Yeronga Fire Station (former)

Yeronga Fire Station (former)
Entered on the Queensland Heritage Register 23 April 1993, the former Yeronga Fire Station was decommissioned in 1974 when operations were relocated to the new Acacia Ridge Station. The former Yeronga Fire Station has since been a Queensland State Emergency Services office. The former Yeronga Fire Station has aesthetic and architectural significance as a modest, functional civic building. Robust and austere, it is a landmark on Ipswich Road, a busy Brisbane arterial.
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Location of Yeronga Fire Station (former)

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Theme

Buildings

Time

1930s

Place

Brisbane

Tags

Architecture Heritage
Source
QSA Series ID 20380, Heritage Register Place / Site Slides
Contributor

News of the day

Courier-Mail, Thursday 19 April 1934, page 17

EXTENDING FIRE

PROTECTION

New Yeronga Station

Opened

The Yeronga fire station, at the corner of Ipswich and School Roads, was officially opened by Mr. W. B. Denmead, chairman of the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board, last night.

Alderman A. Laurie, vice-chairman of the board, said that the board had wisely decided that a station in the Yeronga district was long overdue.

Mr. Denmead said that when the present Board took over on July 1, 1921, there were 11 fire stations in the metropolitan area. Today, including Yeronga, there was exactly the same number. At first sight it might appear that no progress had been made, but since the board had taken over three stations had been closed, two had been rebuilt, and three new ones had been erected. It had been found that owing to the rapid means of transit some stations could be dispensed with, without materially reducing the effective protection of property. In 1921 the permanent strength at all stations was approximately 95; to-day it was 115, with an additional 25 auxiliaries.

The rapid progress of the city on the South Side had brought home to the board the need for an extension of the fire service. The only additional station erected on the South Side was Balmoral, and four years ago the Board felt the imperative necessity for increasing the protection. Last year it obtained a loan of £5000, portion of which was being used for the erection of the Yeronga Station, and the balance for the purchase of three fire engines, which were badly needed.

The contract price for the building was £1550. It combined a fully equipped station on the ground floor with living accommodation for the permanent strength as well as a recreation room, and on the floor above a modern home for the district officer.

Background

Fire Services in Yeronga:

With the establishment of the South Coast railway in 1884, Yeronga was recognised as a desirable commuter suburb. Settlement of the suburb remained subdued until the interwar years when residential building activity increased dramatically, with the number of residences in Yeronga doubling. At this time, the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board was attempting to respond to the increased fire fighting needs of the expanding Brisbane suburbs. In the 1930s, the Board was resiting old stations and erecting new stations under a program funded by the Queensland Government, instigated by the Minister for Health and Home Affairs, Edward Hanlon. The former Yeronga Fire Station, the first fire station in Yeronga, was erected under this program by contractor William Allen Miller and opened by Mr W.B. Denmead on 18 April 1934. The new building housed the station facilities on the ground floor and a residence for the superintendent on the first floor. This combination of station and residence was the typical design for fire stations in Brisbane at this time. Similar, though larger, residential fire stations were built at Coorparoo 1935 (QHR 600569); Nundah 1936 (QHR 602119); Wynnum 1938 (QHR 602143) and Hamilton 1941.

Courtesy of the Queensland Heritage Register

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