The Watchroom – The Nerve Centre of a Fire Station

Manly Fire Station watchroom, c. 1920 [Museum of Fire Collection]

One of our most well-loved displays here at the Museum of Fire is the watchroom. All communications were channelled through the watchroom and may have come from public phone lines, direct lines from other stations, connection to street fire alarm pillar boxes, public buildings - such as theatres and other high-risk locations - fire detection systems, and to the ‘call out’ bells in the homes of volunteer firefighters. All the information received in the watchroom was then recorded in real time in diaries called Occurrence Books (you can read all about the history of Occurrence Books here). You could find watchrooms located in fire district offices and in fire stations all across NSW, where they were staffed 24 hours a day.

Headquarters Switchboard

The most spectacular watchroom in NSW was at Headquarters Fire Station (now City of Sydney), with the centre piece being its switchboard (which you can see on display at the Museum of Fire).

Charles Richardson (future Chief Officer) and Edward Smith, with fire alarm telephone and switchboard, c. 1900 [Museum of Fire Collection]

During the early 1900s, it was commonplace for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB; now FRNSW) to have its firefighters participate in the production, maintenance and repairs carried out in the brigade workshops. Hence why, the stunning woodwork of the switchboard was hand-carved by firefighter and principal electrician Edward Smith in 1909. He carved the switchboard from colonial rosewood, cedar, and Tasmanian blackwood. He did, however, have an assistant to help with the construction of the switchboard. William McNiven, first class firefighter with the MFB was also a carpenter and would later go on to become the brigade’s first internal architect, designing a number of the brigades fire stations in his career. A notable feature of the switchboard is the ornate columns and Smith’s four-leaf clover designs – one of which has five leaves while the others have four. Some have speculated that this was an honest mistake, however, many others have maintained that Smith included the anomaly to test the observation skills of new recruits.

Watchroom at Headquarters Fire Station, c. 1940s [Museum of Fire Collection]

Not only was it the main telephone switchboard, but it also acted as the relay cabinet (hence it being referred to as the relay room) for Grinnell, May-Oatway and Kirkby thermostatic fire alarms.

Sydney was also the first city in the world to install telephone fire alarm systems in 1890. The alarms were used via keys provided to the police, public bodies or nearby residences. One could also access the alarm by breaking the thin glass panel, if necessary, which connected directly to the Headquarters switchboard. As well as the various incoming phone and alarm connections, the switchboard also had facilities for public address announcements, ringing alarm bells in various parts of the station, activating light panels in the station to indicate which vehicles were required for a fire call, and lights indicating the status of other fire stations in the metropolitan area.

A fire brigade officer showing the operating method of a fire alarm phone to a group of firefighters [Museum of Fire Collection]

Although extensively modified and upgraded electrically over the years, it remained in regular use until 1971, when a new Control Centre was constructed to handle fire calls. It continued in use as a local switchboard for the station until 1979.

Communication Centres Today

Today, modern electronics have reduced the level of manual input required as many of the former functions of the watchroom staff have been automated. Street fire alarms were removed in the 1960s as the number of private and public phones increased, fire detection systems were computerised and are now centrally monitored, retained firefighters now receive incident calls through their smartphones via a notification, and computerised data transmitters notify fire stations of fire calls. Even turning on lights and opening doors in the station has become automated. Today, FRNSW’s Communication Centres deal with over 200,000 calls every year and are staffed by trained firefighters who have served in a fire station for four years and have received specialist training to receive and action these important distress calls.

Fire and Rescue NSW Communications Centre, 2022 [Courtesy of Fire and Rescue NSW]

- Story by the Museum of Fire Heritage Team