Address: Headlands, Kettering, NN15 6BH
Station Manager: Nick Gayton
Contact details can be found here
Kettering Fire Station was originally located at the top of Market Street but moved to Headlands in 1955 when the current building was completed.
It is a wholetime station with 24 firefighters making up the four watches (Red, Blue, Green and White). There are also 14 on-call firefighters who will respond to incidents when they are called by a pager.
The crews at Kettering, along with the on-call crews at Desborough and Rothwell, provide cover to the town itself as well as its surrounding villages and rural hamlets.
There is a wide range of commercial and private properties in and around Kettering and areas with a high population density. The region has significant main roads such as the A14, A43 and A6, which means the crew are regularly called to road traffic collisions.
Kettering is seeing a significant amount of commercial and population growth, which brings with it additional challenges for the station such as increased fire risk at both commercial and domestic properties, as well as an increased risk of flooding.
The station has two water pumps, one used by wholetime crews and one for the on-call crews. Kettering is the only station in Northamptonshire to house a water and foam pod (pictured below) which will be used at incidents involving oil, petrol and chemicals. There is also a compact pumping appliance and an initial intervention vehicle which includes equipment that can be used immediately at road traffic collisions or other non-fire related incidents.
The station is home to a ‘hot house’, where firefighters carry out some of their training. Crews at Kettering have kept media cuttings from incidents and community activities from as early as May 1974. The station also has a display of old firefighting PPE, uniforms and equipment including hose reels, helmets, axes, a fire alarm, and an oxygen cylinder.
Kettering crews are active in the local community, visiting schools and community groups, and hosting open days.
In April 2025, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service announced plans to build a new fire station in Kettering to replace the current building in Headlands.
The process is currently underway to work towards submitting a planning application for the new station, which would be located on Cherry Hall Road. This is adjacent to the Northern Accommodation Building, which currently hosts a number of Fire and Police staff, and close to the town’s Police Station.
