Alston Fire Station

Local stations

• Penrith 19.5 miles
• Lazonby 18 miles
• Appleby 25 miles

3,400 population

Crewing type

On-call

Fleet

• 1 fire engine

Alston is said to be the highest market town in England, at about 300m above sea level. Historically the area was mined for lead, silver, zinc coal and fluorspar, these have all closed now, the last mine closed in the 1950's, although the mining history is exploited for tourism purposes. Currently the main employer is Bond Precision Products, which employs around 65 workers.

Further information for this fire station is available on a number of themes at the Cumbria Intelligence Observatory, including:

• Population 

• Crime and Community

• Health and Social Care

• Housing

• Economy and Employment

• Environment

• Children and Young People

Please visit www.cumbriaobservatory.org.uk and choose a fire station area for your particular theme of interest.

The area contains:

• 3 Special Areas of Conservation and 7 sites of Specific Scientific Interest
• Bond Precision Products is a Site Specific Risk
• There is a risk of flooding posed from Townhead

Tourism is now a key source of income for the area, and also increases the towns' population, mainly within the summer months due to cyclists and walkers travelling the coast to coast route leading to increased sleeping risk. The risks are mainly residential, however there are a number of hotels and guest houses which cater to the tourism trade. Due to the rural nature of the area, firefighters are called to deal with fires involving grass and heath land, barns and agricultural buildings. The station also attends a number of road traffic collisions each year.