Recording Every Alarm: The History of Occurrence Books

Out of the many displays at the Museum of Fire, one that often captures visitors’ attention is the large set of shelves filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of identical books. These aren’t just any old books, and their uniform size and shape hint at a shared purpose. And indeed, they do share something very special: they are occurrence books.

Members of the Museum of Fire install the occurrence book display at the Museum in the 1990s [Museum of Fire Collection]

Occurrence books can be simply described as the logbooks or diaries of fire stations. The volumes preserved at the Museum of Fire date back to the establishment of the NSW Fire Brigades in 1910 and span through to the early 2000s. Since the mid-1990s, a rotating selection has been on public display, while the majority remain safely stored in our archives due to their fragile condition and historical value.

But what exactly is an occurrence book? How were they used? And if they’re basically “diaries,” are they really that important? Let’s explore those questions.

As the official logbook for every fire station in NSW, each station was issued an occurrence book. These served as the most important record-keeping tool on-site. Legally binding, the books were used by firefighters to document all station activity, responding to incidents, sending and receiving stop messages, conducting maintenance, and more. Almost any event that occurred at or away from the station was expected to be recorded.

Two Volunteer Firefighters from Stockton Fire Brigade reading an occurrence book, 1962 [Museum of Fire Collection]

Because occurrence books could be called upon in coronial inquiries, strict protocols governed their use. Only the officer-in-charge, or in their absence, the most senior firefighter on duty, was permitted to make entries. The handwriting had to be neat, legible, and confined to the book’s margins. A standardised list of approved abbreviations had to be used, and red ink was required for specific situations in place of the usual black.

Here is the list of some of the abbreviations approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW to be used in occurrence books:

Abbreviations	Meanings
H.Q.	Headquarters Fire Station (now City of Sydney Fire Station)
Stn	Station
R.T.	Radio Telephone
L.E.	Local Exchange
F.A.	Fire Alarm
T.	Telephone
No.	Number
No.’s	Numbers
T.L.	Turntable Ladder (Fire Truck)
S.M.	Salvage Motor (Fire Truck)
M.E.	Motor Engine (Fire Truck)
W.T.	Water Tanker
R.L.	Rubber Lined (hoses)
U.L.	Unlined
D.C.O.	Deputy Chief Officer
Supt.	Superintendent
Insp.	Inspector
R.C.I.	Resident Country Inspector
D.O.	District Officer
S.O.	Station Officer
M.O.	Motor Officer
S/F	Senior Firefighter
1/C/F	First Class Firefighter
2/C/F	Second Class Firefighter
3/C/F	Third Class Firefighter
4/C/F	Fourth Class Firefighter
P/F	Probationary Fourth Class Firefighter
S. Sedan	Station Sedan

*Note: “Thru” was not an approved abbreviation. The full word “Through” was required instead.

Due to their importance, occurrence books were kept in the fire station’s watchroom, the nerve centre where all calls were received. The firefighter on watchroom duty would record key details in the occurrence book, including the time of the call, the time the crew left, when the stop message was received, and when crews returned.

Headquarter's Fire Station Watchroom (whose switchboard is on display at the Museum of Fire) [Museum of Fire Collection]

Today, handwritten occurrence books have been replaced by digital eOccurrence Books, enabling the same level of documentation through electronic systems. While the method has changed, the importance of precise and consistent record-keeping remains essential, making these historical handwritten books a vital part of the Museum’s collection.

Occurrence books are just one of the many displays at the Museum of Fire that tell an important story. Plan your visit today via our website and explore more firefighting history in person!

—Story by Curator Ben Dickson