor Great Park to the north. The two-bay fire station, was built in the early 1980s, on land bought by Berkshire County Council in March 1978. The station hosts a training tower at the rear which is often used for training purposes.
Ascot was previously an on-call (retained) fire station, where firefighters attend from their home or workplace to respond to incidents. From April 2015, firefighters began working from Ascot fire station on a full-time basis for the first time in the station’s history.
Firefighters at Ascot carry out shift changes at Bracknell Fire Station, returning to Ascot after changeover. The new arrangement reflects an issue in finding sufficient people in the local area to work as on-call firefighters.
Following extensive research into possible options, and a public consultation on a range of ideas for emergency cover, the Fire Authority approved the changes in January 2015. In the long-term it is hoped that Ascot will once again be a retained station but until a solution to the recruitment problem is found, the current arrangement will remain in place to ensure robust 24/7 cover across the Ascot area.