SOHO FIRE STATION

The current Soho Fire Station in Shaftesbury Avenue was opened in 1983, to replace the earlier station, which stood adjacent.

The earliest recorded "Fire Brigade" in Soho and Covent Garden was formed in "Tom's Coffee House" in St Martin's Lane in 1699, funded by a group of insurance companies. In 1707, Queen Anne ordered church parishes to organise themselves with Parish-Pumps, to be manned by the warden and other parish volunteers. St Anne's in Soho and St Martins-in-the fields would both have had parish-pumps.

In 1921, the London County Council purchased the freehold of the premises at 72 Shaftesbury Avenue, and the new Soho Fire Station was opened. To one side of the station was the famous Avenue Public House, and to the other the Shaftesbury Theatre. Opposite was the Palace Theatre, which took to playing musicals only because of the noise made by the firemen on turning out for a shout!

During the war, the fire station received a direct hit, in October 1940. One fireman was killed, two others trapped in the rubble, and the station seriously damaged. By 1942, a temporary structure had been put in place in Shaftesbury Avenue. This building remained in use until the new station was constructed in 1983.

The station's ground remains one of the smallest in the world, covering a ragged square mile within which some of the most important buildings in London exist. Since 1937, Soho Fire Station has been home to two fire engines (or pumps) and a turntable ladder.

Fire-fighters at Soho respond to over 7,000 calls a year, making it one of the world's busiest fire stations. As well as fires, crews respond to a variety of incidents, including special services which range from road traffic accidents and people shut in lifts, to chemical spillages and people under trains.

Any fire call to a building in the area attracts a minimum attendance of three pumping appliances. There is a statutory obligation for the first two appliances to arrive at the incident within five minutes and the third within eight minutes. This requirement becomes increasingly difficult to meet, as the speed of central London's traffic gradually slows.

Local residents and businesses can help fire crews by always being mindful of fire engines when parking in the Covent Garden area. Quite often, a one-minute delay can make the difference between a life saved and a life lost.

GRAHAM ELLIS
STATION COMMANDER
SOHO FIRE STATION
126 SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
LONDON W1V 7DN

Please also see fire safety advice for householders and Fire safety advice for restaurants

 

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