London Fire Brigade-Look at Life. 1961.

Short newsreel film of the London County Council-London Fire Brigade, featuring Lambeth fire station Red Watch.

[@jonathanwilson2260]

No two tone sirens but bells. Noticed that no blue lights but orange ones.

[@jameshurrell645]

Two tone sirens first came into use in 1963. The last appliances to be fitted with a bell was in 1975! In Wales new appliances came with a bell until 1985!

[@horsenuts1831]

1:40 I'm somewhat fascinated by that index card system. I expect that a trained operator could access the relevant information faster than somebody could today on a computerized database. I had a couple of civil service jobs (Dole office and HMRC) in the 1980s just before the old index card systems were finally computerized. They were relatively quick and quite efficient.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

But would it be practical

[@dropship123]

5:05 any research done in 1961 seems to have been ignored or overruled by greedy property developers in the pursuit of profit, how else could the Grenfell disaster been allowed to happen 🤬

[@daviekelly1469]

I love watching firefighter documentaries on KZbin, especially if they are long enough to download to a memory stick so I have them for my fire brigade hobby

[@kellanbecker7529]

Me to

[@kevinconnolly6750]

D61 Lambeth, what a fine old film from back then, I never served when it had that callsign, H22 for all my time, but it had multi-appliances, TL, Pump and Pump Ladder, Control Unit and even more when Westminster shared our facilities when their station was being refurbished. The more the merrier, great times. I think it’s on the verge of a complete change soon, maybe only limited accommodation on the ground floor as the rest being sold off for luxury apartments. I hope they retain the firefighters memorial “chapel” corner of building at Black Prince Road/Albert Embankment.

[@michaelwhite9185]

Sad to see that my station (Westminster) is no longer ! I spent many years there before I migrated to Australia. Also sad to see that the passion, such as fast turn out times seem to be a thing of the past ! Sadly Australian City Brigades are no different, but they do have a special role in bush fire control. I too am 'Old School'

[@maudwagner7211]

brilliant footage! love the hook ladder drill!

[@ambetui]

So glad you liked it, a great history has the LFB.

[@aceofshades9339]

Another amazing video David thanks for sharing. Who's given this a thumbs down?? Those ladder drills were truly fantastic a far cry from the 135's used in recent times.

[@AngryMaximus]

60s was wild, They actually said " Lets lug this massive jet engine around and blast the fire " lmao

[@Biffo1262]

I loved hook ladder drill, abseiling and self rescue drills. A few years into the job and it's ooh that's too dangerous to do as drill so when you come to do it for real they haven't got a bloody clue how to go about it. The job started going downhill late 70's and it been on the slide ever since. Basic firemanship is using your head, the manuals are just a guide and as for H&S well, all well and good but it's been carried too far.

[@nevillemason6791]

Ah, the good old days. When firemen practiced their 'fireman's lift' carrying a colleague down a ladder. Worked well until they dropped someone with fatal consequences. Eventually someone thought a safety line was a good idea. Obviously can't be used in a real situation but no one gets killed just practicing.

[@TorontoJediMaster]

I can't believe they wore wool tunics back then -and continued to do so until the 1980's. And those were the early rebreather types of SCBA gear we see them working on at the start.

[@s10m0t10n]

In the LFB they were called 'Proto' breathing apparatus. They were based around pure oxygen fed at (I think) two and a half liters/min into the bag at the front. The wearer breathed in through one side of the tubes and out through the other. His breath passed through a granular carbon dioxide absorbing material in the bottom of the bag, passing under a 'curtain' as it moved to the front of the bag, mixed with oxygen, then through a cooler and into the wearers' lungs. In extreme/trapped conditions, those sets could be made to last for hours - some reports stated as long as 8+ hours although I never needed to test that out.

[@petejit]

I`m old school so they are still fireman. cant change a old dog.

[@1701spacecadet]

Blast from the past! When research was done by blokes in a shed! Only in Blighty could blokes in brown coats say 'ok, new ways of putting out fires?' 'Bung a jet engine at it?' 'Ooh I like that idea!'

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Ever blown out a candle? Same principle with a jet engine. Remember the fire triangle - whilst you're giving the fire more air, you'rtaking away its heat. No heat means no fire. QED.

[@elwolf8536]

Wow bells as sirens and jet engines for water. brilliant

[@JoeStudd96]

Wasn't expecting to see some vintage shots of my hometown (Aylesbury) at 5:30!

[@user-lz3vp8rq2s]

I am amazed that as late as 1961 the London Fire Brigade were still using manual bells. It wasn't long before two tone horns came in (mid 1960s) but some fire brigade used US style sirens, e.g Liverpool , Leicester and Cheshire. Probably not nationally adopted because In the 1950s and 60s they may have been confused with air raid sirens although they sounded different

[@ambetui]

Just adding my four-pennyworth to the PC debate. The use of the term fireman is historically accurate in the context of this LFB video I posted a while ago now. It was not until the 2nd world war, and the growth in the fire service to combat enemy fires, that the term 'firefighter' was widely used in both the press and in government publications. In part this was because of the influx of the AFS men and women that massively increased the size of the fire service, but especially so London. After the war, and the disbanding of the NFS, by 1948 the term fireman was back in wholesale use where it applied. I.e. a male firefighter. There were still a fair number of women in the service and guess what, they were termed firewomen. It was not until the introduction of female firefighters into the service that the generic term of firefighter came into whole use-and quite right too.Sadly, the LFB, (I can't speak about other fire brigade's) have the PC bit well and truely between their teeth as they wish to see the term fireman eradicated from the service lexicon and from history! Sad to say the least. I have no problem with the term firefighter, but those who joined and left the service in the rank of fireman are worth of the recognition that title bestows. Just saying, that's all.

[@AngryMaximus]

I can hear OSHA screaming through the mountains watching this

[@nomadicsoul34]

Hi David Ex LFB now Bristol . Just wanted to say that i really enjoyed your book Beyond the flames. It was a real pleasure to read.

[@marcoflopolo]

a massive help to understand how british firefighter did they work. i hope to watch again this video in spanish. maybe someone help us to translate this? grettings form Chile!

[@tandemcompound2]

think they would have known about the Grenfell Tower problem beforehand

[@garymoore3439]

Really enjoyed watching this video.

[@davidpike5563]

Thank you for letting me know.

[@googleaccount7986]

Great little documentry s. Thanks for the upload

[@lyndabell7242]

Hi Dave Nice little post very Best Dave Moss B23 Southwalk (remember) you were a leading fireman then.

[@ambetui]

Hello Dave, wonderful to hear from you. Trust all is good? If you care to e-mail me I have a little something that just might remind you of those happy days. Best wishes. Dave P. [e-mail]

[@joristhonne2383]

love the bells back then

[@gcfcos]

Wow wouldn’t fancy those hook ladders at all!!!!! My dad would have used them as a firefighter

[@nevillemason6791]

I think one thing that defeated hook ladders was double glazing which would have been impossible to break with the 'hook'. Can't climb a building if you can't break a window to hook the ladder.

[@Lockbar]

I like the ladders on wheels. As an american I have never seen those before.

[@nevillemason6791]

There called 'wheeled escapes' (escape ladder). They were phased out by the 1980s, replaced by lighter aluminium alloy ladders. In the horse drawn era because they were heavy wooden ladders, in some cities, like Liverpool, the ladders were left in strategic positions in the streets. Often this was at the top of a hill. When a fire occurred they were pushed to the location by several firemen. These were supplemented by a lighter version carried on a horse drawn waggon.

[@charliehuitson6771]

Real carry downs back then - no Everest safety devices!!

[@MrTrev2507]

Bloody Everest device used to let you drop nearly 2floors before it stopped you, I speak from personal experience Chas.

[@iwasglad122]

Sounds odd, but it's actually true, and there for all to see, the 3 second scene (2.37-2.39) of the Merryweather AEC TL was used in the film Carry On Doctor!!! When Anita Harris gets stranded on the roof of the nurse's home the brigade is called and this actual footage appears!! If I'm not believed - check it out!!!

[@Cous1nJack]

1:14 looks about right. Keeps them busy between the chilli cook off and washing their private cars with the big hose.

[@paceartshd]

Very interesting i must say

[@chilandekuloba2662]

good video

[@markh2094]

You were on Lambeth's Red Watch just a few years later, weren't you David? Do you recognise anyone in the film?

[@ixionpeak4648]

These old pathe news reels are a nice record of another world - was the Brigade, appliances etc like this when you joined David or had some things changed?

[@ambetui]

What you see was the norm, as was the unifom. A far cry from the technical appliances of today and the vastly superior fire kit.

[@ixionpeak4648]

Thanks for the reply David, yes the modern fire kit is obviously a lot better - but the old helmets, leggings looked very smart - if not very practical!

[@tomakacap8405]

They seem so much quicker than todays fire departments.

[@politivideodk3326]

Well... No trafic then...

[@wink1eafc774]

6:39 Wonder when they stopped using the hook ladders?

[@ambetui]

Last time in London was 1983.

[@wink1eafc774]

cheers mate, looked like you needed no fear with those ladders lol

[@mehistaimsaar1323]

@@wink1eafc774 and many firefighters died while using the hook ladders.

[@wink1eafc774]

Mehis Taimsaar that doesn’t surprise me one bit, certainly looked very unsafe each time they reached up to a window ledge! They had no idea if the ledge was secure enough for the ladder.

[@Biffo1262]

@@mehistaimsaar1323 I have no records whatsoever of deaths using hook ladders and know of only one fatal carry down drill which was Recruit Fm Peter Goodwin at City of Manchester FB training school in the late 50's I believe.

[@JamesSmith-ro2tz]

Glasgow Fire Service Fire Boat St. Mungo.

[@katilynboyd3894]

Wht station

[@HrLBolle]

Gott zur Ehr dem nächsten zur Wehr

[@Gencturk92]

its funny how in America there number is 911

[@jeancolinplummer3547]

In the 60s we fought fires by going in and pushing fire and hot gases out, nowadays they do the exact opposite.

[@robnewman6101]

Action Stations.

[@grahamallen1970]

5m 20s so thay new then what should of been done at greenfell towers....oh the price of progress....money!