Metropolitan Fire Brigade (Melbourne)

Metropolitan Fire Brigade

MFB Corporate Logo
Established	1891
Location	Melbourne, Victoria
Services	Combatant authority for fire, rescue and hazmat
Staff	>2200 Employees
Website	www.mfb.vic.gov.au

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), also known as the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, is one of the several fire services in Victoria, Australia. The others include Country Fire Authority (CFA), the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning (though firefighting is not the primary role of DELWP), and various Forest Industry Brigades (FIBs). The MFB provides firefighting, rescue, medical and hazardous material incident response services to the metropolitan area of Melbourne. The MFB's headquarters are located at the Eastern Hill Fire Station (also known as Fire Station 1) in East Melbourne.

The first known fire brigade in Melbourne was the volunteer Melbourne Fire Prevention Society established in 1845. Over a period of years a number of volunteer brigades were formed bearing the names of insurance companies and municipalities, and other institutions e.g. Carlton Brewery, Fitzroy Temperance. There was intense rivalry between these brigades. Buildings had wooden or metal plaques in the form of an insurance brigades coat of arms or firemark affixed to their exteriors denoting which insurance company had the building under its care. When the fire alarm was given many companies would rush to the scene, the mark would be inspected, and only the brigade that owned the mark would fight the fire while the other companies would do their best to hinder the operation. By 1890 there were 56 such volunteer brigades in Melbourne.

After several serious fires in 1890, with the loss of life of six firefighters in addition to loss of property, the Fire Brigades Act 1890 was passed with the aim of uniting these rival fire brigades. The first meeting of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) board took place on 6 March 1891, and led to the disbanding of the then 56 volunteer brigades in Melbourne on 30 April 1891 with an invitation to firefighters to join the new organisation. On May 1, 1891 the Melbourne Fire Brigade became the main fire brigade in Melbourne. The first annual report of the MFB stated its strength as "59 permanent firefighters, 229 auxiliary firefighters, 4 steam fire engines, 25 horse drawn hose carts and 58 hose reels... 33 horses and 48 stations". In 1891, the Brigade attended 816 calls and 485 fires, of which 188 fires were classified as serious.