History of the Fire Service

The first organised fire fighting is believed to have originated in the UK during the Roman invasion in AD43. Back then, the only way to fight fires was at most a bucket of water. After the romans, the fire fighting took a massive step backwards with communities falling into decline. During the middle age era, fire fighting wasnt the best, so therefore a lot of cities burnt to the ground. Building materials (wood mostly) also had a role to play in these. After a lot of losses from these fires, residents organised basic firefighting, although no standards were enforced. This did change after the great fire of London in 1666. London has also suffered fires in the years 798, 982, 989 and 1212. Edinburghs authorities had formed the first properly organised brigade in 1824. The first fire brigade was formed in the early 1800s by a property developer named Nicholas Barbon who introduced the first kind of insurance against fire, then shortly after formed a fire brigade. James Braidwood sadly died in 1861 whist fighting a warehouse fire in Tooley Street, London. Other companies followed in his footsteps of property insurance. A company would give houses a badge to display, so if their house caught fire, the company owning the badge would attend. Some buildings would burn before the right company showed up. Following this, many companies merged together. One famous merge was that between the London companies to create the London Fire Engine Establishment. The first chief of this establishment was James Braidwood. A major change in the way fires were fought came into being in the mid 1850s when the first reliable steam powered appliances were adopted by brigades. They were brought into replace the manual appliances, which allowed them to direct a lot more water onto fires. Although this stage lasted just 50 years, following the introduction of the internal combustion engine in the early 1900s.

Jamie Gillum

Before 1938 there were between 1400 and 1500 small municipal fire brigades run by local councils in the UK. In 1938 the AFS followed by the NFS were formed. The formation on the NFS would ensure uniformity in much of the basic equipment used by the countrys Fire Brigades during what was the busiest time ever in the history of the UKs Fire Service. The Fire Services Act (1947) became effective on the 1st of April 1948; this resulted in 148 County Council and County Borough run Fire Brigades. This act was updated in 2004. Today, fire and rescue remains a mix of full-time paid, paid-oncall, and volunteer responders. Many, but not all, urban areas are served by large, paid, firefighting teams. Back in 1938, there were 1,600 fire stations throughout the UK. Today, there are only 1,100 fire stations in the UK. The structure today is set out with ten roles: Firefighter: Carries out day-to-day fire fighting. Leading Firefighter: In charge of the crew of a fire appliance at many stations, as well as day-to-day fire fighting. Sub Officer: In charge of the watch at smaller fire stations, carry out day-to-day fire fighting, attends incidents as officer in charge of an appliance. Station Officer: In charge of the watch at larger fire stations, carry out day-to-day fire fighting, as well as taking up specialist duties. Assistant Divisional Officer: Responsible for management of a fire station or day-to-day work in a specific policy area. Divisional Officer: Responsible for management of a group of fire stations or day-to-day work in a specific policy area. Senior Divisional Officer: Responsible for management of an area of fire brigade operations or policy. Assistant Chief Fire Officer: An ACFO has strategic responsibilities for directories. Also, will take charge of incidents of 10 pumps or more. Deputy Chief Fire Officer: A DCFO will fill in for a Chief Fire in their absence. He has strategic responsibilities for directories. Chief Fire Officer: The CFO is the head of the organisation. He will take charge of incidents of 10 pumps or more.

Jamie Gillum

Famous Fires involving Fire Services Famous fires that the fire services were involved in were: Customs House 1814 Tower of London 1841 Theatre Royal 1856 Butlers Wharf 1931 The Top Storey Club 1961 Bishopsgate Fire 1964 Lancashire Mill 1969 Rose and Crown Hotel 1969 Maryhill Road Fire 1972 Woolworths Fire 1979 Alexandra Palace 1980 Amoco Refinery 1983 Brighton Bomb 1984 York Minster 1984 Bradford FC Fire 1985 Manchester Airport Disaster 1985 Clapham Train Crash 1988 Lockerbie Bomb 1988 Windsor Castle 1992

Jamie Gillum