Fire Brigades Act 1938
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1938 c. 72 |
| Year | 1938 |
Fire Brigades Act, 1938
(1 & 2 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 72.
An Act to make further provision for fire services in Great Britain and for purposes connected therewith.
[29th July 1938]
B E it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Fire Authorities.
1 Provision of fire services.
(1) The council of every county borough and of every county district (hereinafter referred to as a ‘fire authority’) shall make provision for the extinction of fires and the protection of life and property in case of fire by securing—
(a ) the services for their borough or district of such a fire brigade and of such fire engines, appliances and equipment as may be necessary to meet efficiently all normal requirements;
(b ) the efficient training of the members of the fire brigade;
(c ) efficient arrangements for enabling persons to call the fire brigade in case of fire, for summoning the members of the fire brigade and for manning the fire engines; and
(d ) efficient arrangements for obtaining, by inspection or otherwise, information required for the purposes of the fire brigade with respect to the character of the buildings and other property in the borough or district, the available water supplies and the means of access thereto, and other material local circumstances,
and the services secured for a borough or district under this subsection are in this Act referred to as ‘local fire services.’
(2) The Secretary of State may by order prescribe standards of efficiency with respect to any of the matters mentioned in the foregoing subsection, and the standards may vary according to the requirements of, and facilities available in, different kinds of locality, and any fire authority whose local fire services are of a standard so prescribed shall, as respects the matter for which the standard is prescribed, be deemed to have complied with the provisions of the foregoing subsection.
(3) A fire authority may secure local fire services for their borough or district by themselves providing and maintaining, either wholly or in part, such fire services or by entering into arrangements for the provision and maintenance, either wholly or in part, of such fire services by other fire authorities or persons.
(4) An officer of a fire authority, authorised in writing by the authority, shall, for the purpose of carrying out such arrangements as are mentioned in paragraph (d ) of subsection (1) of this section, have the like powers of entering premises as are conferred upon authorised officers of councils by section two hundred and eighty-seven of the Public Health Act, 1936 , and accordingly that section shall have effect as if the references to an authorised officer of a council included references to an officer of a fire authority authorised as aforesaid, and as if among the purposes specified in subsection (1) of that section there were included the aforesaid purpose.
(5) Every fire authority shall, so far as practicable, enter into arrangements with other fire authorities and persons who maintain fire brigades to secure the provision of assistance by those authorities and persons for the purpose of dealing with fires occurring in the borough or district of the first named authority which cannot adequately be dealt with by the local fire services, and the Secretary of State may by order prescribe scales of payments to be made, unless otherwise agreed, by the authority receiving the assistance provided in accordance with such arrangements.
(6) The powers of a fire authority shall include power—
(a ) to provide accommodation for any fire brigade, fire engines, appliances or equipment serving their borough or district, including housing and other accommodation for members of any such fire brigade and furniture reasonably required for such accommodation;
(b ) to purchase compulsorily by means of an order made by the authority and confirmed by the Minister of Health any land required for the purposes of their functions under this Act;
(c ) to pay to any persons who render services in connection with the extinction of fires and the protection of life and property in case of fire such rewards as they think fit, which in the case of members of a fire brigade may be in addition to their remuneration;
(d ) to employ a fire brigade maintained by them, or use any fire engine, appliance or equipment so maintained, outside their borough or district; and
(e ) to make payments in respect of any fire services provided for their borough or district by another fire authority or by any other person.
(7) Where a fire authority, who are the council of a borough having a separate police force, delegate to the watch committee their functions under this Act, the watch committee may employ the chief officer of police, an assistant chief constable or the deputy chief constable on administrative duties in connection with a fire brigade maintained by that authority and may employ other constables as members of the brigade:
Provided that, as from the expiration of a period of five years from the passing of this Act, no such other constables shall be employed as part-time members of a fire brigade.
(8) A fire authority may provide and maintain fire alarms in such positions in any street or public place as they think proper, after consultation with the chief officer of police for the police area in which the fire alarms are to be placed, and any such fire alarm may be affixed to any wall or fence adjoining a street or public place:
Provided that—
(a ) a fire authority before exercising the powers conferred by this subsection in relation to any trunk road shall consult with the Minister of Transport, and, before exercising those powers in relation to any county road maintained by a county council, shall consult with the county council, and the said powers shall not be so exercised as to obstruct or render less convenient the access to or exit from any station or goods yard belonging to a railway company, or any premises belonging to other statutory undertakers and used for the purposes of their undertaking;
(b ) nothing in this subsection shall affect any privilege conferred on the Postmaster-General by the Telegraph Act, 1869 .
2 Fire-hydrants and water supply in case of fire.
(1) Every fire authority shall provide and maintain, or cause to be provided and maintained, such fire-hydrants as are necessary for securing the best practicable use of the available supply of water in case of fire, and the situation of every such hydrant shall be plainly indicated by a notice or distinguishing mark which may be placed on any wall or fence adjoining a street or public place.
(2) The provisions of sections thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty and forty-three of the Waterworks Clauses Act, 1847 , (which require undertakers to provide and maintain fire-hydrants) as incorporated with or applied by any enactment, with or without modifications, shall have effect as if for the references to the town commissioners there were substituted references to the fire authority:
Provided that the Minister of Health may by order modify the provisions of the said section thirty-eight, in their application to any rural district, so as to extend the distances at which fire-hydrants are required to be placed under that section.
(3) Where any fire-hydrant which is being maintained at the expense of a fire authority under section forty of the Waterworks Clauses Act, 1847, is damaged as the result of any person using the hydrant (otherwise than for fire brigade purposes) with the authority of the water company or person to whom the hydrant belongs, the fire authority shall not be liable for the cost of repairing or replacing the hydrant incurred as the result of the damage.
(4) Any person who uses a fire-hydrant, otherwise than for the purpose of extinguishing fires or for any fire brigade purpose or any purpose authorised by the water company or person to whom the fire-hydrant belongs, or damages or obstructs any fire-hydrant, otherwise than in consequence of its use for such a purpose as aforesaid, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(5) At least seven days before any fire-hydrant is placed in any street, the fire authority shall give notice in writing to the authority or person by whom the street is maintained, and at least seven days before any works which affect any fire-hydrant are commenced, the authority or person by whom the works are to be executed shall give notice in writing to the fire authority.
(6) A fire authority may enter into agreements with any water company or person for securing the provision for their borough or district of an adequate supply of water in case of fire.
(7) A fire authority may use for the purpose of extinguishing fires any convenient or suitable supply of water, but shall be liable to pay reasonable compensation therefor:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall affect the duty of undertakers to whom section forty-two of the Waterworks Clauses Act, 1847, applies, to supply water for the said purpose without compensation.
(8) Every council who are a fire authority shall take such steps within the powers of the council as are reasonable and practicable to improve the access to or otherwise to facilitate the use of any water supply (other than a water supply available for use by means of fire hydrants) which may be required for the purpose of extinguishing fires.
3 Power of fire authority to require proposed water works to be constructed in manner specified by them.
(1) Where a person proposes to carry out any...
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