This text is provided by Durham County Record Office

Not until the Fire Services Act of 1947 were County Councils involved in the provision of fire service for their areas. Until 1941, borough and district councils were fire authorities and in 1941 a National Fire Service was created to ensure that adequate resources should be available to fight fires caused by air raids. After 1947 County Councils and County Boroughs assumed the responsibility for fire services. Each County Council was required to appoint a Chief Fire Officer, create a Fire Brigade Committee and formulate an establishment scheme for the fire services, which was to be submitted to each district council in its area and to be approved by the central government. The first meeting of the Fire Brigade Committee of the Durham County Council took place on 7 August 1947. The first Chief Fire Officer was appointed on 19 September of the same year. The successful candidate out of 18 interviewed was C.V. Hall, Fire Force Commander of no. 1 Fire Area H.Q. in Newcastle. Mr Hall submitted his establishment scheme to the committee in October 1947.

The headquarters of the fire brigade was established at Newker House, Chester-le-Street and brigade control at The Sands, Durham City. When the Fire Services Act came into force on 1 April 1948, the establishment of the brigade consisted of 332 full-time and 328 retained non-uniformed officers and men, who were backed up by 42 non-uniformed staff. At the beginning of the Durham County brigade’s life, there were 26 fire stations organised in three operational divisions and the force was equipped with 11 water tenders, 1 emergency tender and 2 foam tenders. A fourth division was created in 1956. The 1950s saw another change in the running of the brigade: its new headquarters at Framwellgate Moor were opened by the Chairman of the Fire Brigade Committee on 30 October 1957. Its headquarters remain there and the Durham fire station, the fire prevention section, brigade control, the stores, the workshops and the regional and brigade training school are on the same site.

Emergency Tender, 1950s

The next great change to affect the Durham Fire Brigade came as a result of the re-organisation of local government boundaries in 1974. On 1 April that year 100 uniformed staff and five fire stations were transferred to the Tyne & Wear Metropolitan Fire Service. At the same time, the Darlington Fire Brigade with fifty five members was amalgamated with the Durham Fire Brigade. The current strength of the Durham force is 427 full-time and 270 retained offices and men and 71 non-uniformed staff. The brigade operates eighteen fire stations organised into two divisions.

Since the establishment of the county brigade the number of calls to which it has responded has risen dramatically. In the year 1948 to 1949 1,246 calls were answered compared with 7,599 in the year 1987 to 1988.

Emergency Tender, 1980s

A computer is used in the control room to provide extremely fast, accurate information to allow an efficient response to all incidents. For example it provides instant information on the thousands of hazardous chemicals in use in buildings which may be on fire or being transported in vehicles involved in road accidents. Road accidents now represent a large proportion of the incidents to which the brigade responds. The increasing sophistication of materials involved in fires and accidents has resulted in a corresponding increase in the sophistication of the equipment used by the brigade and in the skills of its officers and men.