It is a hundred years since a fire brigade was first formed in Elstree, with a sub-station later established in Borehamwood.

The town’s fire service has undergone a radical transformation in that time, from a small team of volunteers with one manual engine to the professional service that exists today.

In 1907, Elstree Parish Council decided to form a voluntary fire service, but refused to grant the proposed £60 for equipment, deeming it too expensive. But a year later, the Elstree brigade was established following the loan of a small manual fire engine from Elstree Preparatory School, in Elstree Hill South, where the team based itself.

The brigade soon became an essential service in the area, expanding into a sub-station in Borehamwood, until a dispute with the parish council in 1931.

Joe Grossman, who at the time was studio manager at the British International Pictures (BIP) studio in Elstree Way, formed an in-house fire service in July that year. But when the Elstree fire brigade committee proposed its Borehamwood sub-station merge with the one in the studios, the parish council refused and threatened to withdraw its funding of £90 a year.

In response, the committee announced it would no longer attend fires in Borehamwood.

The dispute was eventually settled in January 1932. Film historian Paul Welsh highlighted the importance of a fire brigade at the BIP studios, saying: “Studios were very prone to fires because of the type of nitrate film they used and the type of work they were doing.

“It was advantageous for insurance reasons and practical reasons to have your own fire tender on site so you could deal with things quickly before the main fire station equipment arrived.”

The brigade proved its worth on February 9, 1936, when a fire broke out destroying the British and Dominion film studio and was prevented from spreading into the BIP studio by the work of Mr Grossman and his men.

Borehawood resident Marjorie Ely, 87, of Hillside Avenue, remembers her father Robert Dyer’s role in the Elstree fire brigade. She said: “He used to leave his boots and his uniform by the bed so he just had to get out of bed and slip his feet into the boots and run across the field to where the studios were.”

Mrs Ely remembers the night of the studio fire in 1936. She added: “When we realised where the fire was, my brother and I tumbled out of bed and looked out the window. Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle were filming there at the time and all their stuff went up in smoke.”

The Second World War meant a more cohesive service was required. The Government amalgamated many brigades in 1938 to form the Auxiliary Fire Service. By May 1938, there were 26 volunteers for the AFS from Elstree.

But the Blitz required even greater co-operation, so the National Fire Service was created in 1941.

Alan Lawrence, curator of Elstree and Boreham Wood Museum, said: “There were fire stations in a lot of areas but they were not part of an overall organisation. When the Blitz started, they found that when they were getting people in to help from other areas, the bits of equipment didn’t always tie up.

“The idea of the NFS was to make sure everybody would have the same type of equipment.”

The fire brigade moved to new premises in Manor Way in 1944, then again in 1951 to a smaller station in Elstree Way with the rest of the county council offices. It stands there today as Borehamwood Fire Station serving people across the borough.