Our history
Firefighting can be traced back to Roman times
Firefighting can be traced back to Roman times, when slaves used to be stationed around city walls ready to tackle any fires that occurred. Things changed in the Middle Ages, when members of the community used buckets to tackle fires, and then, following the Great Fire of London in 1666, a number of insurance companies began to provide fire cover to businesses they insured. This went on for many years before the first fire service was created in Nottingham in 1724, with the first fire station being built on St John Street in 1839.
Early fire engines were manual pumps, then steam powered, with motorised fire engines appearing from early in the 20th Century. The City of Nottingham Fire Brigade and the Nottinghamshire Fire Brigade were then created by the Fire Services Act 1947 and the two Brigades merged in 1974. Today, more than 40 years later, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is run by the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire Authority made up of councillors from Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
A lot of the Service's history is preserved in The Mansfield Fire Museum, which is situated at Mansfield Fire Station. The museum – which is run by the Mansfield Fire Station Preservation Society - has a superb collection of vehicles, equipment, artefacts and memorabilia keeping our history alive for future generations. We recommend a visit - use the contact form on their website to book.