Emergency preparedness division
The emergency preparedness division handles all tasks involving fire response and rescue services. This division also assists in processes to recover valuables after a fire and other forms of assistance, and attends to other tasks such as maintenance, teaching and fire drills
The Brigades
We have four fire brigades. Our personnel are divided into four brigades (A,B, C and D) and there are 28 firefighters on duty at any given time, day and night. The brigades also have an on-duty fire chief. Each brigade is led by a brigade leader. Each brigade is divided into four on-duty crews. Our emergency response forces are stationed at these six stations: Asker, Røyken, Tofte, Bekkestua, Fornebu and Gjettum.
- There are always five firefighters stationed at the Asker Fire Station, day and night; a crew with four firefighters to man the fire truck and a crew to man the water tender.
- There are always ive firefighters stationed at the Røyken Fire Station, day and night; a crew with four firefighters to man the fire truck and a crew to man the water tender.
- At the Tofte Fire Station, the firefighters work part time on response.
- There are always five firefighters stationed at the Bekkestua Fire Station, day and night; one crew with four firefighters to man the fire truck and one crew to man the hook-and-ladder/aerial vehicle. This crew also mans our rescue vehicle when it is needed
- There are always four firefighters stationed at the Fornebu Fire Station to man the station’s fire truck. This crew will also man the fire boat if needed.
- There are always four firefighters stationed at the Gjettum Fire Station, day and night to man the fire truck and/or forest fire truck, whenever it is needed.
- The staff of our emergency preparedness division work 24-hour shifts. They have seven 24-hour shifts during a 4-week period. They are required to work one weekend a month, which includes Saturday and Sunday duty.
Call-out and response
ABBV aims to get its vehicles on the road within 60 seconds when a fire or serious accident is reported (equipping time), day or night.
Response time is defined as the time it takes a crew to respond, after being notified until arriving on site, which should not exceed 10 minutes in urbanized areas where a fire can quickly spread to adjacent buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, shopping malls, business parks or industrial zones. Response time should not exceed 20 minutes to reach any other location.
Fire prevention division
ABBR also work extensively with fire prevention, in accordance with national laws and regulations. Preventive safety work aims to reduce and eliminate the possibility of serious injuries and extensive material damage in a fire, explosion or serious accident.
The division works hard to identify target groups and contact them to address fire safety issues through:
- Visitations, inspections and supervision to spread knowledge and information among private individuals who live in places with a higher than average risk of fire through our Safe at Home Programme («Trygg Hjemme»)
- Inspecting high-risk buildings
- Information and motivational work is directed at the public through media, stands and during our annual Visit a Fire Station Day. We also visit kindergartens (5-year olds), schools, retirement homes and senior citizen or community centres
- We monitor suppliers of chimney cleaning services (inspection and cleaning) in our municipalities
- We offer workshops, training and drills for companies and institutions
- We assist the state planning and building authorities with inspections for construction permits, applications etc.
- We assist the planning and building authorities with application processing to make certain firefighters have access to firefighting infrastructure in and around new buildings (water, roads and access for fire trucks etc.)
- We assist in application processing and inspection related to the storage of flammables and combustible liquids, gases and explosives