Busselton Fire Station (No 2) fmr

Statement of Significance

•The place has historic value as one of eighteen new fire stations built by the Western Australian Fire Brigades Board during an intensive building campaign between 1933 and 1938.
• It has historic value for its association with the prominent local architect Kenneth Duncan who designed many stations for the WA Fire Brigades.
• The former fire station is valued by the community for it’s associations with the Busselton Fire Brigade who provide an important service to the community.

Physical Description

The fire station building is a single storey brick construction single appliance building and integral quarters, decorated externally with cement render, and it has a Wunderlich Marseilles pattern tiled roof. The facade is rendered in a lowkey interpretation of the Inter‐War Functionalist style. The remaining elevations are utilitarian in their rendering.
The station entrance dominates the front elevation; with its pair of part glazed timber framed and boarded doors. A pair of plain stepped rendered pilasters, capped by a simple stepped pediment, frames the entrance. There is a raised panel in the pediment framed by a bolection molding and the panel contains the words FIRE STATION in bas‐relief. A
bronze plaque fixed to the northern pilaster to commemorate the official opening of the station has been removed.
The remainder of the front elevation is simply treated with stretcher bond cut and struck jointed brickwork, topped with a soldier course near the top of the wall under a plain rendered frieze. Wide lined eaves with ogee gutters extend over the walls on either side of the entrance bay. The roof is clad with Marseilles pattern tiles with ram’s horn pattern finials.
The walls are variously punctuated with pairs of six pane casement windows or part glazed doors. The wide eaves continue along both sides of the station and terminate at a skillion roof that extends over the kitchen and bathroom sections of the quarters to the rear. The station is one of the few to retain its original timber appliance room doors.

History

The Busselton Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed on 5th July 1910 with the arrival of a package from the Fire Brigades Board containing stationery and registration forms. They received their first fire bell on 3rd November 1910. Together with ropes and planks to construct a bell tower. The first fire shed was constructed on 1st December 1910 and the
materials supplied by Bunnings cost £17 13s 4d. The shed was located on the corner of Prince and Albert street and was designed for a horse drawn fire pump and reel.
The first fire attended by the brigade was on the 13th January 1911 when they were called to a fire at the back of a dwelling at lot 210 Duchess Street. The fire was put out but not before an outhouse was destroyed.
The Brigade received its first manual horse drawn fire engine and equipment on 15th May 1911. The first motorised fire engine was commissioned in 1925 and was a Dennis fire engine.
This building was the second Fire Station and was designed by architect Kenneth Charles Duncan who undertook many commissions for the WA Fire Brigade. Through his work, K.C. Duncan was granted life Membership of the organisation.
The Busselton Fire Station was officially opened by the President of WA Fire Brigades, Mr. J.R. Campbell on 1 June 1936.
The Station was in operation until approximately 1990 when the new station was opened. Since that time the building has been used for a variety of purposes and most recently as a café. Aerial photographs indicate that the form and extent of the building have not changed from the mid 20th century.
In 2018, the alfresco area on the southern elevation was extended to accommodate the expanded café service.

Integrity/Authenticity

High/Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.