Draft:Southport Fire Brigade

Southport Fire Brigade (Known as Southport County Borough Fire Brigade) was a fire service in Southport, Merseyside which operated as a one-station brigade throughout its lifetime. Operating at Southport Fire Station, It carried out regular duties like normal Fire Brigades, except for housing the control room inside the watch room. It would merge in 1974 with other brigades in Merseyside and form Merseyside Fire Brigade.



History
Southport Fire Brigade was founded around 1862. It led to a group of volunteers, manned with a Horse-Drawn Manual Pump, to take care of fires. This was likely after a fire in 1845 that had taken around 1 hour and 45 minutes to respond to. This lasted for a short while until the Local Police Services Head Constable, Samuel Kershaw, became Superintendent of the Brigade.

Southport's first official Fire Station would be built in 1908. Located on Tulketh Street, Southport. Not much is known about the station though.

In 1920, a Southport Fire Brigade appliance collided with a cyclist. Unfortunately, the cyclist died and three Firemen were injured. It was reported that the cyclist, who was in front of the appliance, would suddenly turn into a side street. In an act to try to avoid him, the appliance would swerve onto the footpath. In the process, Two trees would be knocked down and three Firemen would be thrown off, leaving them injured.

In 1923, a fire broke out in premises owned by 'Mrs SIMPSON'. A Stationer, a Toy, and a Fancy Dress Dealer. And behind it, a dwelling house. When the Fire Brigade had reached Nevill Street, the whole of the dwelling house behind the dealer would be ablaze. Thankfully there were no recorded deaths and the only damage caused was burns and some of the building collapsing.

In 1933, Southport's first Fire Station at Tulketh Street would undergo a remodel. It would reopen in May of 1934.

1938 would see Southport Fire Brigade move to the last station they would have. Southport Fire Station would be located at the Postal Code 'PR9 0LH'. This would also have a Control Room instead of a Watch Room. Meaning that after 76 years of Police Control would end, receiving a CFO for 3 years.

In 1941 following Nazi Air Raids, the government would form the National Fire Service. Southport would fall under the 26th Fire Force with the headquarters in Liverpool.

In 1948, Southport's Fire Brigade would finally fall out of the NFS and be controlled by Chief Fire Officer Perkins. It would be named Southport County Borough Fire Brigade.

In 1966, the Southport Fire Brigade attended a fire at Southport Football Ground after the main stand caught fire. Joe Moore, a Southport Visiter would say in 1966 "In all its chequered history going back to 1881, Southport Football Club has never received such a devastating blow."

The first of seven phone calls to 999 would be at 4:57 am. Two appliances were initially sent, though on arrival, they would request over the radio for additional support. Around ten to fifteen fire engines attended the incident. However, this can vary on the local reports. The Chief Fire Officer of Southport at the time, Mr J A Perkins, oversaw the effort to extinguish the blaze. This would include 50+ Firemen from Southport Fire Brigade, Boodle Fire Brigade and Lancashire County Fire Brigade. Flames would puncture the roof of the Stands and Gymnasiu and, at their longest height, reached around 40ft high. The glow could be seen all around Southport and the smell of smoke traveled as far as the promenade.

Although the fire was 'Under Control' by 5:26 am, it would take around six hours to fully extinguish the blaze. Unfortunately, the Main Stand, Club Offices, Gymnasium, and Changing Rooms were destroyed in the fire along with three filing cabinets filled with documents. A part from the video from BBC Rewind shows a man inspecting a filing cabinet damaged in the fire, with the inside documents damaged fully.

People would speculate a 'discarded cigarette still lit' was the cause. Though leading to the investigation, a PA system, which was built in 1955 and unveiled by Princess Margaret, would be to blame due to the immense damage around the PA system. Yet a box of matches would be found inside a safe, which most of the contents had survived (Bar a few coins which had discolored). Although the fire had damaged wiring to the floodlights, they could still be used. An unofficial motto, adopted by the directors, exclaimed "The Show Must Go On".

In 1974, Southport Fire Brigade merged with other services in Merseyside to create Merseyside Fire Brigade. Meaning City of Liverpool, Birkenhead, Boodle, St Helens, and Wallasey would combine with parts of Lancashire County Fire Brigade and  Cheshire County Fire Brigade

A log of many of the events can also be found in the National Archives via a downloadable PDF. The reference will give you the link to download it.

In 2013, Southport would finish its full rebuild meaning that Southport's last Fire Station would no longer be standing. It would be replaced with a Fire and Ambulance Joint Station.

Ranks
Whilst many brigades would do the format of 'ADO, DO, SDO, ACFO, DCFO, CFO'. Southport would resort to 'DCFO, CFO' after Station Officer. This meant the rank structure would look like:


 * FM
 * LFM
 * Sub.O
 * Stn.O
 * DCFO
 * CFO

The reason would be quite simple though, Southport was a unique Fire Brigade as it was a One Station Brigade. This meant that there was no 'watch office' also but instead a 'control room'.