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This article is a list of British firefighters killed in the line of duty since 1900. As such, it only lists those firefightersThe term ''firefighter'' is used as it is not gender-specific. Most deaths will have originally been reported as the gender-specific ''fireman'' or ''firewoman''. killed or who sustained injuries from which they subsequently died whilst on duty and not those who were off-duty at the time of the event at which they died.Alex Kent, 25, of Sussex Fire Brigade, died in January 2003 rescuing his brother from a fire in their parents house. Both men died, but the parents survived. Kent was off-duty at the time. Similarly, Divisional Officer James Treacher, 49, was injured by falling masonry in the Clifton Hall Tunnel collapse. He died seven months later whilst still on sick leave, but his death was due to cancer. It also does not list the 997 firefighters killed during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, nor any deaths relating to
The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
. Military firefighter personnel are only listed if they died during non-combatant fires or accidents. Some links to the original fire authority areas may link to the present day authority that covers the geographic area. For example, the West Riding Fire Service became the West Yorkshire Fire Service in 1974, and during this process parts of the former
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
area became part of
East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
( Humberside Fire and Rescue Service),
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
and
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
. See
History of fire brigades in the United Kingdom The history of fire brigades in the United Kingdom charts the development of fire services in the United Kingdom from the creation of the United Kingdom to the present day. 19th century Between the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th ...
During the period between 1941 and 1947, all fire brigades in Britain were amalgamated into the
National Fire Service The National Fire Service (NFS) was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service (Northern Ireland) was created in 1942. The NFS was created in August 1941 by the amalg ...
(NFS).The
Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade In the United Kingdom the use of retained firefighters (who are part-time, but are paid when on duty) rather than volunteers is standard. The Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, formed in 1884, is the only one of its kind remaining. Nowadays th ...
was the only fire service to retain its independence during the NFS years. It is still independent in modern times, though it answers to Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.
This totalled over 1,600 individual brigades. Some links that point to the NFS may actually link to the fire service that covers the present day geographical area. When the NFS was broken up, it was decided that local county authority control would be the natural way to divide the brigades. This left
Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
with one brigade covering the ceremonial county and Southend, which was a county borough, with its own independent fire service. As more than one firefighter has died at certain incidents, some listings for dead firefighters may refer to the first alphabetical entry from that event. Certain brigades may have been subsumed into other services (Bradford Fire Brigade into West Yorkshire) or completely dissolved altogether, such as the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Fire Brigade.


The Firefighter's Prayer


List

Key: W = Wholetime firefighter, R = Retained firefighter, O = Other firefighter staff, T = Trainee


Notes


References


Sources

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External links


The Institution of Fire EngineersFirefighter DeathsGlasgow Cheapside Fire memorial plaque unveiling videoFirefighter deaths since 1978WYFS deathsKent Fire and Rescue Service roll of HonourThe Firefighters' Heritage Trail in Glasgow
{{Fire services in the United Kingdom Fire and rescue services of England Fire and rescue services of the United Kingdom Fire and rescue services of Scotland Fire and rescue services of Wales
British firefighters British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
History of firefighting