London Fire Brigade

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Lore & Background

The London Fire Brigade was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992 staff, including 5,096 operational firefighters and officers based at 102 fire stations (plus one river station). The LFB is led by the Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning, a position currently held by Jonathan Smith. The brigade and Commissioner are overseen by the Greater London Authority, which in 2018 took over these responsibilities from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). In the 2015–16 financial year, the LFB received 171,488 emergency calls. These consisted of 20,773 fires, 48,696 false alarms of fire and 30,066 other calls for service. As well as firefighting, the LFB also responds to road traffic collisions, floods, shut-in-lift releases, and other incidents such as those involving hazardous materials or major transport accidents. It also conducts emergency planning and performs fire safety inspections and education. It does not provide an emergency medical service as this function is performed by the London Ambulance Service, an independent organisation, although all LFB firefighters are trained in first aid and all of its fire engines carry first aid equipment. Since 2016, the LFB has provided first aid for some life-threatening medical emergencies (e.g., cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest).

In Their Own Story

Following a multitude of ad-hoc firefighting arrangements and the Great Fire of London, various insurance companies established firefighting units to tackle fires that occurred in buildings that their respective companies insured. As demands grew on the primitive firefighting units they began to coordinate and co-operate with each other until, on 1 January 1833, the London Fire Engine Establishment was formed under the leadership of James Braidwood, who had founded the first professional, municipal fire brigade in Edinburgh. He introduced a uniform that, for the first time, included personal protection from the hazards of firefighting. With 80 firefighters and 13 fire stations, the unit was still a private enterprise, funded by the insurance companies and as such was responsible mainly for saving material goods from fire. Several large fires, most notably at the Palace of Westminster in 1834 and the 1861 Tooley Street fire (in which Braidwood died in action, aged 61), spurred the insurance companies to lobby the British government to provide the brigade at public expense and management. After due consideration, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90) was passed, creating the Metropolitan Fire Brigade under the leadership of Eyre Massey Shaw, a former head of police and fire services in Belfast. In 1904 it was renamed as the London Fire Brigade. Photographs of some of the early firefighters are held in the collections of the LFB Museum, rediscovered in 2026. The LFB moved into a new headquarters built by Higgs and Hill on the Albert Embankment in Lambeth in 1937, where it remained until 2007.

Reader's Guide

The London Fire Brigade is the fire and rescue service for London. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992 staff, including 5,096 operational firefighters and officers based at 102 fire stations (plus one river station). The LFB is led by the Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning, a position currently held by Jonathan Smith. The brigade and Commissioner are overseen by the Greater London Authority, which in 2018 took over these responsibilities from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). In the 2015–16 financial year, the LFB received 171,488 emergency calls. These consisted of 20,773 fires, 48,696 false alarms of fire and 30,066 other calls for service. As well as firefighting, the LFB also responds to road traffic collisions, floods, shut-in-lift releases, and other incidents such as those involving hazardous materials or major transport accidents. It also conducts emergency planning and performs fire safety inspections and education. It does not provide an emergency medical service as this function is performed by the London Ambulance Service, an independent organisation, although all LFB firefighters are trained in first aid and all of its fire engines carry first aid equipment. Since 2016, the LFB has provided first aid for some life-threatening medical emergencies (e.g., cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest).

Did You Know?

• The London Fire Brigade was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw.
• In the 2015–16 financial year, the LFB received 171,488 emergency calls, including 20,773 fires and 48,696 false alarms.
• The LFB does not provide an emergency medical service; that function is performed by the London Ambulance Service, an independent organisation.
• Since 2016, the LFB has provided first aid for some life-threatening medical emergencies, such as cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest.
• In December 2022, the brigade was put into special measures after an independent review highlighted incidents of misogyny and racism.

Foundations and Evolution

Following a multitude of ad-hoc firefighting arrangements and the Great Fire of London, various insurance companies established firefighting units to tackle fires that occurred in buildings that their respective companies insured. As demands grew on the primitive firefighting units they began to coordinate and co-operate with each other until, on 1 January 1833, the London Fire Engine Establishment was formed under the leadership of James Braidwood, who had founded the first professional, municipal fire brigade in Edinburgh. He introduced a uniform that, for the first time, included personal protection from the hazards of firefighting. With 80 firefighters and 13 fire stations, the unit was still a private enterprise, funded by the insurance companies and as such was responsible mainly for saving material goods from fire. Several large fires, most notably at the Palace of Westminster in 1834 and the 1861 Tooley Street fire (in which Braidwood died in action, aged 61), spurred the insurance companies to lobby the British government to provide the brigade at public expense and management. After due consideration, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90) was passed, creating the Metropolitan Fire Brigade under the leadership of Eyre Massey Shaw, a former head of police and fire services in Belfast. In 1904 it was renamed as the London Fire Brigade. Photographs of some of the early firefighters are held in the collections of the LFB Museum, rediscovered in 2026. The LFB moved into a new headquarters built by Higgs and Hill on the Albert Embankment in Lambeth in 1937, where it remained until 2007. During the Second World War the country's brigades were amalgamated into a single National Fire Service. The separate London Fire Brigade for the County of London was re-established in 1948. With the formation of Greater London in 1965, this absorbed most of the Middlesex Fire Brigade, the borough brigades for West Ham, East Ham and Croydon and parts of the Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey and Kent brigades. In 1986 the Greater London Council (GLC) was disbanded and a new statutory authority, the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA), was formed to take responsibility for the LFB. The LFCDA was replaced in 2000 by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. At the same time, the Greater London Authority (GLA) was established to administer the LFEPA and coordinate emergency planning for London. Consisting of the Mayor of London and other elected members, the GLA also takes responsibility for the Metropolitan Police Service, Transport for London and other functions. In 2007, the LFB vacated its Lambeth headquarters and moved to a site in Union Street, Southwark. In the same year, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that LFB Commissioner Ken Knight had been appointed as the first Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser to the government. Knight was succeeded as Commissioner at that time by Ron Dobson, who served for almost ten years. Dany Cotton took over in 2017, becoming the brigade's first female commissioner. In December 2022, the brigade was put into special measures with an enhanced level of monitoring after an independent review highlighted incidents of misogyny and racism.

Operational Scope and Statistics

The London Fire Brigade has 5,992 staff, including 5,096 operational firefighters and officers based at 102 fire stations (plus one river station). In the 2015–16 financial year, the LFB received 171,488 emergency calls. These consisted of 20,773 fires, 48,696 false alarms of fire and 30,066 other calls for service. As well as firefighting, the LFB also responds to road traffic collisions, floods, shut-in-lift releases, and other incidents such as those involving hazardous materials or major transport accidents. It also conducts emergency planning and performs fire safety inspections and education. It does not provide an emergency medical service as this function is performed by the London Ambulance Service, an independent organisation, although all LFB firefighters are trained in first aid and all of its fire engines carry first aid equipment. Since 2016, the LFB has provided first aid for some life-threatening medical emergencies (e.g., cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest).

Governance and Leadership

The London Fire Brigade is led by the Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning, a position currently held by Jonathan Smith. The brigade and Commissioner are overseen by the Greater London Authority, which in 2018 took over these responsibilities from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). As of 1 June 2025, Jonathan Smith is the commissioner of the LFB. He succeeds Andy Roe, who succeeded Dany Cotton, who in 2017 had become the first woman to hold the top role; Cotton resigned in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire after 32 years' service in the brigade. Prior to Cotton, Ron Dobson was the commissioner and he had served in the LFB since 1979; he was appointed CBE for his distinguished contribution to the fire service. The internal LFB organisation consists of three directorates that all report to the commissioner. They are: Operations; Safety and Assurance; and Finance and Contractual Services.

Headquarters and Organizational Structure

The LFB's headquarters since 2007 is located in Union Street in Southwark, adjacent to the brigade's former training centre, which was both the original headquarters of the Massey Shaw fire brigade and his home, Winchester House, as well as the London Fire Brigade Museum. The brigade was previously headquartered in Lambeth between 1937 and 2007. Historically, the London Fire Brigade was organised into two divisions, Northern and Southern, divided in most places by the River Thames and each commanded by a divisional officer. Both divisions were divided into three districts, each under a superintendent with his headquarters at a 'superintendent station'. The superintendent stations themselves were commanded by district officers, with the other stations under station officers. On the creation of the Greater London Council in 1965, the brigade was enlarged and took over almost all of the Middlesex Fire Brigade, part of west Kent, North Surrey, south Hertfordshire, and South West Essex, together with the small County Borough brigades of Croydon, East Ham and West Ham.