C.P.D - H.Q Ta' Kandja
C.P.D Headquarters are currently situated at Ta' Kandja in a building which used to form part of the Royal Air Force Siġġiewi Base. The Headquarters comprise of the Administration Department, Stores and Inventory Section, EU related matters, Fire Safety Relations Unit, together with the Operations Control Centre which co-ordinates all nationwide C.P.D Operations.
Control Centre
The Operations Control Centre was re-structured in 1998 and was financed by the Italian Government through the IV Italo-Maltese protocol. The Operations Control Centre within the building is also responsible, together with other emergency entities, for the call handling and dispatching of the 112 emergency calls.
Dogs Section - K9
This section started operating in 2003 at Ta’ Kandja and was manned by volunteers. Since then the Dogs section was strengthened by additional personnel and more dogs.
Today, this section is managed by the Assistance and Rescue Force of the Civil Protection Department who are assisted by the Volunteer Corps.
These dogs are trained to search for and to detect the scent of inaccessible victims buried under rubble or partially collapsed structures (Urban Search and Rescue). This section is equipped with vehicles to transport the dogs and a training area. Training comprises of basic obedience, agility, bark alert behaviour, rubble area search, directional control and multiple victims search.
C.P.D - Ħal Far Fire Station
Ħal Fire Fire Station is situated at the historic airfield of Ħal Far (formerly a Royal Naval Air Station known as HMS Falcon and Royal Air Force Base known as RAF Ħal Far). Hal Far Fire Station was established in 1996 within the Control Tower complex of the old airfield.
The Station currently covers the South East of Malta including Malta Freeport and Ħal Far Industrial Estate. There are seven vehicles based at Ħal Far Fire Station including a special Heavy Rescue Unit. Ħal Far Fire Station also houses the C.P.D Volunteer Section (S.P.I.D.E.R. Team) which specialises in Urban Search and Rescue [U.S.A.R]. The Volunteer section complex includes an indoor training area, offices and quarters.
Training Facilities
The Training facilities are located in Ħal Far Fire Station. Fire simulation structures including a Smoke House are available, so that fire-fighters can practice how to tackle different types of fires including the use of the Breathing Apparatus. Rescue simulations are also trained in this training facility. Road Traffic Accidents [R.T.A] are practiced with dummies in the vehicles.
Mechanical Section
The Mechanical Section of the Department is located also at this Fire Station. One wing of the fire fighting vehicles garage is particularly dedicated to the mechanics, and student from MCAST are recruited to gain work experience on heavy specialised vehicles. A body repair workshop is also housed within this section, where the Department refurbishes its own fleet to operational condition.
U.S.A.R. & Volunteers Section
The Volunteers section is located in an adjacent building within Ħal Far Fire Station. This building hosts all volunteers, especially the S.P.I.D.E.R section which is mainly trained for Urban Search and Rescue [U.S.A.R].
In July 3rd 2015, the Urban Search and Rescue Section (U.S.A.R) has been created and resides in the same section of the Volunteers.
C.P.D Floriana Fire Station
This station was one of the main fire stations in Malta till 1986, and covered the central part of the island. Since then, other fire stations were built around the island in order to have better response times.
Floriana Fire Station forms part of the Police Garage which is located in the medieval ditch close to Sa Maison. This is the Service’s smallest Fire Station and it acts as a back-up/early response station to Kordin Fire Station. There is one appliance based at Floriana Fire Station. A new fire station is planned to be built in the near future.
C.P.D Xemxija Fire Station
Xemxija Fire Station is located within the old BP plant and is one of the largest fire stations in Malta. It was inaugurated in 1996 after the Maltese Government felt the need to have a fire station at the Northern part of the main island to cater for the influx of Maltese people during the summer period as well as tourists staying in the area. The station is also responsible for the vast agricultural area that covers most of the north west of Malta.
There are thirteen vehicles based at Xemxija Fire Station including the Service’s only Simon Snorkel appliance.
C.P.D Kordin Fire Station
Kordin fire station is the oldest Fire station on the island. It was built in the early fifties and used to house the guards of the former prisons and later the fire personnel for the Malta Dry Docks and the British Army Quarters.
The Fire Brigade of the Police Corps and Civil Protection Department were later stationed in same building. Structural changes were made to the Station to accommodate today’s large fire trucks and to upgrade the living quarters of the personnel operating within. Kordin Station covers the South and the Central part of the island having the most densely populated areas. This station houses no less than thirteen appliances.
The C.P.D Marine Unit is based at the Shipwrights Wharf in Marsa. This Unit of the service covers Fire fighting and Search and Rescue at Sea together with Oil Pollution Control and Prevention at Sea. The Marine Unit also incorporates the C.P.D Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) Team and the C.P.D Diving Team.
Equipment based at this unit includes the Fire Fighting Vessel MV-Garibaldi, together with various smaller sea craft and a number of vehicles notably an appliance fully equipped to combat Hazardous Material incidents.
The station is located within the Heliport at Xewkija Gozo. The personnel in the fire station are the first responders of the heliport together with all other duties pertaining to Fire and Rescue throughout the island of Gozo. This station houses eight appliances
C.P.D Humanitarian Aid Unit
The Humanitarian Aid unit was moved from Marsa to Ħal Far next to the ETC and Ħal Far Fire Station in March 2015. This section was set up following an agreement with the rest of the European Union, to provide reciprocal assistance to countries which suffer natural and man-made disasters.
The remit of this section is to stockpile necessary supplies which may be required in the event of a national disaster and to co-ordinate the stockpiling and distribution of such supplies should the necessity arise.
From then on, the Department was always involved in collecting goods from the Maltese public to be dispatched to countries requesting such assistance both from within as well as outside the Union. During the ‘Tsunami’, the Civil Protection Department dispatched more than fifty-four containers full of food stuffs and other personal items from Malta, which were sent to Indonesia.