Heritage and History

On 14 June 1966, it was announced that the Fire Service Technical College would be established on the site of the Home Office Training Centre at Moreton-in-Marsh.  The first commandant of the new college, Harry Judge QFSM MIFireE began his new role in 1968. 

Considered to be a man of vision, Harry formerly Chief Fire Officer of the West Riding of Yorkshire, saw that the development of a national training centre was a huge opportunity to build a world class establishment with facilities that would not be out of date in a few years.  Too many, Harry is considered to be the founding father of the college that we have today.

In 1981, the Fire Service Staff College in Dorking closed with some instructors transferring to the technical college which was subsequently renamed the Fire Service College.

 The early days

The Fire Brigades Act 1938 authorised the establishment of a training centre for special fire service courses.   A site in Watford, was identified, but the outbreak of WWII meant that a much larger site was required, so training commenced in Saltdean, Brighton.

Following the denationalisation of the fire service in 1947, the Saltdean centre was soon too large for peacetime training needs and training was transferred to Wotton House, near Dorking. 

Historically, fire fighting was dealt with in very small areas, with firefighters unable to travel outside of their parish or village boundaries to respond to a fire.  Indeed, it was a common occurence for fire pumps to be sponsored by an insurance company and if the pump was sent to your home to deal with a fire, if you were not insured by the company who owned the pump, they would turn around and leave the property to burn.