Fascinating history of Malton and Norton's fire station

Ian Orledge originally started researching the history of the station after starting as an on-call firefighter 11 years ago.

His research gradually increased and Ian decided to pull it all together in the book which is titled ‘On The Run. The History of Malton & Norton’s Fire Brigade. 1885-1960’..

Ian said: “I joined Malton Fire station as an On-Call Firefighter in August 2013. When asking about the history of the station, none seemed to know much about it.

"So, in 2017 I started my research. Originally it was just to put a small document together. Then it was suggested that I put all my research into a book. I never really thought it would happen to be honest. But here it is."

Ian said the earliest references of the Fire Brigade in Malton and Norton is in the mid 1800s.

"Malton’s Fire Brigade had a small manual fire engine which had to be pulled to fires by the firemen, then members of the public would be gathered to help manually pump the water from the engine to the fire.

"In December 1885 Malton Fire Brigade had a new steam fire engine as there is a substantial report covering the trial of a Merryweather engine in the marketplace. This new steam fire engine was christened ‘The Fitzwilliam’.

"Just after the start of World War One, in 1914, The Malton & Norton Joint Fire Brigade Committee, purchased a new motorised Fire engine. This new Fire engine. The motor fire engine was christened, Countess Fitzwilliam by The Earl Fitzwilliam.

"During World War Two, the National Fire Service (NFS) was born, amalgamating all local authority fire brigades in to one. The Malton & Norton Fire Brigade then ceased to exist. The Fire Station at this time was located next to County Bridge. We all commonly know this site as Taylor and Browns. The Malton branch of the NFS spent many a night on the East Coast during the Hull Blitz and also attended the York Blitz in April 1942."

After the war, the NFS was disbanded, and Malton & Norton Fire Brigade became part of the North Riding of Yorkshire County Fire Brigade. In 1950 Malton Fire Station moved to it current site on Sheepfoot Hill. This building was previously used as the Male infirmary block of Malton workhouse.

Ian added: "In 1953 the houses at Roman Garth were built for the firemen and their families. The development was for 6 homes. The Firemen helped with the landscaping when the houses were being developed. Each house had a fire bell connected to the fire station so that, at night, the firemen would know when a call had come in.

"This year North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Celebrates its 50-year anniversary.

"On the 1st April 1974 the North Riding of Yorkshire County Fire Brigade and the City of York Fire Brigade were amalgamated into the North Yorkshire Fire Brigade.

"The area the brigade covered increased from 2,116 square miles to 3,207 square miles. In the same year the colour of Firefighters helmets and trousers were changing from black to yellow."

On 1st January 1990 saw a further, slight, name change, to North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, rather than Brigade. This was due to ever increasing calls to incidents classed as special service calls, (e.g. Road Traffic Collisions, chemical incidents, and animal rescues) which accounted for one third of all calls handled by the service.

Ian added: "Today, Malton Fire Station is crewed by three watches. Two Full Time watches (Red & Blue) working a 4 on, 4 off, shift pattern, and one watch of On-Call Firefighters. On-Call Firefighters provide on-call cover from home and/or their place of work. They respond to emergencies when their pager alerts them, so must work and/or live within approximately four minutes travel time from the fire station."

Ian will be at Kemps Book Shop in Malton Marketplace on Saturday, August 10 to meet and chat with customers about his book, and to sign any copies that are sold. ‘On The Run. The History of Malton & Norton’s Fire Brigade. 1885-1960’. Is also available at Hoppers (Malton).

All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the Firefighters Charity.