Wartime fire engine comes home
The wartime fire engine known as “Borough of Dartford” has come home after being rescued from an uncertain future by Dartford Borough Council in late 2011.
The official handover of the engine to the Council took place on Thursday 26 January 2012 at Dartford Fire Station in Watling Street. The ceremony was attended by Jeremy Kite, Leader of the Council, Councillor Ann Allen, Lead Member for Communities, Mr Bryan Cope, Chairman of Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority, and Steve Griffiths, Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s Director of Service Delivery.
Councillor Kite, said, “When we saw it, we knew we had to have it! The fire engine is fantastic and it was great that we could buy it and give it a good home back here in Dartford.”
Purchased by public subscription in 1939, ownership of the Leyland Fire Engine passed to Kent Fire Brigade following the nationalisation of the fire service in 1941. The engine was withdrawn from service in 1955, was fully restored in 1971 and has been kept in Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s museum ever since.
The fire engine will now be cared for by the Council and is available to hire for special events such as weddings and fetes. Please email heritage@dartford.gov.uk or call 01322 343244 for more information.
After making its first official appearance at the Carol Concert in Central Park back in December, the engine’s next outing will be to Dartford High Street on Friday 17 February as part of the British Heart Foundation’s ‘Red for Heart’ event.
ENDS
