Group Manager John Smith has overall responsibility for this fire station and can be contacted about general matters regarding this station.   John is based at Barrow and South Lakes Area Office (Kendal) at Busher Walk, Kendal.  

Telephone:  01539 797622

Windermere is a large village situated in the heart of the Lake District which currently has 17 retained firefighters on the station.   There are two Volvo fire engines on the station with all the latest equipment ready to deal with the 180 to 200 calls that the station receives every year.

As Windermere is a famous holiday destination the resident population increases significantly during summer periods who occupy the many hundreds of hotels and boarding houses within the area.    Apart from the risks from the hotel and holiday industry, Lakeland Limited, which is an international company, has a large distribution and retail centre within the village which employs hundreds of people and is a multi-million pound operation.

One of the most serious fires that the station attended in recent times involved the unique Round House on Belle Isle in the middle of Lake Windermere.   Over the Christmas period of 1994 a fire caused extensive damage to the property and at the height of the blaze 80 personnel were required to deal with the incident.   This proved extremely challenging as all these people and equipment had to be ferried over using boats provided by the Lake Wardens in the early hours of the morning of the fire.

In April 2006 the station ran a Young Fire Fighter Scheme with a group of young people from the local secondary school attending the station over a ten week period to learn new skills and develop confidence by becoming involved in fire and rescue service oriented training activities.   Funding for the scheme has been provided by the local Authority, the Local Windermere Safety Forum and Lakeland Limited.

Windermere has been involved heavily in community safety work over recent times and has established close links with the local schools.   Road awareness training is carried out every year at the two secondary schools in the area where education is provided to young people who are learning to drive or have recently passed their test about the dangers of irresponsible driving.   Key Stage1 and Key Stage 2 fire safety education is also given to pupils in the local junior schools.   Hundreds of Home Safety Checks have been carried out over recent years with smoke detectors being fitted in houses which require them.