The first fire station in Brixton was one of the first purpose built stations in London, opened in December 1867 in Ferndale Road at a cost of £1670.
In 1906, the current station was opened in Gresham Road to replace the earlier station at a cost of £9626. It was considerably larger, with five stories, residential accommodation and an eighty two foot drill tower. The appliance bays housed one steam fire engine, a horsed escape ladder, three manual escape ladders, and a hose cart, with stables for four horses to the rear.
The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) formed nationally in 1938, as part of the Civil Defence Service, to strengthen the resources of the regular fire services in wartime. It was also the first time women could join the fire service. Their duties included key roles such as despatch riders and staffing control rooms.
Ten Auxiliary Fire Service sub stations and a water unit were attached to Brixton Fire Station. These sub stations were set up in local schools, hospitals and even a local brewery.
In 1941 the National Fire Service was formed to help coordinate the organisation and resources of the country’s fire brigades. Britain was divided into fire force areas and Brixton Fire Station became part of Fire Force Area 38, ‘B’ Division. ‘B’ Division was part of the Brigade’s Southern Command, located south of the River Thames and included the areas of Clapham, Battersea and West Norwood.
In 1948, the NFS was disbanded. Eltham Fire Station returned to local authority control as part of London Fire Brigade.
In the 1960s, Brixton was one of the areas of London focused on by the National Fire Prevention Campaign, which sought to educate local families and school children in the basics of fire safety.
Today we work with residents and schools all across London to ensure Londoners feel confident about fire safety and know what to do in an emergency.
Brixton Fire Station responds to a variety of incidents including fires, road traffic collisions and flooding, as well as extensive community-based fire safety work.
The fire station is home to a pump fire engine and a pump ladder fire engine, crewed by a station officer, sub officer, a leading firefighter and nine firefighters.