| AdminHistory | Fire provision in Birmingham prior to the year 1792 was carried out by a parish official, usually the churchwarden, with their own equipment. In 1792, the Royal Exchange Assurance Company invested in a fire engine, which was housed in Congreve Street, and within a few years the Norwich Union had an engine, also in Congreve Street, as did the Birmingham Fire Office, in Union Street. The forming of these ‘private’ brigades continued until as late as 1863, when the Royal Insurance Company formed a force comprising of some 30 members of the Birmingham Rifle Volunteers.
In 1873, the companies decided to disband or sell their private brigades and fire plant to the Council. The town gained five engines and other plant, but the brigade itself was attached to the police until 1879 (see BCC/1/AC Watch Committee), after which it became a separate department, under a Chief Fire Officer, following public criticism of the police after a fire at Digbeth. It was run from its headquarters in Corporation Street, with the central station at Cannon Street, then later, Upper Priory. By the turn of the century there were several fire stations in the city.
The 1920s finally saw the replacement of horse-drawn fire engines with motor vehicles, with 49 in service by 1928. In 1935, the Central Fire Station was moved to its current location at Lancaster Circus. In 1937, with the threat of war imminent, the Auxiliary Fire Service was formed. In November 1940, the General Purposes Committee adopted a recommendation of the Emergency Committee in appointing a new committee for the administration, staffing and operational control of the Fire Brigade and the Auxiliary Fire Service (See BCC/1/CK/5 Civil Defence (and predecessor) Committee, Auxiliary Fire Service Sub-Committee for earlier minutes). The committee set about recruitment for the fire service, and improving co-operation between the two forces.
In 1941, both the City Fire Brigade and the Auxiliary Fire Service were amalgamated to form part of the the new National Fire Service by the government, but were returned to local control under the Fire Services Bill, 1947 (records for the National Fire Service can be found amongst the Home Office records at the National Archives, Kew), which became effective on 1 April 1948. A committee of nine members was appointed and recommenced dealing with all staffing, administration and service issues regarding the brigade.
On the same day, the Fire Brigade Committee became responsible for the Ambulance Service, which it took over from the Health Committee, and so the department was renamed the Birmingham City Fire and Ambulance Service to reflect this. Construction began on a new depot for the Service in Henrietta Street almost immediately, to replace the temporary headquarters in Shadwell Street. This was followed by the transfer of the Mobile Surgical Unit to the department in April 1951.
The service was respected enough to be asked to visit Jamaica to train their fire crews, but was experiencing difficulties in recruiting staff for both the ambulance and fire services at home. The service had visited Scotland and other areas of the country to promote itself, but this practice was discontinued in 1960, despite the number of calls to the service being at an all-time high (8161 in 1959, a significant increase from 6098 in 1958).
On the 1 April, 1968, along with the Civil Defence Corps, the Auxiliary Fire Service was finally disbanded by the Home Office, against the wishes of the volunteers and British Fire Services Association. This was predominantly a cost saving exercise, despite increasing emergency call outs to the service (9549 calls in 1967).
The dawn of the 1970s saw increased demands placed upon the service, receiving some 10,380 calls in 1971 alone. In the same year, the Fire Precautions Act meant that the Fire Prevention Department within the service was required to inspect even more properties, as well as run a fire prevention campaign. From 1 April 1974, the newly created West Midlands County Council took over responsibility for service policy and the operational side was taken over by the West Midlands Fire Service. In 1986, the West Midlands County Council was disbanded, and the West Midlands Fire Service was replaced with the West Midlands Fire and Civil Defence Authority. |