About Us

History

The first Chief Fire Officer to take control of the Brigade, and serve from 1948 to 1964, was Mr. CV Hall O.b.E G.I Fire E. who was, at the time, a Fire Force Commander of No. 1 Fire Area Headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne.

He was officially appointed on the 19th September 1947 to begin his work formulating an action plan to set up and run the new Brigade.

The area that he was to take charge of covered a distance of 623,260 acres and had an estimated population of, 921,000 and had a ratable value in the region of £3,719,331. He decided to divide the County into three divisions:

• 'A' division who had twelve Stations;
• 'B' division who had eight stations; and
• 'C' division who had seven stations.

The Brigade's first Headquarters was set-up at Newker House, Chester le Street, and the Brigade’s main Control was at the Sands in Durham City.

In September 1948 the Brigade established it's own Training School, within 'B' Division, at the Fire Station in Felling. This provided a high level of training to the Brigades of Durham, North Riding, Northumberland, Cumberland and, also some of the County Borough Brigades within the area.

The first training course consisted of 19 men: 10 from Newcastle and Gateshead; 6 from Middlesbrough; 2 from Tynemouth; and 1 from North Riding.

As the Brigade developed and grew, changes took place, including the purchase of more appliances. Stations were modernised, expanded or even closed and new ones opened. All of these changes aimed to provide the community with an effective Fire Brigade and suit an ever changing demand.

The next big change came when it was decided that a new Headquarters was needed to fit the growing demand and changing face of the Brigade. So a plot at Framwellgate Moor, purchased earlier by the County Council in 1933 for the tidy sum of £4,700, was chosen.

In 1969 a new Brigade crest was introduced, very similar to the previous one, but now the cross, in the middle of the County Shield, incorporated five black diamond lozenges representing the once prominent coalfields within the County.

We move forward now to 1974 when the Brigade was to go through possibly the biggest transformation since its formation as a consequence of the re-organisation of the local boundaries. This meant that on the 1st of April 1974 around 100 uniformed and non-uniformed personnel left the Durham Brigade and were taken into Tyne & Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade because the new boundaries meant that they found themselves located in Tyne & Wear’s Brigade area. A total of 5 Stations 19 Vehicles and 17 Pumps were transferred to Tyne & Wear on that day.

On the same day 55 personnel from the County Borough Fire Brigade of Darlington were amalgamated into the ranks of Durham Fire Brigade bringing their 12 Vehicles and 6 Pumps. This resulted in the introduction of another Brigade crest, this time the middle black diamond lozenge was removed and replaced by a white rose to acknowledge the parts of the former North Riding of Yorkshire that were now a part of Durham County Fire Brigade.

The next change to the Brigade Crest was to be some time later, on the 1st of April 1992, when the name was changed to Durham County Fire & Rescue Brigade to acknowledge the wider range of services undertaken, not just fighting fires. This change to the Brigade name was unusual as other Brigades at this time were dropping the word Brigade from their title and adopting the word 'Service'.

On 1st April 1997, Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council integrated to form a Combined Fire Authority. To mark this union a new Brigade Crest was introduced which displayed a sheaf in the place of the bottom black diamond lozenge. From then on the Brigade was known as County Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue Brigade. However, on 26th September 2003, to reflect the the modernisation of the Fire Service as detailed in the Government's White Paper 'Our Fire & Rescue Service,' the Combined Fire Authority decided that it was appropriate to rename County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Brigade to County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service.

The following pictures show how much things have changed.

Breathing Apparatus Course 1951

Big 6 Braidwood at Billingham 1948

Emergency Tender and Equipment at Hebburn 1950

M837 KBB and Equipment at Newton Aycliffe

Aerial Ladder Platform 1996

Mr Craig Godwin
Brigade Historian
c/o Consett Fire Station
Villa Real Road
Consett
County Durham
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