Royal Burgh of ______ Fire Brigade - a photo on Flickriver

            My Grandfather Willie Hall is stood on the right. The man on the left has been identified as David Clark Dunlop. The man in the centre is Mr MacIntyre. Thanks to the Old Irvine Group on Facebook.

"Irvine" has been painted out as a Second World War security measure. The Irvine Fire Station were called to assist during the 1941 bombing of Clydebank in Dunbartonshire. They were away for three weeks. They also assisted at the Greenock Blitz in Renfrewshire.

In 1939 there were over 1,000 Fire Brigades in Great Britain. This was because the Fire Service was organised and run mainly by Parish & Town Councils (the lowest levels of Local Government). The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was established in 1938 to support this myriad number of services. It also served to help small parishes train their firefighters for the anticipated mass destruction expected from an anticipated firestorm style Blitz expected during a Second World War. (In the case of the City of Oxford the Fire Service was not supported by the rates and was entirely dependent on Charitable Donations!)

In 1941 the National Fire Service (NFS) was created. All Fire Brigades in Great Britain and the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) were amalgamated into the NFS. 

In 1948 the Fire Services Act 1947 came into force. In England & Wales the Fire Service became the responsibility of County Councils and County Boroughs. 

In Scotland the City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire operated their own Fire Services. In the rest of Scotland the Fire Service was operated by Joint Area Fire Boards. Ayrshire, Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire formed the South Western Area Fire Service. The headquarters were at County Buildings in Ayr.

In 1975 South Western Area was abolished. The Ayrshire stations were transferred to Strathclyde Fire Service. The Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire stations became Dumfries & Galloway Fire Service. 

In 2013 all of Scotland's Fire Services were amalgamated into one Scotland wide fire service. 

The Fire Station in Irvine stood on the Low Green at the foot of Castle Street. It was a retained station. It closed in the 1970's when a larger more modern fire station opened at Kilwinning. My Grandfather was in the Fire Service from 1938 to 1969.

Taken in: United Kingdom / Scotland / Irvine (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 1941

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Camera: Canon LiDE 30 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon LiDE 30
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	QuickTime 7.7.1
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