The Fire Brigade is a service that is worthy of praise for the aid they give in times of emergency.
The professionalism that they demonstrate is second to none, but it is worthwhile to look back in time to see what it was like in history.
The beginnings were far from professional. Run by insurance companies in the late 19th century, those who wanted cover in case their house burned down had to pay a premium to the company and display the company plaque.
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Presumably, the next-door house would be allowed to burn.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the service became state-run, however, it was very basic and inadequate.
Reflecting the times, the original fire tender was a large wooden affair, operated by hand by up to 12 men working in five-minute shifts because of the strain required to operate the pump.
This changed when the tenders became powered by steam, but the apparatus was still heavy and cumbersome.
The tender was housed in the basement of the Haymarket Theatre in Wote Street, then known as the Corn Exchange.
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But being horse-drawn, the horses were kept elsewhere in the town which obviously made it difficult and time-wasting on the outbreak of a fire.
The horses had to be prepared and moved from their stables to the Corn Exchange, and then the whole tender moved to the fire which could take as long as an hour.
Added to the delay in retrieving the horses and preparing the tender, there was also a delay in the raising of the alarm in the first place.
Assuming the messenger could quickly make it to the Corn Exchange, a rather complicated system was then triggered to alert the firemen.
A bell was rung, this alerted nearby confectioner Percy Hopkins (day or night).
Percy would then patrol the streets of the town blowing his bugle which would alert the firemen to get to their post.
Of course, if the fire was in the countryside, it became more complicated.
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The message had to be by telegram which meant travelling to the nearest post office for the postmaster to create it – before the ‘telegram boy’ galloping on horseback to Basingstoke.
By this time invariably the property was almost destroyed, which became a bit of a joke to some of the firemen.
This was highlighted in a fire at a house in Cliddesden Road, where, on arrival the firemen still found a small fire and exclaimed that they had ‘come too soon’.
The poor horses did not come off very well either.
On one occasion when the Alton Brigade galloped along the avenue at Lasham, a horse died in the harness which rather delayed things.
Pulling the heavy tender, especially when it became steam, along with the crew and other equipment, they became exhausted before they arrived at the scene. So they had to have a break on the journey.
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An advantage of this was that it enabled the refreshed crew to arrive at speed to the fire, creating a better impression to the public.
Even after arrival, the water pressure was often too low to be effective and concentration was directed on the adjoining properties rather than the heart of the fire.
At the great Burberry fire on the 17th April 1905, when the Burberry store in Winchester Street was razed to the ground, crews were dispatched from other towns – the crew from Andover arrived by train while their equipment was transported by van.
However, the City Fathers of Winchester refused to supply help because they did not pay their fire brigade to attend to others' fires. Nothing changes.
The Burberry fire raged for three days, completely destroying the whole building.
The fire station in the early 1960s was situated in Brook Street. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £1,235.
Following the demolition of the site for the construction of the new town centre, a newer fire station was built at West Ham in 1967 which served the town well until 2018, when it was rebuilt to garage 10 vehicles, 100 firefighters and increased training facilities.
It was opened on 15th February by the Lord Lieutenant of Basingstoke Fire Station, on his first official engagement.
The building was designed to be easy maintenance to serve Basingstoke well for many years to come.
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