Grampian Fire Brigade Collection
History of the Aberdeen Fire Brigade and Grampian Fire Brigade
Little is known of the history of the Fire Brigade in Aberdeen before 1721, when the records show that a watchman was appointed to patrol the town at night and raise the alarm if a fire was discovered. There is evidence that a "fire engine" was procured in 1762 from London, a Newsham engine, although nothing exists in the records to indicate where it was kept or of its type of construction. The cost for this was paid by the Sun Fire Insurance Company, which ties in with the rest of the country, where the general practice seems to be that financial assistance towards the upkeep of the Fire Brigade came from (in part) Insurance Companies. By 1776, a building called the "Water House”, which was the water reservoir for all the street wells, had been provided in Broad Street and was the first recorded Fire Station in Aberdeen.
Between 1826 - 1834, the Fire Engine establishment was at
the corner of Back Wynd/Union Street and shore porters were used as firemen.
Due to unsatisfactory call-out procedures, which inevitably led to delays in
attending fires and serious repercussions, the Town Council introduced sweeping
changes to the structure and running of the Fire Brigade, with the result of a
permanent Fire Brigade being established in 1835. A Firemaster and a number of
assistants were appointed, a new fire pump purchased and an annual sum of £100
set aside to cover running costs of the new Brigade.
In 1885, the first mechanical fire appliance was bought.
This was a horse-drawn, steam operated machine which continued in use until
1893, when it was replaced by a steam-operated appliance of much improved design
(Princess Mary).
1899 brought a new "Central Fire Station" for Aberdeen, with the brigade opening its new headquarterse on King Street. Staff included a Firemaster, Deputy Firemaster, eleven permanent and ten
auxiliary firemen. The station was equipped with two horse-drawn, steam-operated pumps,
one horse-drawn escape ladder, six horses and three manual engines.
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| DD1792/4/4 - Grampian Fire Brigade: Postcard of Fire Brigade Station, Aberdeen |
After almost 100 years of use, the King Street Fire Station closed in 1997 and was replaced with a new station at Mounthooly. You will likely now recognise the building as student accommodation.
About the same time as the King Street Fire Station was
commissioned sub-fire stations were opened in Torry, Woodside and Mile-End.
Each sub-station had a hose cart and ladders and one fireman in constant
attendance, reducing the time taken for an experienced fireman with some fire
fighting equipment to be on site.
In 1905 the Aberdeen Fire Brigade, as it was now known, purchased what was reputed to be the first motor fire engine in Scotland from Merryweather Fire Engineers, Greenwich and in 1912 another motor appliance was added to the Brigade. This appliance was a 75 H.P. "Halley" which carried a 500 G.P.M. capacity turbine pump. The purchase of this second motor fire engine marked the start of a decline of horses in the Brigade and the closure of the sub-stations previously mentioned as motorised fire engines could attend from the central fire station more rapidly.
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| Copyright A. Anderson, Fleet Historian of the Fire Brigade Society. [Reference DD1792/3/4/4] |
Improvements to appliances and equipment continued to be made between 1921-1937. During this period, with Firemaster F. G. Bell in charge, the following were added: a Morris Commercial Utility Tender; a 30 H. P. Leyland Cub Self-propelled Pump with hose reel and 30 foot extension ladder; a 65 H.P. Dennis Pump Escape; a 65 H.P. Halley Self-propelled Pump with hose reel and 30 foot extension ladder; a 65 H. P. Leyland Metz Turntable Ladder; an Inspection Car; a Trailer Pump.
Personnel was also increased during this time
to:- 1 Firemaster; 1 Deputy Firemaster; 1 Station Officer; 18 permanent Firemen; 4
Auxilliary Firemen; 1 Motor Mechanic; 1 Station Attendant/Clerk.
In 1938, the Aberdeen Fire Brigade became part of the Auxiliary Fire Service. Nationalisation followed in 1941 when the National Fire Service was formed. This continued throughout the remainder of WW2 until 1948, when the National Fire Service was disbanded and Fire Brigades were returned to the Local Authorities.
In Scotland, eleven 'Fire Areas' were established to replace the National Fire Brigade by grouping together Cities, Burghs and Counties within geographical areas to form Joint Fire Boards. The North-Eastern Fire Board covered Aberdeen City and the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Kincardine, Moray and Nairn (3,500 square miles with thirty-eight strategically-placed fire stations).
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| 'N. E. 1. Area' for North-Eastern Fire Board. Appliance Hydrant Register [Reference DD1792/3/4/1] |
A new headquarters was constructed on North Anderson Drive in the 1960s.
In 1975 further changes to local government in Scotland led to the formation of the Grampian Fire Brigade, with a geographical area mirroring the new Grampian Regional Council. The Brigade operated a Headquarters, 3 full time stations in Aberdeen, 1 in Peterhead and 1 in Elgin, and 33 other stations in villages and towns across the region. Below is a programme for the official opening ceremony of Altens Fire Station in 1983 (reference DD1792/4/3).
[Please note, historical information in this post has mostly been taken from documents included in the collection under reference DD1792/7/2/16]
Cataloguing
The Grampian Fire Brigade collection was catalogued in 2023 with the help of previously collated box lists, appraisal records and retention schedules. The collection includes some fascinating records, including the below.
Registers of Fires & Other Occurrences / Log Books
Fire Incident Reports and Photographs:
This series of records was the most challenging to catalogue, for obvious reasons. Many of the records in this series are marked as restricted access on our catalogue due to the sensitive information included in the documents, which include: log faxes, reports, investigation notes, floor layouts (some plans), photographs (some negatives only). This series has been listed in accordance with the original references provided by the Grampian Fire Brigade where possible:
DD1792/3/3/1 - Grampian Fire Brigade: Fire Incident FIR 00000 series
DD1792/3/3/2 - Grampian Fire Brigade: Fire Incident Fire/A series
DD1792/3/3/3 - Grampian Fire Brigade: Fire Incident other series and unidentified series.
There is a list of the categories of these references (and others) in the collection, although we have noted that these have not always accurately reflected the contents of the record / file:
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There are 111 records in the first series, 129 in the second series and 133 in the final series. Cataloguing these records at item level was a lengthy job - they have been catalogued with the street of the property in the title where possible.
Please note that these reports and associated photographs may be sensitive and cause distress. The reports contain details of deceased and injured people. Most files include photographs and some of these show the deceased in situ. Those with images of deceased have been marked as 'restricted access'. Access will be at the discretion of staff members.
Staff Records
Some of the material in the staffing series is closed due to Data Protection. However, we do have a staff record book where some of the entries can be researched. This is under reference DD1792/5/1 - Aberdeen City Fire Brigade: Staff Record Book, dating from 1896 - 1941.
Promotional and Events
As with many collections, there are records related to the outreach activities of the Grampian Fire Brigade. These records reflect the ongoing requirements of the brigade to advocate for their services. The Newspaper Scrapbooks (reference DD1792/7/2/8) include articles evidencing many of the Brigade's heroic activities, whilst the photographs of demonstrations to schools and the wider public show ongoing attempts by the brigade to ensure residents learn about their responsibilities when it comes to fire safety.
The 'Northern Light' is the magazine of the Grampian Fire Brigade. There are 21 volumes (reference DD1792/7/1/1-21) dating from the 1970s - 1990s that provide great detail as to the internal processes, staff and activities of the service.
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