Kent Fire & Rescue Service - Firehouses on Waymarking.com

Station Callsign -
K45

Station Name -
Sittingbourne

Duty System -
Day Crewed/Retained/Cross Crewed*

Appliances -
1x Water Tender (WrT): P1/P2, 1x Rescue Pump Ladder (RPL): R1, 1x Command Support Unit (CSU): C1, 1x Prime Mover + Incident Commant & Control Unit (PM+ICCU): T1

"For many years Sittingbourne fire station was in Crescent Street where the entrance to the Forum now is. Its premises were taken over by BRS freight delivery services at an unknown date and the fire brigade moved to a new station beside the Baptist Church in the High Street where the shop QS now stands. After St Michael’s Road was built in the early 1970s a new purpose-built fire station was constructed near the corner of Crown Quay Lane and Sittingbourne Fire Brigade moved to its new station in 1981.

Nine years after Sittingbourne’s fire brigade was set up, Milton inaugurated theirs in 1884. It too was manned entirely by volunteers, led by the vicar, Rev R. Payne Smith. Milton had a fire engine of sorts in 1863 as it is recorded that in that year, it attended a fire at the Chalkwell tannery together with private fire insurance company brigades from the Kent and the Phoenix Insurance Companies. Milton fire station stood in Crown Road between nos. 25 and 29, opposite Beechwood Avenue.

Their first ‘fire engine’ was a Shand Mason horse-drawn hand-operated pump made in 1829. It was replaced in 1901 with a Merryweather 300 gallon steam appliance, the horses for which were stabled at the George Inn in the High Street. When the fire brigade was needed a maroon was fired over the town to summon the firemen. The first man to arrive at the station went to fetch the horses, whilst the next one would light the engine’s fire to get steam up for the pump. It was a lengthy procedure but necessary before the engine could get underway.

The Milton Fire Brigade purchased a new motorised Dennis tender and pump with an extending ladder in 1927 which they named Mary after Mary Maundrell JP, a local councillor, magistrate and wife of the town’s chemist. Upon delivery of the new tender however, it was found to be too large for the fire station which then had to be enlarged to accommodate it.

Sittingbourne and Milton town councils amalgamated in 1929 and the two fire brigades became one in 1938. As Milton’s fire station was too small for the newer appliances, Sittingbourne became the central fire station. The old Milton fire station remained empty for many years but was later put to good use as a store by the Civil Defence Corps. Like Milton, Murston, Teynham and Lynsted also once had their own fire brigades but in 1938 they too came under the control of Sittingbourne."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Paid or Volunteer: Part Paid / Part Volunteer Related Website: [Web Link] Physical Address: Fire Station St. Michaels Rd Sittingbourne, Kent England ME10 3DN EMS Involvement: Not Listed Has 911 Dispatch: Not Listed Has Emergency Call Box: Not Listed Has Emergency Siren: Not Listed Has Fire Pole: Not Listed Average Alarms Per Year: Not Listed Number of Firetrucks: Not Listed Number of Emergency Staff: Not Listed Rating: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
The only requirement is to visit this location physically, in person, and write about your experience.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/30/2022 Master Mariner visited it