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The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of Civil Defence Air raid precautions. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. In this job it was hampered severely by incompatibility of equipment used by these different brigades - most importantly the lack of a standard size of hydrant valve. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded in August 1941 by the National Fire Service. The old United States civil defense logo. ...
Air Raid Precautions (ARP) was an organisation in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. ...
The National Fire Service (NFS) was the single united countrywide fire service created in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ...
Members of the AFS were unpaid part-time volunteers, but could be called up for whole-time paid service if necessary. This was very similar to the wartime establishment of the police Special Constabulary. Men and women could join, the latter mainly in an administrative role. The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of a statutory police force in the United Kingdom or some Crown dependencies. ...
Organisation
An AFS was formed in every county borough, borough and urban district, and there was also one in the London County Council area. Each AFS was commanded by a Commandant, with Deputy and/or Assistant Commandants in the larger services. The services operated their own fire stations, each commanded by a Section Officer, and station areas were divided into Fire Beats, each under the command of a Patrol Officer. Services with five or more stations divided them into Divisions, each under the command of a Divisional Officer. These ranks were not laid down by the government, and some services used different systems.[1] County borough was a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom to refer to a borough or a city independent of county administration. ...
Look up Borough in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In the British Isles an urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area. ...
London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ...
Commandant is a military or police title or rank and can mean any of the following: The commander of certain military corps and services, such as the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Commandant of the Coast Guard in the United States or the Commandant of the (now obsolete...
Fire station in Kostroma, Russia (1823-26). ...
Post-war The Auxiliary Fire Service was reformed in 1948 alongside the Civil Defence Corps. It was equipped with 1,000 Green Goddess (Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump) fire engines.[2] It was disbanded in 1968. The old United States civil defense logo. ...
The Green Goddess is the colloquial name for the Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump, a fire engine used by the British Armed Forces. ...
During peacetime, AFS crews frequently attended fires and accidents alongside their 'regular' colleagues. They provided significant assistance at some of the worst fires, such as that at Billingsgate Market and at Barking Wood yard. AFS personnel were trained in firefighting by their own officers and with assistance from full time fire officers. Many were trained to the ST. John Ambulance Higher First Aider Certificate standard - often proving invaluable at major incidents involving injury.
The Green Goddesses were used in two forms, a 4x4 version fitted with a 900 gpm Sigmund centrifugal pump and a 2x4 version (the most common type issued) fitted with the 1000 gpm pump. These latter could combine to provide a pipe relay over great distances when connected using 6 inch hose, supplying 1000 gpm from one location to another, often the seat of a major fire. An inflatable dam was often used as the source for the relay, usually fed by using several Light Portable Pumps powered by Coventry Climax FWP engines. These were sometimes floated on a 'bikini' raft so they could draw directly from a water supply such as a river.
The AFS has never had any connection whatever with any of the British Armed Forces. It is a pure coincidence that the Government used Army personnel to man and operate fire appliances during the Firemen's strikes. The appliances used were former AFS equipment brought out of mothball for the purpose. Many have since been sold at public auction.
The Auxiliary Fire Service is still active as part of Civil Defence in the Republic of Ireland.
Footnotes The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ...
is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also Auxiliary fire departments are found throughout the United States, mostly in larger cities. ...
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, see V.F.D.. See also the Firefighter article and its respective sections regarding VFDs in other countries. ...
Cyril Thomas Demarne OBE (February 7, 1905 - January 28, 2007) was a British firefighter. ...
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