Seventy years of firefighting
This week’s shocking spring fires are just the latest chapter in the long history of firefighting in Queensland. We look back at some memorable Courier-Mail photos taken since the 1950s.
1/14A burnt-out car lies in the wake of a bush and grass fire at Kenmore in 1951 when the area was still mostly rural. Picture: Bob Millar
2/14Firefighters saved this home in Indooroopilly, owned by Mr. E.L Jamieson, in 1957. Volunteers move furniture away from burning bushland. Picture: Ray Saunders
3/14The nuns of Lourdes Hill Convent survey damage caused by a fire as firemen dampen it down, in 1960. Picture: Al Pascoe Snr
4/14State-of-the-art trucks at the Metropolitan Fire Brigade HQ in Ann St, Brisbane.
5/1440,000 people crammed into South Brisbane to watch firemen battling a blaze which burnt out the old Cremorne Theatre in 1950. Picture: Harry Freeman
6/14The top floor of the Tower Mill Motel in the CBD on fire in 1984. Forty firemen took 90 minutes to control the blaze. Picture: Phillip Norrish
7/14A fireman wears the latest rebreathing gear in 1950 at the Metropolitan Fire Brigade HQ.
8/14A fireman and a civilian overcome by smoke during a blaze at the Sherwood Picture Theatre in 1951 are looked after by patrons. Picture: Al Pascoe
9/14Firemen doing training on an extension ladder in Brisbane in the 1950s.
10/14Firemen trying on the old brass helmets at Basil Buss Store, Fortitude Valley, in 1957. Picture: Bob Millar Snr
11/14Scene of a fire at Biloela that completely destroyed several shops in 1965. Picture: Ray Saunders
12/14The Paddington tram depot fire in 1962 destroyed 67 trams. Picture: Noel Pascoe
13/14Space age firefighter in 1971 on its way to a fire. Picture: Ted Holliday
14/14Miss US Fire Station, Carolann Toque, 15, of Los Angeles, tries on a Queensland firefighter's helmet when visiting Brisbane in 1960. Picture: Noel Pascoe
Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/seventy-years-of-firefighting/image-gallery/1b1f78ac2abb8f97a03f0f117ca3a3f4