Special Services

A special service is where we respond to emergencies other than fires. Some of these services are non-chargeable, and some are chargeable.

Charges applied to any special services undertaken are listed in the document below, this is reviewed on a yearly basis.

• Chargeable Services 2022-23 (Excel 66KB)

Examples of emergency non-chargeable special services

Assistance will be given without charge at ‘lifesaving’ incidents and other ‘humanitarian’ services. Mobilisation to this type of incident will be with the same degree of urgency as for incidents involving fire.

Examples of services in this category are:

• Road, rail or aircraft incidents
• Persons trapped in machinery
• Flooding incidents (danger to life or property)
• Leakages of toxic gas (e.g. ammonia, carbon monoxide)
• Spillages of hazardous materials where a threat to life or health exists (charges may apply for appliances, personnel and recovery and servicing of equipment once the emergency phase of the incident has ended)
• Persons requiring resuscitation (e.g. drowning, gas poisoning)
• Rescues from water
• Building collapse
• Making dangerous structures safe (e.g. wall or roof)
• Providing assistance to other agencies

Note: the above list is not exhaustive, but are examples of the most common emergency special services attended.

Examples of chargeable special services

• Testing dry rise mains
• Effecting entry (no life or fire risk)
• Lift releases (no life or fire risk)
• Spillages of hazardous materials where no threat to life or health exists
• Animal rescues
• Copy of an incident report

Note: the examples given above are not exhaustive and charges may be levied for services not listed.

In addition to the direct charge for the service rendered, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) will charge for the recovery, cleaning and/or repair of equipment as a direct result of its use at a non-emergency special service, or its use following the cessation of the emergency phase of an incident. This includes:

• Repair, cleaning, servicing and testing of equipment
• Compressed air cylinder refill
• Replacement or cleaning of Gas Tight Suits
• Replacement of equipment (e.g. salvage sheets, oversize drums)

Note: the examples given above are not exhaustive and charges may, on occasion, be levied for services not listed.

‘Chargeable services’ is the NFRS policy statement, this can be viewed below:

• Chargeable services (PDF 222KB)