Skegness Fire Brigade

Written by Angela Gooch on August 29th, 2007 in Early Skegness, Emergency Services, Social History, Transport.

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Sorce: Skegness Standard 8th October 1952
Photo: Mrs Wrate, Skegness

Skegness Fire Station Does Not Sleep

Standing on Roman Bank, Skegness, between the Town Hall and a cinema, only a stone’s throw away from the Post Office, is that fourth vital necessity to the community - the local fire station.
The building is spotlessly clean and glistens under a new coat of the familiar red paint.
Officer in charge is Station Officer, A Moncrief, and under him are nine whole-time firemen.
For purposes of combating fire and operating the ambulance service, the two forces are today permanently linked.
Skegness is the headquarters of “E” division and under its command are units at Spilsby, Wainfleet, Alford, Horncastle and Woodhall Spa.
In addition to nine full-time firemen, there are also twelve part-time firemen and six auxiliary fire service women in Skegness. The remaining sub-stations are served by part-time personnel only.
Day and Night
Nerve-centre of the Sub-divisional Headquarters, where all calls are received and records kept, is the Skegness watch room. On the walls of this room are large-scale maps of the county and boards of perspex on which are written all pieces of information known about the call-out, be it ambulance service or fire brigade.
While the watch room is naturally manned by day and by night, the Skegness station itself is only day manned - whole-time personnel are on duty from 8am to 7pm.
After 7pm the firemen go off duty. They then become “retained” firemen, liable to be called back if need be. They are summond by either a call-bell in their own home or by a siren, both of which are operated from the station watch room.
On three evenings a week, from six to ten o’clock, the watch room is taken over by the AFS ladies, who do their spells of duty in pairs.

Modern Appliances
To fight the fires “E” division has a wide range of modern, powerful appliances, including two pump escapes, four water-tenders, five major pumps, and one light pump.
The Skegness HQ also has under its supervision four ambulances, which travel countless thousands of miles during the course of a year. They are operated by three whole-time men, with a supplement of ten retained or part-time ambulance men. The latter are telephoned in the case of an emergency.
Station-Officer Moncrief, who has been in charge since November 1950, told us: “Some people are under the impression that they have to pay if the brigade is called out. That is not so and the fire service is entirely free, Oh, and another thing, our telephone number for fire and ambulance is Skegness 981. Not everyone seems to know it, unfortunately.”

Pictured below on one of the powerful appliances are (left to right) Firemen Wilkinson, Payne and Cowham, Station Officer Moncrief and Firemen Sellars and Walker.

old Skegness fire engine