Subject to approval by the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority (KMFRA), a 12-week consultation will begin on Thursday, 25 June 2026. 

KFRS Chief Executive Ann Millington said: “The consultation depends on the fire authority approving our proposals to go forward, which are based on risk intelligence and data analysis. This is about spending money in the right ways to tackle our biggest risks, while competing with financial pressures. 

“I understand some people will have concerns about the proposed changes, but I can assure everyone that your fire service is here for you. Your firefighters continue to do a fantastic job, with first class kit and training facilities, and teams across the service are doing brilliant work to prevent fires and other emergencies through education, enforcement, campaigning and community work.

“The number of fires in Kent and Medway has dropped over the years in good part because of our prevention work - tailored home visits, putting up free smoke alarms and helping people who are most at risk of fires. But risks also keep changing, for example, we’re seeing more wildfires, so we need to be changing too, to meet those needs.”

The proposals

The consultation proposals focus on:

•  Closing five standalone on-call fire stations.
•  Removing attached on-call sections from four wholetime stations.
•  Relocating two fire engines at night to create an additional three fire engines during the day – placing them at stations across the county to meet daytime demand which is higher than at night.

Closing five on-call fire stations

On-call stations are different to wholetime stations. At an on-call station, the crew go to their station when called out via a pager to respond to an emergency – living or working nearby and usually working around other employment, they must arrive and be on the fire engine in five minutes.

The on-call fire stations listed below are to be proposed for closure as part of the consultation, following risk and data analysis. KFRS is proposing to close them because they have lower demand and lower risk than other areas of the county - with other nearby fire stations able to cover the area safely.

• Grain
• Wye 
• Chilham
• Westerham
• Cliffe

Ann Millington said: “We don’t close fire stations lightly, and we haven’t done so in 14 years. When we did it last, we were able to reinvest our money and use it more effectively. We carefully consider whether the investment in these stations and fire engines can be better spent in other areas. For example, freeing up money to invest in more wholetime firefighters, or putting money into targeted prevention activity that helps to drive down the likelihood of fires occurring in the first place. We will have targeted prevention activity in areas affected by station closures.” 

Removing attached on-call sections from four wholetime fire stations
Some wholetime fire stations, which operate 24 hours a day, also have an on-call section. This means the station has two fire engines - one crewed full-time and one crewed by on-call firefighters. On-call firefighters attached to a wholetime station operate in the same way as on-call firefighters at standalone on-call stations.  

The attached on-call sections at the stations listed below are due to be proposed for removal, following data and risk analysis. 

• Herne Bay
• Deal
• Tunbridge Wells
• Faversham

Ann Millington said: “I’d like to be clear that there are no proposals to close wholetime stations – we’re suggesting removing the attached on-call sections, based on data that indicates reduced need for the second fire engine at those locations. Their low demand, coupled with the fact that the wholetime fire engine provides cover in the area, means they are an over-provision, and the money can be more effectively invested elsewhere.”

Relocating fire engines to better match demand 

Fire engines are not sat at stations all day – they are moved around the county all the time to provide appropriate emergency cover based on demand and risk. In the consultation proposals KFRS is asking the public to comment on a more permanent arrangement to provide appropriate cover based on latest data intelligence:

• Dartford fire station currently has two wholetime fire engines available day and night. The proposal is to change this to two fire engines during the day and one at night.
• Thames-Side fire station currently has two wholetime fire engines available during the day and night. The proposal is to change this to two fire engines during the day and one at night.
• This would allow KFRS to reinvest and redeploy firefighters from the above locations to other stations and make an additional three fire engines available during the day in Strood, Ashford, and Folkestone - the enhancements to these stations will then mean they have two fire engines guaranteed during the day and one guaranteed at night.

Ann Millington said: “This part of the consultation is about deploying our resources more strategically to make sure we can provide the right protection at the right times, especially during high demand periods in the day. I want to be clear that we are suggesting the relocation of fire engines at night from large stations with multiple fire engines, in areas where neighbouring fire stations are close by - there won’t be any wholetime fire stations without sufficient resources.”

Have your say

Subject to the proposals being approved by KMFRA – the body that governs KFRS – the consultation will begin on Thursday, 25 June 2026, and will run for 12 weeks. 

Ann Millington added: “We have worked through the challenges and options with our firefighters and the Fire Brigades Union over the past month. This must be a collaborative effort, and from 25 June, we need the views of the public too to help us make the most informed and smart decisions for the service and our communities - public safety and firefighter welfare is always at the forefront of our thinking.”