Firefighters past and present were among the 80 guests who packed into the fire station to revisit stories from the past and reflect on the changes that have taken place in the Brigade over the years.
In 1908, at a time when the Brigade would have attended incidents on horse drawn appliances, the new fire station on Trinity Road was one of the first to have modern steam pumps.
Since then significant improvements have been made to the fire service and today Tooting is still leading the way being the first fire station in the country to have a solar thermal heating system installed to produce hot water.
For Borough Commander Nigel Miles who grew up in the area the ceremony held a special significance, “I’ve been a borough commander here for just over a year and its great coming back to the area where I grew up. Tooting’s centenary has been a great opportunity to meet up with lots of my colleagues and relive some of those very fond memories.”
The commissioner of the London Fire Brigade Ron Dobson who presented the station with a plaque said; “One thing that has not changed since this fire station opened is firefighters still act as ambassadors for London’s fire service in the community. This station has been a hugely significant building to the communities of Tooting and the surrounding area for more than 100 years.”
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