Organised firefighting began in what is now Northern Ireland in the 19th century. In 1800, the Belfast Borough Police were established and firefighting was one of their duties. The firefighting units were later separated from the police to form the Belfast Fire Brigade.
Until World War II, towns had their own fire services. In 1942, Northern Ireland’s fire services were amalgamated into one, though they were separate from the National Fire Service that covered the rest of the United Kingdom. After the war, the service was split into the re-established Belfast Fire Brigade and the Northern Ireland Fire Authority, which covered the rest of Northern Ireland.
On 1 October 1973, the two fire services were merged into a single service, named Northern Ireland Fire Brigade. In 2006, the service adopted its current name of Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
THE GARFIELD BUILDING 2105 – LOWER GARFIELD STREET IN BELFAST
One thing that I have noticed over the last ten years is that there is a lot of derelict sites and buildings in Belfast.
As I have not visited Belfast since March 2019 I have no idea if the condition of the Garfield building has changed but hopefully I might be able to visit in 2021.
Despite the fact that I overheard a tourist guide claiming that the Garfield Bar Building was named after Garfield the comic character created by Jim Davis the reality is that the street dates from 1896 and was named after US president James Garfield who was assassinated in 1881.
Every time I am in Belfast I visited North Street and Garfield Street and in general I book a room in a nearby hotel. In 2018 I stayed at the Bullitt Hotel but normally I stay at the Ramada.
The Garfield Bar Building has been in decline since the about beginning of the century but the last tenant moved out as late as 2014. As each month passed the unusual listed building, which gently curves along the line of the street, fell deeper into decay with vegetation sprouting from the rooftops. What interested me was that the street often hosted interesting street art and graffiti but those days are now gone because the area is now being redeveloped as are many other parts of the city.
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