Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service Press Release
Thousands view fire station webcams

Ever wondered what happens at a fire station when they get a 999 call? Now you can see for yourself.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service has installed cameras that have live link-ups to its website at three of its fire stations.

The webcams are based at Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud Fire Stations and between January and May the cameras have been visited more than 37,000 times.

The service, which is part of Gloucestershire County Council’s Community Safety directorate, expects that number to be more than 40,000 by the end of June.

Many local businesses and websites are linking to the cameras and in Cheltenham there is even a church linked up.

At least three international websites that list webcams also link to the cameras so people across the globe can view the goings on at our county fire stations.

They also link to the Met Office RSS feed for real-time weather warnings

Chief Fire Officer, Terry Standing, said: “These cameras have proved to be very effective, particularly in bad weather.

“In fact, during the snow in February, 23% of the visits to our website in that month were to view the cameras.

“This enables us to promote relevant public safety information when the weather is inclement.

“They also get busier when we have events going in, for example the Cheltenham camera gets noticeably busier compared to the others around the Cheltenham Festival in March.

“Why not take a look for yourself, or link the cameras to your own webpages and see how interesting and useful they can be. ”

Cllr Will Windsor Clive, cabinet member for community safety, said: “These cameras are further example of how Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service are moving with the times.

“Using the latest technologies we’re able to keep people better informed and give them more opportunities to see for themselves what we do.

“I’d encourage everyone to take a look.”

To see for yourself, visit www.glosfire.gov.uk/cheltcam.html or www.glosfire.gov.uk/gloscam.html or www.glosfire.gov.uk/stroudcam.html

Notes to Editors (Visits per month, and % of total visits per month)

CONTACT:
Issued by Lisa Bonnell, Gloucestershire County Council's Media Team 01452 425226 lisa.bonnell@gloucestershire.gov.uk

24th June 2009