History of fire brigades in the United Kingdom

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Pump showing the old North Yorkshire Fire Brigade name
Pump showing the old North Yorkshire Fire Brigade name

The history of fire brigades in the United Kingdom is complex due to many re-organisations having taken place. Prior to 1938, there were some 1600 local fire brigades in operation. At the start of World War II, on 18 August 1941, the local authority fire brigades in Great Britain were combined into a National Fire Service (NFS). After the war, the government decided to better organise the UK fire service and passed the Fire Services Act 1947. The Fire Services Act set down what each local authority must do in regard to having a fire brigade. Each local authority was responsible for

  • Providing a fire brigade
  • The training of a fire brigade
  • The receiving of calls

Prior to 1974 all but one of the fire brigades in England and Wales used the term "Fire Brigade", the exception was the City of Salford, which called itself "Fire Department". After 1974 All but two the new authorities adopted the term "Fire Service", the two exceptions being Avon County and County Cleveland. Most of the older County brigades who came though the reorganisation with little change also changed their names to "Fire Service", the only brigades not to adopt the term were London, Cornwall, East Sussex, Somerset, West Sussex and Wiltshire, all of which still retain the name "Fire Brigade".

Contents

[edit] Fire brigades in England

Some local authorities did not create their own fire brigade but came to arrangements with the County Fire Brigade to provide a fire brigade for them. The local authorities who took this route were:

In the 1960s there were several changes to local government and some minor changes took place within the fire brigades but in the main they remained as created under the act until the 1970s when the government decided to make a major re-shuffle of local authorities in the UK. The Local Government Act 1972 created several new Metropolitan and County Authorities which in turn led to new fire brigades being formed when the Act came into being in 1974. The new County Brigades formed in 1974 were

In other parts of the country, new County Brigades were formed from the merging of several brigades within that county, where the county itself did not have a County Fire Brigade, These included:

The full list of the brigades formed under the 1947 Fire Services Act is given below along with the 1960s changes and the result of the 1974 Local Authority re-organisation:

Original Brigade Dates in existence Changes prior to 1974 Changes in the 1974 reorganisation
Barnsley County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form South Yorkshire FS
Barrow-in-Furness County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Cumbria FS
City of Bath FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Avon County FB
Bedfordshire FB 1948 - present No change
Berkshire & Reading FB 1948 - 1974 Became Royal Berkshire FS
Birkenhead County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
City of Birmingham FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Midlands FS
Blackburn County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Lancashire County FS
Blackpool County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Lancashire County FS
Bolton County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
Bootle County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
Bournemouth County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Dorset FS
City of Bradford FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Yorkshire FS
Brighton County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into East Sussex FB
City of Bristol FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Avon County FB
Buckinghamshire FB 1948 - 1974 No change
Burnley County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Lancashire County FS
Burton upon Trent County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Staffordshire FS
Bury County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
Cambridgeshire & Isle of Ely FB 1948 - 1974 Isle of Ely FB separated in 1965 Merged to form Cambridgeshire FS
City of Carlisle FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Cumbria FS
Cheshire FB 1948 - 1974 Lost area to Greater Manchester FS
City of Chester FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Cheshire FS
Cornwall FB 1948 - present No change
City of Coventry 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Midlands FS
Croydon County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into London FB
Cumberland FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Cumbria FS
Darlington County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into County Durham FS
Derby County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Derbyshire FS
Derbyshire FB 1948 - 1974 Gained some smaller brigades
Devon FB 1948 - present Gained some smaller brigades
Dewsbury County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Yorkshire FS
Doncaster County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form South Yorkshire FS
Dorset FB 1948 - present No change
Dudley County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Midlands FS
Durham FB 1948 - present Lost some area to County Cleveland FS
East Riding of Yorkshire FB 1948 - 1974 Area split to form North Yorkshire FS and Humberside FS
East Sussex FB 1948 - present Lost some area to West Sussex FS
Eastbourne County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into East Sussex FS
Essex FB 1948 - present Lost some area to London FB 1965. No further change
City of Exeter FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Devon FS
City of Gloucester FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Gloucestershire FS
Gloucestershire v 1948 - present Lost area to Avon County FS and gained some smaller brigades
Great Yarmouth County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Norfolk FS
Grimsby County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Humberside FS
Halifax County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Yorkshire FS
Hampshire FB 1948 - present Lost Christchurch area to Dorset FS
Hastings County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into East Sussex FS
Herefordshire FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Hereford & Worcester FS
Hertfordshire FB 1948 - present No Change
Holland FB County Lincolnshire 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Lincolnshire FS
Huddersfield County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Yorkshire FS
Hull County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Humberside FS
Huntingdonshire FB 1948 - 1965 As Huntingdonshire & Peterborough FB from 1965 Merged to form Cambridgeshire FS
Isle of Ely FB 1948 - 1965 Within Cambridgeshire FB until 1965 Merged to form Cambridgeshire FS
Isle of Man FB 1948 - present No change
Isle of Wight FB 1948 - present No change
Kent FB 1948 - present Lost area to London FB 1965 No further change
Kesteven County FB, Lincolnshire 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Lincolnshire FS
Lancashire County FB 1948 - present Lost area to Cumbria FS, Greater Manchester FS and Merseyside FS.
City of Leeds FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Yorkshire FS
City of Leicester FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Leicestershire FS
Leicestershire & Rutland FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Leicestershire FS
City of Lincoln FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Lincolnshire FS
Lindsey County FB, Lincolnshire 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Lincolnshire FS
City of Liverpool FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
London FB 1948 - present Gained area 1965 No further change
City of Manchester FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
Middlesbrough County Borough FB 1948 - 1968 Became Teeside County Borough FB in 1968 Merged to form Tyne and Wear FS
Middlesex FB 1948 - 1965 To London FB except for Potters Bar to Hertfordshire FB, Staines and Sunbury to Surrey FB
Newcastle & Gateshead Joint FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Tyne & Wear FS
Norfolk FB 1948 - present Gained some smaller brigades
North Riding of Yorkshire FB 1948 - 1974 Lost area to Teesside County Borough FB in 1965. Merged to form County Cleveland FS
Northampton County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Northamptonshire FS
Northamptonshire FB 1948 - present Gained some smaller brigades
Northumberland FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Tyne & Wear FS
City of Norwich FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Norfolk FS
City of Nottingham FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Nottinghamshire FS
Nottinghamshire FB 1948 - present Gained some smaller brigades
Oldham County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
City of Oxford FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Oxfordshire FS
Oxfordshire FB 1948 - present Gained smaller brigades
Soke of (City) Peterborough FB 1948 - 1965 As Huntingdon & Peterborough FB from 1965 Merged to form Cambridge FS
City of Plymouth FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Devon FS
City of Portsmouth FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Hampshire FS
Preston County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Lancashire County FS
Reading County Borough FB 1948 - 1965 As Berkshire & Reading FB until 1965 Merged into Royal Berkshire FS
Rochdale County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
Rotherham County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form South Yorkshire FS
City of Salford FD 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
City of Sheffield FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form South Yorkshire FS
Shropshire FB 1948 - present No change
Smethwick & West Bromwich Joint FB 1948 - 1967 Became Warley County Borough FB and West Bromwich County Borough FB
Solihull County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Midlands FS
Somerset FB 1948 - present Lost area to Avon FS
South Shields County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Tyne & Wear FS
Southampton County Borough FB 1948 - 1964 To City of Southampton FB 1964
Southend County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Essex FS
Southport County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
St Helens County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
Staffordshire FB 1948 - present Lost area to various County Boroughs in 1967. No further change
Stockport County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
Stoke-on-Trent County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into Staffordshire FS
Suffolk & Ipswich FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Suffolk FS
Sunderland County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Tyne & Wear FS
Surrey FB 1948 - present Lost area to London FB in 1965. No further change
Tynemouth County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Tyne & Wear FS
Wakefield County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Yorkshire FS
Wallasey County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
Warrington County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Merseyside FS
Warwickshire FB 1948 - present Lost area to West Midlands FS
West Ham County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged into London FB
West Hartlepool County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form County Cleveland FS
West Riding of Yorkshire FB 1948 - 1974 West Yorkshire FS with losses to Cumbria FS, Humberside FS, Lancashire County FS and South Yorkshire FS
West Sussex FB 1948 - present Gained area
Westmorland FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Cumbria FS
Wigan County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Greater Manchester FS
Wiltshire FB 1948 - present No change
Wolverhampton County Borough FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form West Midlands FS
Worcester County FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form Hereford & Worcester FS
City of York FB 1948 - 1974 Merged to form North Yorkshire FS

[edit] The 1960s

During the 1960s there was a fairly stable local government system however there were some minor changes to the UK Fire Service due to authority reorganisations. Following the introduction of single-tier local authorities, the then-existing structure of brigades was retained by creating additional joint boards:

Brigade Year created Brigade formed from Change at local government reorganisation 1974
Luton County Borough FB 1964 Separated from Bedfordshire FB Bedfordshire FS
City of Southampton FB 1964 Separated from Southampton County Borough FB Hampshire FS
East Ham County Borough FB 1965 London FB
Isle of Ely FB 1965 By the separation of Cambridgeshire & Isle of Ely FB Cambridgeshire FS
Huntingdon & Peterborough FB 1965 From Peterborough (Soke of) FB and Huntingdon FB Cambridgeshire FS
Warley County Borough FB 1967 From the separation of Smethwick & West Bromwich Joint FB West Midlands FS
West Bromwich County Borough FB 1967 From the separation of Smethwick & West Bromwich Joint FB West Midlands FS
Teeside County Borough FB 1968 from Middlesborough County Borough FB County Cleveland FS

[edit] The 1990s

In the 1990s there were some minor changes to unitary and other local authorities resulting in some name changes:

Brigade Date of Change New Name
Bedfordshire FS [citation needed] Bedfordshire & Luton FRS

[edit] Fire brigades in Wales

The fire service in Wales was reorganised into several new brigades to match the new local government areas created in 1974:

Brigade formed in 1948 Changes in 1974
Anglesey FB Formed part of Gwynedd FS
Breconshire & Radnorshire FB Split between Gwent FS and Powys FS,
Caernarvonshire FB Formed part of Gwynedd FS
City of Cardiff FB Formed part of South Glamorgan FS
Carmarthenshire & Cardiganshire FB Formed part of Dyfed FS
Denbighshire & Montgomeryshire FB Split between Clwyd FS and Gwynedd FS
Flintshire FB Formed part of Clwyd FS
Glamorgan FB Split between Mid, South and West Glamorgan FS's
Merionethshire FB Formed part of Gwynedd FS
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough FB Formed part of Mid Glamorgan FS
Monmouthshire FB Formed part of Gwent FS
Newport County Borough FB Formed part of Gwent FS
Pembrokeshire FB Formed part of Dyfed FS
Swansea County Borough FB Formed part of West Glamorgan FS

In 1996, Wales underwent further changes and the fire service was reorganised into three areas:

Brigade formed in 1974 Changes in 1996
Dyfed FS Mid and West Wales FS
Powys FS Mid and West Wales FS
Clwyd FS North Wales FS
Gwynedd FS North Wales FS
Gwent FS South Wales FS
Mid, South & West Glamorgan FS's South Wales FS

[edit] Fire brigades in Scotland

As with Wales, the whole of Scotland was reorganised in 1975, one year later than the rest of the UK, and new areas or regions were created. Prior to the reorganisation, the Scottish Brigades were as given below.

Brigade formed in 1948 Changes in 1975
Angus Area Merged to form Tayside FS
Central Retained name. Took over parts of Perth & Kinross FB and South Eastern. Part lost to Strathclyde FS
Fife No Change
City of Glasgow FB Merged to form Strathclyde FS
Lanarkshire FB Merged to form Strathclyde FS
Northern Area Changed name Northern Fire Brigade
North Eastern Area Became Grampian FS
Perth & Kinross FB Split between Central FB and Tayside FS
South Eastern Area Became Lothian & Borders FS
Western Area Became Dumfries & Galloway FS, with a part going to Strathclyde FS

In 1983 some of the Northern area was reorganised and the small off-shore authorities were brought together to form a new Region :

Brigade formed in 1975 Changes in 1983
Northern Fire Brigade Incorporated into Highlands and Islands FS

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • His Majesties Government (1947). Fire Services Act 1947. HMSO. 
  • Various. A History of the British Fire Service. Fire Service College Library, Moreton in Marsh. 

[edit] External links

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