The first fire station at Kentish Town was built in 1883, on Fortess Walk. It was originally a fire station of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (which later became London Fire Brigade). A temporary substation had been there since 1874.
The station was built to cover the expanding residential areas of Camden and Islington. At that time the station housed a horsed steam fire engine, a horsed escape van and a hose cart. It was crewed by a Station Officer, 15 firefighters, 2 coachmen and 2 pairs of horses. The families of the firefighters also lived at the station.
It was originally an outer London station located on the Middlesex boundary and adjoined the Borough of Hornsey Fire Brigade to the north of its ground.
The Auxiliary Fire Service formed in 1938, as part of the Civil Defence Service, to expand the resources of the regular fire services in wartime. Kentish Town had six Auxiliary Fire Service substations, these included:
In 1941, all fire brigades in the United Kingdom, including LFB, were brought together to form the National Fire Service (NFS). When the NFS was disbanded in 1948, Kentish Town again became part of LFB.
The current station was built in 1972 on Highgate Road. The station ground covers several places of interest including Hampstead Heath, Highgate Village and Highgate Cemetery which includes Fireman’s Corner and the grave of Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, the first Chief Officer.
Kentish Town Fire Station responds to a variety of incidents including fires, flooding and lift releases. Today the station houses a pump and a pump ladder. These are crewed by a Station Officer, a Sub Officer, a Leading Firefighter and 9 firefighters.