North Wales Fire and Rescue Service believes in open, honest, transparent and consistent dealings with the media and we recognise and welcome the key role the media plays in helping with communicating vital warning and informing messages as well as prevention and protection messages.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s Media Team is made up of qualified communications professionals with years of experience in multimedia management, public relations, journalism, and internal and external communications.

Our work with the traditional media and across our digital channels is vital and enables the Service to engage with the public to provide timely and accurate information about incidents as well as communicating important prevention messages.

It is also critical as part of our efforts to warn and inform our communities during an emergency.

The team answers numerous enquiries from the media on a daily basis and therefore, just like in a newsroom, it must prioritise its workload.

Media enquiries will be prioritised by the Media Team members using their professional judgement and based on conversations with the journalist re deadlines, the angle of the story and its prominence, potential reputational impact as well as the seriousness of the incident and any important safety messages that we would want to communicate to the public.

The release of information is always for a purpose and is always within the GDPR framework.

What is a media enquiry?

An enquiry from a trained, professional journalist who is working on behalf of a recognised media outlet. As a recognised media outlet, the organisation you work for will be regulated by a recognised code of ethics for print, online or broadcast media.

Regrettably, we’re unable to respond to student journalists or bloggers.

How do I make a media enquiry?

Before submitting an enquiry, please check North Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s news channels by visiting the news section of our website here or our X and Facebook pages.

These channels are regularly updated with items of media interest, so if we have anything to say about an incident, it is likely to be on there already.

If not, you can email the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service Media Team during office hours on press@northwalesfire.gov.wales.

Please note that if the information you are enquiring about is already on our website or on our social media, you may not receive a response, so it’s worth checking beforehand.

The following are our corporate social media channels:

Facebook: @Northwalesfireservice

X: @NorthWalesFire

Instagram: @northwalesfire

LinkedIn: @Northwalesfireandrescueservice

Alongside the corporate accounts some local stations have their own accounts which are not routinely monitored by Corporate Communications.

What we will not respond to

The Media Team are not able to respond to enquiries which do not have a specific  purpose – aimed at warning and informing the public or communicating a clear prevention message to our communities.

Whilst we are a public body, often the matters we are dealing with happen in a private space with no wider public interest that outweighs an individual’s right to privacy.

We will take these considerations into account in determining the information we are able to provide in response to certain media enquiries.

For clarity, we also cannot respond to:

• Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) involving minor damage or injury, unless there is significant disruption or other extenuating circumstances

• Speculative enquiries about why fire appliances are in a certain area without other information being provided.
• Sweep incident checks about incidents of note happening in the area
• Enquiries relating to police incidents where the police have not been consulted first.
• Freedom of Information requests. Please re-direct these to FoI@northwalesfire.gov.wales

What will happen to my media enquiry?

Your enquiry will be dealt with by our Media Team during office hours.

This service is provided by the wider Corporate Communications Team, as one of a number of functions Corporate Communications manages.

Where a response is required, we aim to provide this within one working day, subject to officer availability/shift patterns. We will take genuine deadlines into consideration.

The email for the Media Team is press@northwalesfire.gov.wales.

How do I submit a media enquiry outside these hours?

Out of hours, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and North Wales Police Press Offices

work in partnership to provide a joint press enquiry service specifically for any serious

incidents.

This is not an extension of our usual service, and our On-Call Press Officers will only

deal with enquiries related to large / priority incidents.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service

To access this service please telephone 01931 522 010 – please do not contact the control room with speculative enquiries about why resources are in a certain area / Sweep incident checks or regarding smaller scale incidents.

North Wales Police Control

To access this service please use the North Wales Police live webchat service. Please note that the webchat staff have responsibility across the whole force area and will need to prioritise your enquiry against other ongoing work.

On-Call Press Officers will publish information on the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service / North Wales Police website and/or social media channels. Journalists are advised to check these channels.

Please do not contact Press Officers individually outside of office hours. On-Call Press Officers will not provide media statements on issues that are not pressing or can be dealt with during office hours.

Alternatively, you can email your enquiry to press@northwalesfire.gov.wales and it will be picked up during the next working day. Please note that the Media Team inbox is not routinely monitored out of hours and that you should not expect a response by email outside office hours.