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1923 - 1937: Superintendent T. Breaks |
The Fire Brigade was still under the control of the Chief Constable, but Mr. Tom Breaks was appointed Superintendent in charge in 1923. He had first joined the Fire Service at Nottingham in 1911, and after service with the armed forces during the First World War, he returned in 1918 to Nottingham Fire Brigade. In 1919, he was appointed the Chief Officer of the Salford Fire Brigade.
 Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
Motor Pump, also carrying a 50ft Wheeled Escape |
| 1925 - Outside West Bar Fire Station. The fire engine in the foreground carries the gas operated 75 ft. turntable ladder previously carried on a horse drawn appliance, and originally purchased in 1903 |  Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
Superintendent Breaks was only 32 when he was appointed but full of enthusiasm to build up the Brigade which had inevitably run down through the war years, and because of the stringent economies necessary afterwards. Additional appliances were eventually obtained, and it was finally decided that a new Fire Station at Division Street was an important factor in the development of the Brigade.
A row of shops fronting Division Street from Rockingham Street to Rockingham Lane was purchased and demolished, plans were prepared, tenders for the building were accepted and in July 1929.
 Replacement Photograph - Courtesy of Ted Mullins |
Ceremony of laying foundation stone for new headquarters station in Division Street, 1927 |
The new Headquarters was officially declared open. These provided accommodation in a spacious appliance room for eight pumps including two trailers, a new Turntable Ladder two tenders and Emergency Tender: with married quarters for the Officers and men above.
| The Sheffield City Fire Department Headquarters, Division Street, was officially opened July, 1929. |  Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
 Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
The fire engines of the Brigade about the period 1929 in the yard behind the new station in Division Street. In the background can he seen the old Rockingham Street Station. On the right of the photograph are the flats for married firemen and their families. The flats shown were part of the Rockingham Street fire station. |
| The new Brigade Control Room was opened at Division Street in 1928, and remained the Brigade's mobilising centre until 1953 when it was replaced by a new control room. |  Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
| Motor Fire Pump 1929 |  Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
On the 11th November, 1930, Sheffield Police Fire Brigade recorded its first fatality Inspector 'Archie' Cornish. Inspector Cornish at suffered severe burns from a 'flash-over' fire caused by burning celluloid X-ray plates, in the basement of the now demolished Royal Hospital, and on the 18th of February 1931 he died as a result of the injuries.
 Photograph courtesy of Ted Mullins |
Photograph of Archie Cornish's Funeral. 'Archie's' brass helmet, worn at the Royal Hospital fire, was adapted for use as a collecting box to receive donations for the Firefighters Charity (formerly the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund), and is now on display at the West Bar Fire and Police Museum. |
In April, 1934 a coordinated Fire Service throughout the Country was being considered, and the first real step towards this was made in Sheffield. This was the North Derbyshire Joint Fire Brigade Scheme in which the Fire Stations at Sheffield, Rotherham, Dronfield, Chesterfield, and Bakewell took part. It was a start on the right lines, but unfortunately, it was hampered by lack of funds.
| Emergency Tender in service 1934 |  Photograph from Sheffield Fire Brigade - A Brief History |
In April, 1937, Mr. Breaks was seconded to the Home Office, and was attached to the newly formed Fire Brigades Division as an Inspector of Fire Brigades.
Mr. Breaks was a well known character in the City and attended many fires and special service calls. Perhaps the most notable of these was his capture, single handed, with the use of a 'Salvage Sheet', of a tiger which had escaped from its cage on the stage of the Empire Theatre, and after seriously mauling its keeper took refuge in a cellar beneath the stage.