| Administrative History | The Chester police force established by the Police Commissioners under the 1803 Chester Police Act also acted as a fire brigade, and after the establishment of the Watch Committee following the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act these fire police came under the control of the Watch Committee.
In 1855 there were proposals that the fire brigade should be separated from the police but no action was taken. However, after the Town Hall fire in December 1862, a sub-committee was formed in July 1863 to consider the reorganisation of the fire brigade. In September 1863 a number of tradesmen in the city offered to form a voluntary fire brigade if the council would appoint a superintendent, and by the end of that year the proposal had been accepted. This volunteer fire brigade was under the joint control of the council and of the volunteers themselves According to the Watch Committee minutes for 3 March 1864 the brigade was to be administered by a full time superintendent working under the instructions and directions of the council. He was appointed and paid by the council, and was ordered to submit a monthly report to the Watch Committee. The council also supplied all fire fighting equipment, and paid any extra men engaged by the superintendent to help the volunteers at fires. The volunteers controlled the membership of the brigade and administered its funds.
This volunteer fire brigade, known as the Earl of Chester's Volunteer Fire Brigade, continued to serve the city and district until the fire service was reorganised in July 1914. The Watch Committee minutes record that on 2 July 1914 the Earl of Chester's Volunteer Fire Brigade unanimously resolved that on the reorganisation taking effect it should be disbanded and its assets handed over to the council to be used to provide funds for a social and benevolent club for the new brigade. The volunteer fire brigade officially ceased to exist from 20 July 1914 when the new brigade came into effective operation.
This new brigade, known as the City of Chester Fire Brigade, was under the sole control of the council, which governed its constitution, paid its members, and supplied all uniforms and fire fighting equipment; all the brigade's financial affairs were dealt with by the City Accountant. The City of Chester Fire Brigade remained in existence until the Local Government Act of 1972 came into effect on 1 April 1974 when the provision of a fire service became a county responsibility. |