Central Government and the Modernization of the British Fire Service, 1900-38

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was no suchnotion of a ‘national and onerous’ fire servicein Britain. Organized fire protection was a purely local functionleft to the discretion of local authorities, voluntary organizations,and private enterprise. By the outbreak of the Second WorldWar, although there remained in excess of 1,450 local brigades,the service had been accepted as of national importance, particularlyin view of the threat posed by aerial bombing and incendiaryfires to British towns and cities. This paper traces the developmentof central government intervention within the fire service duringthe first four decades of the twentieth century, contrastingthe peacetime and wartime impetuses for reform, and locatingreform within wider debates about the nature and practice oflocal government. Although financial, technological, and organizationalfactors were important influences on the professionalizationand modernization of the service, the threats posed to the nation'swartime economic capacity and public morale were, ultimately,decisive factors in compelling local authorities to maintainprofessional fire brigades.