02/06/2026
How amazing !
🔥WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN - ADELAIDE FIRE STATION
In October 1890, plans were unveiled for what would have been one of the most advanced fire stations in Australia.
Designed by architects Evans & Evans, the proposed Adelaide Fire Brigade Station was intended to replace the inadequate shed then occupied by the brigade in Flinders Street. The impressive two-storey building would have stretched 116 feet deep with a frontage of approximately 70 feet and featured a handsome brick façade with stone columns and pilasters, topped by an ornamental iron roof.
The design reflected Superintendent James Booker’s determination to create a station capable of achieving the fastest possible response times. At its heart was a vast engine house measuring 60 feet by 28 feet, with six horse stalls positioned directly behind. The horses were to face the engines, eliminating the need to turn them before harnessing and ensuring the quickest possible turnout.
The station would have incorporated an array of modern technology for the era. A permanently staffed watch room would contain fire alarm communications, telephones, and an electrical system capable of simultaneously opening station doors, illuminating the building, and ringing bells throughout the premises when an alarm was received.
Accommodation was provided for the Superintendent and twenty firefighters. Single firefighters would occupy bedrooms on the ground floor, while married men and foremen would be housed upstairs. The station also included recreation and dining rooms, kitchens, workshops, baths, and a drill yard. Even the staircases were designed with speed in mind, featuring sliding poles down which firefighters could descend directly to the engine floor.
Perhaps most interestingly, Superintendent Booker rejected the idea of a lookout tower, believing it was no longer an effective means of fire detection in an age increasingly reliant on telephones and electric fire alarms.
Although this ambitious design was never built, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the vision Adelaide’s fire service leaders held for the future. When the new Wakefield Street Fire Station was eventually constructed in 1892, many of the operational concepts championed by Booker would be incorporated into its design.
📸 Pictured is an AI reconstruction showing how the proposed 1890 station may have appeared had it been built near the Earl of Zetland Hotel in Flinders Street.
