The Fire Brigade Museum

06/09/2026

Today we remember Firefighters John Davies and David Morris of Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service on the 33rd anniversary of their deaths.

At 11:44 on Wednesday 6th September 1993, Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade Fire control received a 999 call to ‘fire’ Sun Valley factory, Grandstand Road Hereford, HR4. The building was used as a Poultry meat processing facility.

The fire had broken out some hours earlier in an insulated section of the factory where the poultry was defrosted. Factory workers attacked the fire with portable firefighting equipment and had assumed that they had extinguished it.

In fact the fire had ignited the insulated panelling which comprised of two thin layers of aluminium sheet encompassing a (flammable) foam layer for insulation. This allowed the fire to spread unseen.

At the time of call to the Fire Brigade, the fire had taken hold and the building became engulfed in a rapidly developing fire.

Fire Crews were duly mobilised and were quickly in attendance, however the fire continued to spread rapidly through the sandwich panels of the outer layer of the building. Large quantities of smoke issuing from this fire spread also made it difficult to assess the severity of the fire spread.

Multiple crews were committed in Breathing Apparatus to tackle the fire internally. Unbeknown to Firefighters, the unseen fire spread in the panels began to deteriorate the integrity of the panels, which led to a catastrophic collapse of the roof.

Firefighters Davies and Morris were trapped by this collapse under significant amounts of burning debris.

Colleagues immediately commenced the rescue operation in extremely hazardous and arduous conditions, taking a number of hours to reach Firefighters Davies and Morris.

Both Firefighters were immediately removed to awaiting medical assistance but were tragically both pronounced as deceased.

Firefighter John Davies was 34 years old at the time of his death. John was a Retained Firefighter at Leominster Fire station, however on that day due to working in proximity to Hereford Fire Station he had booked on call at that station to assist in providing fire cover.

Firefighter David Morris was 35 years old at the time of his death. David was a wholetime Firefighter at Hereford Fire Station.

The death of these Firefighters serves as a symbol that irrespective of the duty system worked, the Fireground is a hazardous place and can easily cost the ultimate sacrifice, which our Firefighters face together every day.

May they continue to rest in eternal peace.

05/09/2026

Following on from our commitment to the Armed Forces covenant we have launched the All Servcies tag.

The tag will be attributed to specific projects, bringing together serving or veteran Emergency Services workers or members of the Armed Forces.

The projects provide a chance to get together and work through any issues relating to their service.

There’ll be lots of tea, cheese and onion rolls and breakfast meets.

So keep an eye out for the tag and get in touch to join in.

05/09/2026

05/09/2026

Today we remember Sub Officer (Sub/O) Paul Metcalf of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) on the 27th Anniversary of his on duty death.

At around 14:00 on 5th September 1999, Greater Manchester Fire control recieved a 999 call reporting ‘person in the water’ at a lake at Holcombe Brook, near Bury.

Young people had been jumping in to the lake via a rope swing and one had nortresurfaced, prompting his friends to call the Fire Service.

Fire Appliances were immediately mobilised to the incident including from Ramsbottom Fire station on which Sub/O Metcalf rode.

On arrival and having confirmed that the young person was still missing , Sub/O Metcalf and his crew entered the water to search for the missing person. Prior to doing so they attached a general purpose line (rope) around their waists for recovery in case they got in to difficulties. This was standard practice across the U.K. Fire Services at this time.

The lake at points was 40feet/12 Metres deep.

During the search efforts the GP line attached to Sub/O Metcalf became snagged on debris under the water, preventing him from egressing from the lake. Sub/O Metcalf soon got in to difficulties as the effects to the cold water soon took hold.

Firefighters and Police Officers, immediately set about recovering Sub/O Metcalf to shore by pulling his GP line in. They were not aware that this line was snagged on underwater debris which pulled Sub/O Metcalf under water.

It took around 15 minutes to retrieve Sub/O Metcalf from the water, where he received immediate treatment from Paramedics.

Tragically Paul died in hospital only a short time later.

This incident highlighted that General Purpose lines and this method of Fireifghter recovery across the U.K. Fire Service were not fit for purpose.

Paul’s death led to the implementation of water safety and rescue equipment on frontline fire appliances and the change from traditional h**p GP lines to Nylon Line that floated on water.

The body of the missing young person, 16 year old Rayez Ali was recovered by Police divers several hours later.

Paul Metcalf dedicated his life to his service as a Retained Firefighter and made the ultimate sacrifice, trying to save others.

Paul was 40 years old at the time of his death.

May he continue to rest in eternal peace.

04/09/2026

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04/09/2026

Today marks day 3 of the 360th anniversary of the Great Fire of London.

Tuesday 4th September 1666 saw the most destruction by the fire. The Duke of York, commanding Firefighting efforts established a post at the junction of the Strand and Fleet Street. It was calculated that the river at this point would form a fire break.

This proved to incorrect when in the early morning of Tuesday 4th September, the ferocious fire, supported by strong winds jumped the river forcing the rapid abandonment of this position.

The Fire progressed to the North West of the City, towards an area where a Firebreak had been made. These breaks were ineffective and the fire breached them.

As the day progressed, the fire turned Eastward, supported by its own created weather system, against the prevailing wind. The Fire headed in the general direction of the Tower of London.

Stored within the Tower was a large magazine of Gunpowder. The soldiers garrisoned at the Tower, who had not been deployed to fight the fire, took matters in to their own hands by taking a quantity of Gunpowder from the magazine and demolishing several rows of properties by blowing them up. This action was effective, halting the progress of the fire in this direction.

It was assumed that St Paul's cathedral was not at risk of loss due to being constructed of stone. in fact the thick stone walls of the Cathedral were considered safe to store personal possessions and goods rescued from adjacent properties.

No regard had been paid to the wooden scaffolding surrounding the Cathedral which was undergoing maintenance. The Scaffolding duly ignited, leading to melting of the lead roof and subsequent ignition of the goods stored within.

The Cathedral was completely destroyed and is depicted in the picture.

03/09/2026

On this day in 1939,at this time, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain spoke to the Nation on the wireless.

He confirmed that Germany had not acquiesced to the demand by Great Britain to withdraw its army from Poland, by the deadline of 11:00.

He announced that consequently, Great Britain was once again at War with Germany.

02/09/2026

By mid morning of the 2nd September 1666, high winds supported the fire to continue an exponential growth. These conditions enabled the fire to grow to a point where it created its own weather systems , driving the fire on further.

Local residents made valiant efforts to tackle the flames using fire buckets and fire squirts from the local parish Church. On arrival of the Constables (Police) they observed that the fire was rapidly growing to involve the thatched roof. Risking adjoining properties.

Houses in the City of London were constructed to be built as close together as possible. The upstairs of these houses was much wider than the bottom allowing pathways to be used between houses. The upper floors of houses were built so that opposing houses were almost touching.

The Constables assessed that it was necessary to commence demolition to prevent rapid fire spread. The residents protested at this, so the Lord Mayor was sent for to give permission. On his arrival the Lord Mayor would not grant permission as the occupants were tenants and not owners.

The Lord Mayor promptly left with a colourfully worded statement implying that the fire could be extinguished by urinating on it, indicating he thought is to be an insignificant fire in size.

The Diarist Samuel Pepys noted from an elevated position that the fire was growing exponentially, involving (in his estimation) around 300 houses.

Residents quickly abandoned firefighting attempts to begin removing their property from their homes, loading them in to boats on the Thames.

By mid morning of the 2nd September, high winds supported the fire to continue an exponential growth. These conditions enabled the fire to grow to a point where it created its own weather systems , driving the fire on further.

02/09/2026

31/08/2026

We’re out in the sunshine in Eastleigh today !