Fire Station Residence (former)

By 1880 a fire brigade station was an overdue necessity for the Fortitude Valley, Teneriffe and Newstead areas. The suburbs were long established and booming in popularity, but ill-prepared for fire. The distance from the Central brigade’s Edward Street station meant that valuable time was lost in travel, while a volunteer brigade at New Farm had a limited ability to respond to fires. The loss of several properties in destructive fires in the 1870s and early 1880s led to calls for a hose and reel to be established in the Valley. The equipment had evidently been installed by mid-1882, when they were used to fight a fire in Gibbs Street, but a permanent building was lacking. In 1883 the Brisbane Fire Board announced that it would establish a brigade station in Ann Street in Fortitude Valley, under the charge of Martin Moffatt.

The Valley brigade’s workload increased through the 1880s and 1890s with significant residential, industrial and commercial growth in the surrounding suburbs. The Board Superintendent John Hinton raised concerns over the station’s capability and response times. The Valley served a wide area as the closest station to the northern suburbs including Bowen Hills, though there were disputes over financial contributions from other divisional boards, and the officer in charge refused to attend fires outside the municipal boundaries. By 1897 Hinton had recommended expanding the station, relocating it to a more central position, and more than doubling its staff. In 1899 Hinton complained that, ‘our Valley Station… is standing still, with a continually growing city around us, apparently waiting for the conflagration that is almost sure to come, to force upon us the necessity of strengthening our forces.’1

In 1902 the Valley brigade shifted to a rental property in Ballow Street, while the Fire Board began searching for new premises. The demands for a new site were numerous: it was to be situated in a central, easily accessible position, with a water supply, and be large enough to house a horse-drawn engine, horses and a newly-acquired steam engine. Meeting these requirements was a particular challenge in the well-populated district. The Board first requested part of the police reserve on Brookes Street, but this was refused.

In September 1903 the Board proposed the purchase of a site on the corner of Chester and Harcourt Streets for £400. The site was part of two allotments, a one rood and 36.8 perch holding offered for sale in 1899. A house and stables stood on the site, but the corner allotment was apparently undeveloped. It met the Board’s requirements and the 34 perch site was transferred to prominent businessman Josiah Young, architect and mayor of Brisbane Leslie Gordon Corrie, and Ernest Wickham, Chairman of the Fire and Accident Underwriters’ Association and of the Marine Underwriters’ Associaiton, and Fire Brigade Board.

The site sat vacant for some time, and before any work had started on a new station, the Valley experienced one of its largest fires. A fire broke out in the Overell department store on Brunswick Street in February 1904, destroying the building and killing the caretaker. The Overell family blamed the fire brigade’s delayed response for the disaster. An inquiry did not implicate the brigade, but the incident highlighted the desperate need for a station with up to date facilities.

In July 1904 George Henry Male Addison advertised for tenders for the erection of a fire brigade station building on Harcourt and Chester streets. Edward Skeen was engaged to build the station. The partnership of G.H.M. Addison and Leslie Gordon Corrie, was formed in 1895 and they became the official architects for the Fire Brigade Board. In August 1904 Addison & Corrie applied for approval for a new Fire Station in August.

Addison was at that time one of Brisbane’s most renowned architects. He had moved to Brisbane in the 1880s to establish a branch of Melbourne architecture firm Oakden, Addison and Kemp. He quickly became known in Brisbane for his elaborate and stylish designs, particularly in brick. Although most well-known for his residential work, he also designed a number of public and religious buildings including the Brisbane Exhibition/Museum Building in Bowen Hills (1891) and the Albert Street Uniting Church (1889). Leslie Gordon Corrie had moved to Brisbane on medical advice in 1886 and was soon appointed architect to the Queensland Deposit Bank and Building Society. He went into partnersip with Henry Hunter from 1888 to 1892, before his successful partnership with Addison from 1895 to 1905.

The station opened in February 1905. The substantial red-brick building had cost around £1360 to erect. It included ‘commodious and airy quarter for the men, and quarters for a married superintendent’. The on-site residence allowed for permanent manning of the station and improved response times, as well as providing convenient accommodation for the superintendent and his family. The brick construction also reduced the risk of conflagration, a particular danger with the new steam engine.

The fire station residence was home to only two superintendents. From 1906 William Younger was in charge of the station and resided in the house with his wife. Younger was replaced by Charles Walsh in 1912, but in June 1921 Walsh collapsed and died after fighting a fire at Newstead. This was the last fire attended by the Valley Brigade while the station was still under the control of the Brisbane Fire Board. The Fire Brigades Act 1920 centralised control of Brisbane’s fire brigade network under the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board, implementing changes in 1921. The impact on the Valley Station appears to have been to diminish its importance and use. The site was transferred to the new Board in 1923 and the station residence became home to a series of tenants.

In July 1928 the Board announced that the Valley Fire Station would close. Faster steam engines had replaced the old horse-drawn engines, reducing the need for multiple branch stations. The closure was also said to improve the efficiency of the Brigade, against the protests of the local community. The Board advertised the former station for lease, though a proposal to open a laundry in old fire station was rejected in 1929.

The site was sold to Hilda Oswald and Ethel Harvey in 1934. From 1935 they leased the building to milk companies. Pauls Ice Cream and Milk Limited bought the property in 1954 and ran a milk depot from the site. There is no indication of the use of the residence, but it was possibly used by a caretaker.

The company retained the property until 1985. It was subsequently sold and used as a clothing warehouse. In 1997 the fire station was converted to a unit complex. The former fire station residence is now unit 1.

1. Brisbane Courier, Saturday 25 March 1899 p11

2. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

3. Brisbane City Council aerial photographs, 1946, 2012

4. Brisbane City Council, Surveyor’s Notebook 1912

5. Musgrave, Elizabeth and Kaylee Wilson, New Farm and Teneriffe Hill Heritage and Character Study, Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, Oct 1995 

6. Brisbane City Council City Architecture and Heritage Team, citations

7. Calthorpe, KD and Capell, K, Brisbane on Fire (1997) and Brisbane Ablaze: A history of fire-fighting 1921-1990 (2001)

8. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.

9. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Balmoral Fire Station [601530]

10. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Coorparoo Fire Station [600569]

11. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Nundah Fire Station [602119]

12. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Ithaca Fire Station (former) [601119]

13. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Albion Fire Station (former) [602246]

14. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Wynnum Fire Station [602143]

15. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Yeronga Fire Station (former) [602144]

16. Queensland Places, Teneriffe, Newstead (website)

17. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1868-1940

18. The Brisbane Courier, The Queenslander, The Courier Mail.