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The
story of the Isle of Man Fire Brigade can be traced back to 20th
October 1803, with the arrival of two fire engines from England.
They belonged to the Sun Insurance Office and run by the Douglas
agent James Moore. However there was still no organised
brigade and the local agent of Sun Insurance relied heavily on local
untrained volunteers to man the fire engines whenever they were
called out. People living in the out of town areas were still no
better off because of the time it would take for word to be sent to
Douglas and then drag the engine to the scene of the fire.
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It appears from records that in February 1806 the management of the
Sun Fire Office in London decided to send one of the engines to
Ramsey, some 16 miles north of Douglas. However by 1808 records
report that both engines were back in Douglas. These early engines
were normally drawn by hand and could take water from a river or
pond. If such a supply was unavailable the main body of the engine,
which acted as a cistern could be filled with leather buckets passed
by hand by a chain gang. The larger of the two engines at Douglas
could be drawn by horse if required and then the pump needed
approximately 20 men to operate it when it arrived at the fire.
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It is also to be borne in mind that in these days Insurance
Companies would not deal with a fire in a property if there was no
insurance fire mark displayed on the outside of the property and it
was quite common for an insurance company who realised that the
property was not insured by them to stand outside the property and
watch it burn down. A typical fire mark of the Sun Insurance Office
is seen here below.
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After some very serious fires in the mid 1800s the first legislation
giving power to a local authority to spend money on fire fighting
apparatus was contained in the Douglas Town Act of 1860. In it the
commissioners were given the necessary means to hire or purchase
suitable premises wherein to keep fire engines to purchase and
support fire engines and all necessary appliances thereto, to
appoint a fire brigade and determine their pay and charges. The
three other principal centres of population, Castletown, Ramsey and
Peel would eventually follow suit. Legislation was also introduced
to permit the formation of water supply companies. It required
these companies to provide fire plugs (fire hydrants) and to
permit water to be taken free of charge at all times for the use for
fire fighting purposes.
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June 1884 saw Peel Commissioners purchase their first engine
comprising of a single hand cart with two stand pipes, two reels and
150 yards of leather hose the cart was constructed and delivered by
Wm Rose and Sons of Manchester.
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Castletown Commissioners met for the first time in 1884 and believed
as far as fire fighting went the town was well covered and enjoyed
the protection that the military barracks had provided however after
an serious fire in Malew Street the following year Major
Fritz-Herbert of the military wrote to the commissioners and
complained that his Infantry had considerable difficulty maintaining
a supply of water which resulted in the town people of Castletown
forming a bucket chain from a nearby well. Castletown Commissioners
then called for the provision of a better and more efficient fire
engine for the town and the insurance companies were asked to
subscribe towards the cost, but the matter was dropped when no
financial help was forthcoming.
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Also in 1884 Ramsey Town Commissioners had opened negotiations with
the insurance agents in the town and after long meetings the Isle of
Man Insurance Company agreed to pay £20 towards the cost of a new
engine which was estimated to cost approximately £50. Minutes of
this meeting state that the matter was eventually resolved with the
Isle of Man Insurance Company having free use of the engine and
equipment.
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In September1895 there was a very serious fire in a boarding house
in Sherwood Terrace Douglas in which two young servant girls who
were sleeping in the attic quarters of the building died. At an
inquest the court heard how the dividing wall between the two
properties had been reduced to lath and plaster partition and had
allowed the fire to spread to neighbouring properties. This fire
was the turning point for legislation to be drawn up on two points
firstly on the design of buildings and secondly legislation was
drawn up to govern habitable rooms. Also at the inquest the
efficiency of the fire brigade was also questioned and at the
inquest the Civil Engineer to the town commissioners indicated that
plans were underway to bring the towns fire brigade and incorporate
them in the towns new municipal building and so bring the brigade
closer to the town centre. Another outcome of the inquest was that
the wheeled escapes (wheeled ladders) should be moved to
different parts of the town and therefore the tallest escape was
relocated to Villiers Yard which was convenient for the highest
buildings on Douglas Promenade. The 45 ft escape was put at the
foot of Broadway and the smallest placed in Kensington Road to serve
upper Douglas and the Bucks Road area of the town.
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There were big changes after a fire in the Falcon's Nest Hotel in
Port Erin and after this the commissioners purchased a 60 ft
Metropolitan Escape which cost £91. By 1903 a brigade of twelve men
was formed and after further expansion of the town the commissioners
again agreed to purchase a 45 ft extending ladder and cart from
Simmis at a cost of £72 9s.
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Laxey were the last to follow and records of 1920 indicate a fire
brigade was formed under the leadership of Captain F.W Cowin and a
picture of the first Laxey hand cart can be seen below, this cart
was made by J Blakeborough & Sons Ltd and has been preserved to a
very high standard to this day by Laxey Fire Station personnel.
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By 1938 with the threat of war looming a Central Air Raids
Precautions Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of
Deemster Farrant and the committee investigated all aspects of
training for air raid wardens, police, fire and local authorities,
and recommendations were made to increase the number of fire
fighting personnel, by 1939 the recommendations were being
implemented and provisions were being made for Douglas Fire Brigade
to operate over the whole of the island if required.
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By February 1940 the Local Government (Fires) Act was implemented.
The Act defined seven fire areas - Douglas - Laxey - Ramsey - Kirk
Michael - Peel - Port Erin (Rushen) and Castletown. These
fire areas are true to this day.
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In June of 1964 the newly formed Fire Services Committee met and the
first task was to reorganise the full time staff at Douglas Fire
Station in John Street and within a short time a new establishment
was formed to include the Chief Fire Service Officer Mr. Cyril
Pearson and nine other personnel. The policy of modernisation
continued and by April 1965 a central fire control, manned on a 24
hr watch system was established and at the same time the 999
emergency telephone system was introduced into the fire service
control room.
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On 2nd August 1973 at 19.40 hrs some boys
accidentally set fire to a dismantled kiosk at the Summerland
Leisure complex on Douglas promenade. At 20.01 hrs central fire
control in John Street received a 999 call from Duggans radio cabs
informing the fire service that the Summerland Leisure Complex on Douglas
Promenade was on fire. The sequence of events that
followed this tragic fire have been well published in the past but
needless to say 50 people perished in this fire and it is the worst
British peace time disaster involving fire since 1929.
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On 3rd September 1973 the Lieutenant Governor appointed a Commission
of Enquiry into the Summerland disaster and the enquiry lasted until
February 1974. The Commission urged the immediate revision of
Theatre Regulations and drastically changed the whole approach to
fire safety on the Isle of Man.
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Early 1977 saw the fire service take delivery of the new Peel Road
Central Fire Station & Headquarters building. The formal
opening took place on 30th June 1977 and the building is still in
use to this day.
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In 1988 the Isle of Man Fire Service was renamed the
Isle of Man
Fire
and Rescue Service
to take into account the many and varied different types of rescue
calls that this very modern and efficient fire service deal with
today, such as hill search incidents, line (rope) rescue incidents,
and the many road traffic
collisions
and special service calls that all fire crews from each of the seven
fire stations on the Isle of Man deal with each year.
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The
equipment replacement programme introduced at the same time and
approved by the island’s Treasury has seen the service enter the 21st
century with every station now provided with modern efficient
appliances equipped to tackle any emergency. Restrictions on the
disposal of surplus equipment has seen the island service releasing
appliances to countries such as Romania and Macedonia through
established charities and the Island’s Overseas Aid Committee.
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Since
2004 emergency calls are dealt with centrally at an Emergency
Services Joint Control Room and the service is equipped with a
modern digital trunked mobile radio system which is linked to all of
the Island’s Government Departments and the envy of many other
brigades in the British Isles.
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- [courtesy of
Stan Basnett]
