Broughton Fire Station is situated in the City Of Salford, near to the centre of Greater Manchester and forms part of Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. The station covers a relatively small area of around 6.86 square miles. The area is predominantly residential & there is a wide variety of multi-cultural & diverse communities. Densely populated housing can be found with a predominance of flats and maisonettes which are largely rented and not privately owned. Unemployment & social deprivation with the often associated high incidence of crime & fires are notable indications of parts of the area.

In sharp contrast to the above, large parts of the Broughton area is undergoing several exciting regeneration projects with its aim to revitalise an area totalling 74 hectares during the next 10-15 years at an anticipated cost of £500 million. The project will provide a new sustainable community of over 3,500 mixed tenure homes and a full range of community facilities and services including shops, leisure facilities, employment for local people alongside new training and education facilities.

The total population for the station area is 65,767 & the average total number of mobilisations for the two appliances is 2000 per year. Broughton Fire Station has been a valid part of Salfords past and will play an even greater role in providing safety for it’s citizens in the future as the crews continue to be innovative in their approach to Community Fire Safety.

Fireman to Ironman

Fireman to Ironman tell the unique and extremely funny story of how Broughton Fire Station’s Watch Commander Chris Rainford went from non swimmer to multi ironman finisher in a hilarious 15yr journey. It blends an inspirational athletic rite of passage with some truly side splitting anecdotes, guiding the reader from obscurity to triumph.
When he set out to chart his adventures, triathlete Chris was determined to put a smile on the readers face with every page turn, whilst still retaining the “oh my god, how hard was that” throughout.

From the humble beginnings of learning to swim in trunks out of the lost and found bin and the local pool, to winning £100,000 on ITVs beat a star, Chris entertains in bucket loads with his hybrid account which falls somewhere between Lance Armstrong and Peter Kay. Above all, it is the extraordinary account of how the ridiculously difficult can be achieved with a giant smile on a particular ugly mug!

Chris Rainford is a 45yr old firefighter of 25 years who currently resides in leafly Chorley, Lancashire. The main love of his life is endurance sport and in particular triathlon. He has completed over 250 races including 7 Ironmen, which coupled with his ability to wax lyrical about his experiences in a unique way, sets him apart from the other 99% of the population.