Metropolitan Fire Brigade (Melbourne)
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The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), also known as the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, was a fire service in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The MFB provided firefighting,
rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...
, medical and hazardous material incident response services to the metropolitan area of
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. The MFB's headquarters were located at the
Eastern Hill Fire Station Eastern Hill Fire Station is the central fire station of Melbourne, Victoria, located on the corner of Victoria Parade and Gisborne Street at one of the highest points in the City. The building has been recognised as historically significant by ...
(also known as Fire Station 1) in East Melbourne. The MFB was abolished in 2020 and its stations and firefighters absorbed into the newly created
Fire Rescue Victoria Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) is a fire and rescue service in the state of Victoria, Australia, that provides firefighting, rescue, HAZMAT and Emergency Medical Response services in areas of metropolitan Melbourne and major regional centres throu ...
.


History

The first known fire brigade in Melbourne was the volunteer Melbourne Fire Prevention Society established in 1845. Over a period of years a number of volunteer brigades were formed bearing the names of insurance companies and municipalities, and other institutions e.g. Carlton Brewery, Fitzroy Temperance. There was intense rivalry between these brigades. Buildings had wooden or metal plaques in the form of an insurance brigades coat of arms or firemark affixed to their exteriors denoting which insurance company had the building under its care. When the fire alarm was given many companies would rush to the scene, the mark would be inspected, and only the brigade that owned the mark would fight the fire while the other companies would do their best to hinder the operation. By 1890 there were 56 such volunteer brigades in Melbourne. After several serious fires in 1890, with the loss of life of six firefighters in addition to loss of property, the ''Fire Brigades Act 1890'' was passed with the aim of uniting these rival fire brigades. The first meeting of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) board took place on 6 March 1891, and led to the disbanding of the then 56 volunteer brigades in Melbourne on 30 April 1891 with an invitation to firefighters to join the new organisation.http://www.mfb.vic.gov.au/default.asp?casid=569#act Taken from MFB website and accessed 22 May 2007, Originally from "Life Under The Bells" by Sally Wilde () published by Longman Cheshire in 1991 On May 1, 1891 the Melbourne Fire Brigade became the main fire brigade in Melbourne. The first annual report of the MFB stated its strength as "59 permanent firefighters, 229 auxiliary firefighters, 4 steam fire engines, 25 horse drawn hose carts and 58 hose reels... 33 horses and 48 stations". In 1891, the Brigade attended 816 calls and 485 fires, of which 188 fires were classified as serious. The first fire station constructed by the MFB was the
Eastern Hill Fire Station Eastern Hill Fire Station is the central fire station of Melbourne, Victoria, located on the corner of Victoria Parade and Gisborne Street at one of the highest points in the City. The building has been recognised as historically significant by ...
, opposite
St Peter's, Eastern Hill St Peter's, Eastern Hill is the Anglican parish church of the City of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The parish is in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and dates from 1847. The letters patent of Queen Victoria declaring the city status of Mel ...
, one of the highest points in the city of Melbourne. Construction commenced in 1891 and the station opened on 3 November 1893. The building contained living quarters, stables, workshops, and offices. A
watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...
was initially manned 24 hours a day. Firefighters lived on the premises until the 1970s. In 1950, volunteer and partly-paid firefighters were discontinued in favour of solely full-time fire service. In September 1988, female firefighters were permitted to join the MFB. The MFB had more than 2200 employees, including over 1900 firefighters and almost 350 corporate staff.MFB Annual Report 2015-2016
/ref> In 2019, legislation to abolish the MFB and replace it with a new organisation,
Fire Rescue Victoria Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) is a fire and rescue service in the state of Victoria, Australia, that provides firefighting, rescue, HAZMAT and Emergency Medical Response services in areas of metropolitan Melbourne and major regional centres throu ...
(FRV), passed the
Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly an ...
. When the changes are implemented in 2020, FRV will assume all of the functions of the MFB, as well as employing all paid firefighters across the state, including those on the outskirts of Melbourne and in regional cities previously employed by the Country Fire Authority.


Functions

The functions of the MFB are set out in section 2 of the ''Metropolitan Fire Brigades Act 1958'' as being to provide fire suppression and fire prevention services as well as emergency prevention and response services in the Metropolitan Fire District. The MFB responds to about 38,000 calls per year for a range of Emergencies including: * fires (structure, non-structure, bushfire) * hazardous incidents * road accident rescue * emergency medical response (with
Ambulance Victoria Ambulance Victoria (AV), a Victorian agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in Victoria. Ambulance Victoria was formed on 1 July 2008 with the merge ...
) * automatic alarm response * high angle rescue * urban search and rescue * marine response


Fire stations and appliances

The Metropolitan Fire District (MFD) encompasses over 1000 square kilometres of Metropolitan Melbourne, with 47 strategically placed Fire Stations to ensure a timely response to emergencies.
The MFB fire stations are listed below under the five districts which make up the MFD. Central District, Western District and Northern District combine as the North West Metro Region, while Southern District and Eastern District form the South East Metro Region.


North West Metro Region


Central District


Western District


Northern District


South East Metro Region


Southern District


Eastern District


Fire appliance glossary

The MFB operates a range of appliances to match the varied firefighting and rescue roles it provides. All stations have at least one
pumper A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an ...
or pumper tanker, while some stations also have more specialised appliances such as water tankers, ladder platforms, telebooms, heavy rescue trucks, or other support vehicles. - Knowing the MFB (Stations) * Breathing Apparatus Unit (BA) * Breathing Apparatus Support (BS) * Command Unit (CU) * Decontamination Unit (Hazmat) * District Car (DC) * Fire Boat (FB) * Ladder Platform (LP) * Pumper (P) * Pumper Tanker (PT) * Rescue (R) * Rehabilitation Unit (Rehab) * Teleboom (TB) * Transporter (T) * Ultra Large Pumper (ULP) * Water Tanker (WT) (Mostly out of service now) Pods: * Breathing Apparatus (BA) * Bulk Decontamination (BD) * Equipment & Resource Management (ERM) * Fire Duty Support (FDS) * General Purpose (GP) * High Angle Rescue (HAR) * Hose Layer (HL) * Heavy Rescue Support (HRS) * Mechanical Loader (ML) * Tipper/Rescue Support (TRS) * Urban Search & Rescue no.1 (USAR-1) * Water Recycling Module no.3 (WRM-3) * Water Recycling Module no.5 (WRM-5)


Notable incidents

*
William Booth Memorial Home fire The William Booth Memorial Home fire occurred on 13 August 1966 at the William Booth Memorial Home for destitute and alcoholic men in Melbourne, Australia. With 30 dead, it remains the nation's deadliest building fire. Fire The fire started on ...
– On 13 August 1966, a heater started a fire at a
Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
hostel for alcoholic and destitute men. Due to the failure of the staff to immediately call the MFB, and the building's design hindering escape, dozens of victims became trapped. 30 ultimately died, making it the deadliest building fire in Australian history. * 2018 West Footscray warehouse fire – An illegal chemical storage facility caught fire on 30 August and burned for over a week. A large plume of toxic black smoke drifted over surrounding suburbs. * 2019 Campbellfield factory fire – A fire began on 5 April at a waste management facility which took 4 days to extinguish. Toxic fumes forced the evacuation of nearby residential suburbs and closure of several schools.


See also

*
Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council The National Council for Fire & Emergency Services (formerly the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council or ''AFAC''), is the peak body responsible for representing fire, emergency services and land management agencies in th ...
* Country Fire Authority *
Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and Hazardous Waste ...
* New South Wales Fire Brigades


References


External links


Metropolitan Fire Brigade website

MFB Act

Fire Services Museum of Victoria
{{Authority control Fire and rescue services of Victoria (Australia) Organisations based in Melbourne 1891 establishments in Australia