Dalby Fire Station is a heritage-listed fire station at 21 New Street, Dalby, Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Matthew Williamson and built in 1935 by George Ficken. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.
History The Dalby Fire Station is located in the town of Dalby, about north-west of Toowoomba in south-east Queensland. A two-storey, predominantly brick structure, the core of the station was built in 1935 to a design by Toowoomba architect Matthew Williamson. Located on the northern edge of the town's business centre the building addresses New Street and is equidistant from Cunningham Street, the main street, and the Bunya Highway (or Condamine Street) as it runs through the town. It and its associated structures occupy a 2023 square metre allotment backing onto Starlings Lane. Cunningham Street features a number of significant commercial buildings including the Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices, the former police station and courthouse complex and St John's Anglican Church. The 1935 brick fire station replaced a 1920 timber structure and was extended in 1953 to provide an extra garage and workshop on the ground floor and an upstairs recreation area. Further extensions along the rear of the building were undertaken in 1976.
The town of Dalby was laid out by Surveyor EO Moriaty in 1852; part of the expansion of pastoral activities on the Darling Downs. Due to problems with flood levels, a second town survey was completed the following year and the Town Reserve declared in 1855. The Town of Dalby was gazetted as a municipality on 29 August 1863. The extension of the Western railway line to Dalby in 1868 led to a boom that only deflated when the line was extended west in 1877. Further prosperity occurred as a result of the Agricultural Land Purchase Act 1894, which opened up substantial tracts of land previously held by the early pastoralists. This led to closer settlement around Dalby and its development into a major regional centre.
The first Dalby Fire Brigade was formed in 1882, but was short-lived because of the failure of local insurance companies to contribute to its financial support. The second Dalby Fire Brigade was initiated under the Fire Brigade Amendment Act 1902 at a meeting in March 1915, and its board was gazetted on 24 July. By October 1916, the fledgling brigade had received its first government subsidy and a manual fire engine was purchased the following year. Land for the fire brigade was acquired in New Street (Allot 3 Section 6) in January 1920. It had been originally taken up in 1863 by John Donovan and transferred to local butcher James Ryan in 1885. It is conjectured that the cottage now utilised as the fire station office was built in 1889 when Ryan took out a mortgage on his property. The land was transferred to Ryan's daughter Margaret in 1910, and in 1919, about six years after she had married and moved to Sydney, she placed the property in the hands of trustees Dalby Mayor James Duncan Morris and Alderman Walter Robertson Hunter, both fire brigade board members. The agreement allowed for the board to build on the site and take out mortgages to finance any improvements. Tenders were called for construction of this first fire station in January 1920 and building proceeded at a cost of . A simple timber garage with a galvanised iron gable roof was erected. Local builders Draney and Co were contracted to enlarge this building in 1923 to provide a board room, which eventually housed the new fire truck purchased six years later.
During the early 1930s the Dalby region experienced renewed growth following the eradication of the prickly pear cactus through the introduction of the Cactoblastis cactorum moth in 1925. The prickly pear had devastated the region from the late 19th century and its destruction led to the recovery of thousands of hectares of agricultural land and the Department of Public Lands reporting rapid expansion of agriculture, grazing and dairying around Dalby, Chinchilla and Miles.
After the 1932 state election of the Forgan-Smith Government, part of its funds were channelled into what were considered "sound" public projects providing long-term community benefit, rather than into short-term maintenance projects such as those funded through the Intermittent Relief Scheme. Projects funded directly by the Queensland Department of Public Works included additions to the Dalby School (1935), and a new courthouse and police station (1934). The town's stock of commercial and ecclesiastical buildings was also augmented at this time with: a Bank of New South Wales and National Bank (both no longer extant), the Dalby Olympic Swimming Pool, the Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices, a Presbyterian Church, the Star Theatre (no longer extant) and a Catholic Presbytery (no longer extant).
The Fire Brigade Act of 1931 had allowed for boards to make by-laws and those devised by the Dalby Fire Brigade Board were gazetted in August 1934, providing administrative guidelines for the board and firemen. At the board meeting of June 1934, the secretary Harold Edward Thorley presented preliminary plans for a two-storey brick fire station, the estimated cost for which being between and . In August 1934 Toowoomba architect Matthew Williamson produced the final plans for the fire station. Williamson's other Dalby projects included the Presbyterian Church (1933), the Star Theatre (1936, no longer extant) and a number of shops and private dwellings. He was also responsible for numerous projects in Toowoomba, including the Trades Hall (1934) in Russell Street, as well as buildings in Miles, Crows Nest and Oakey.
In November 1934, it was reported that a loan had been secured from the Commonwealth Bank, when the tender of submitted by local builder George Ficken was accepted. Before construction was completed, the Forgan-Smith government approved for local authorities and other local bodies (such as hospital, harbour and fire brigade boards) a reduction of 1% in the interest rates of all loans with rates over 4%. This presumably aided the construction of other fire stations and community infrastructure across the state during the 1930s.
The Dalby Fire Station was formally opened on Saturday 16 November 1935 by the Home Secretary Ned Hanlon. It was long and wide and built on concrete foundations and footings with concrete floors on a base of broken stone to the appliance rooms and timber flooring elsewhere on the ground floor. The structure comprised some rolled steel and reinforced concrete components, including continuous wall lintels. The ground floor accommodated two fire appliances behind folding timber doors with a recreation room and open timber stairway at the rear. On the interior of this level there was silky oak interior wall panelling to a height of . The upper level had a kitchen, living room, lounge room, three bedrooms, a bathroom and balcony to the street. Fibro sheeting and plaster variously lined the walls of the upper level, with ornamental cornices. The fireplaces on both levels were detailed with Wunderlich bricks and all windows were timber. The external brick walls were solid on the ground floor and included a cavity above the wall lintel. There were glazed brick soldier courses to openings on the first floor and glazed brick sills to the front of the building. The original paintwork to the concrete walls was to be lime wash tinted with burnt sienna, while the lettering on the front was to be finished with gold leaf.
Prior to the completion of the Dalby Fire Station in 1935 only four other two-storey, brick fire stations had been built in the state's capital, Brisbane. The sole survivor of these is the 1927 Albion Fire Station, which along with a station at South Brisbane was a part of the network rationalisations undertaken after 1921 by the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board. During the interwar years a number of two-storey fire stations were also built in Brisbane of timber and fibro, including: an upgrade to the Ithaca Fire Station in 1928; a new Yeronga Fire Station in 1934; then three to the same plan: Coorparoo Fire Station in 1935, Nundah Fire Station in 1936 and Wynnum Fire Station in 1938. Generally the layout of all these structures provided accommodation for fire appliances on the ground floor, and a recreation room, kitchen, bathroom and dormitory space, and accommodation for officers and their families on the first floor. The 1935 Dalby station was smaller than some of the Brisbane stations, with space for two fire appliances and a recreation room on the ground floor and living quarters for the chief officer and his family on the upper floor. Accommodation for firemen was provided in a three bedroom cottage on the site built using materials from the 1920 to 1929 fire station garage.
By 1949 it was evident that a larger station was required at Dalby to house a new fire engine, and that more bedrooms were needed in the firemen's quarters. Funding was acquired in stages over the next few years from both government and private sources. The extension was built in brick along the north-western side of the fire station during 1953. It included a third engine bay and workshop on the ground floor and a recreation area on the first floor. The new addition was . Additions were also made to the timber firemen's quarters. At this time the adjacent timber low-set cottage was occupied by the mechanic/caretaker.
The property owner Margaret Sara (née Ryan) died in Broken Hill in 1953 and the property was transferred to the Dalby Fire Brigade Board on 11 May of the following year.
In an effort to better co-ordinate the management of fire brigades across Queensland, the Queensland Fire Brigades Boards Association was formed in 1962–63. The Fire Brigade Act 1964 legislated for Fire Boards to become Body Corporates. The first Queensland Chief Fire Inspector was appointed and the State Fire Services Council was formed as the state moved towards the standardisation of equipment and facilities.
The Dalby Fire Brigade continued to upgrade its equipment, with a new fire engine in 1956/7, another in 1965, two-way radios in 1966, and a salvage vehicle in 1967/8. A concrete block smoke room was built in 1970. In mid-1975 tenders were called for further additions to the rear of the main station building to provide a storeroom, board facilities, toilets and office accommodation for the regional fire safety officer (recently appointed) and the chief officer. Dalby builders, JR Perry and Co, were awarded the contract at a cost of $35,974. The extension was completed in mid-1976. Extensions to the fire tower were built in 1978 and a new fire engine was also purchased.
The Fire Services Act 1990 led to the amalgamation of a number of departments. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade Board ceased to exist after June 1990 and the management of the 21 metropolitan stations and the 81 fire boards across the state were amalgamated into the Queensland Fire Services. A further amendment to the Act in 1996 created the Fire and Rescue Authority. The Emergency Services Legislation Act 2001 dissolved this Authority and vested its assets with the Queensland Government.