The past
Broughton Fire Station was constructed early on in the development of Milton Keynes city, close to the village that gave the city its name.
Milton Keynes as a village is recorded in the Domesday Book (1086). When Henry II ascended to the throne, he gave the Manor along with Amabel de Bereville, the daughter and heir of its former owner, to Hugh de Keynes. In order to distinguish the Manor from others with a similar name in the neighbourhood, the family name of Keynes was added to the original name of Middleton to make Middleton Keynes. This later changed to become Milton Keynes. Today the village itself is known as Milton Keynes Village and the region it occupies is Middleton.
Prior to the fire station being built in 1977 the local villages relied upon fire engines from neighbouring towns such as Newport Pagnell. The station had its official opening on 23 April 1977 and was initially a day-crewed station with the firefighters responding from local houses at night. The station was upgraded in 1985 and other (Retained Duty System) crews from Woburn Sands and Newport Pagnell were relocated here in the early 1990s
Various fire engines have been housed at Broughton over the years, traditional designs including Dodge, ERF and Volvo. Different special appliances have also been based here including an aerial appliance (hydraulic platform) that provided cover for the north of Buckinghamshire.
The present
The current station has an operational complement of 42 personnel; 28 working a wholetime shift system split into four equal watches, a Retained Duty System crew consisting of 13 staff and a Station Manager. There are three support staff, and the Milton Keynes Technical Fire Safety department is also based at the station.
The station covers varying amount of risks; the city centre, Milton Keynes Hospital, Cranfield Airport and a large number of housing estates as well as a significant section of the M1 motorway. The rescue pump is utilised outside of the station ground as back up to all other fire stations in the city, as well as the crew at Olney.
The Incident Response Unit (IRU), which contains equipment to carry out mass decontamination of members of the public, not only provides operational cover in the county, but also has a responsibility to respond to all areas of the country in times of national crisis.
Away from the operational element of the job, a major role of the modern firefighter is the prevention of all types of incident. The station personnel are heavily involved in local initiatives to reduce the number of fire deaths and injuries.
The station celebrated its 30th anniversary in the summer of 2007 by holding one of its most successful open days ever, with well over 1,000 visitors attending the site.
Incidents of note
Broughton's crew has been first on the scene at many incidents on the M1 motorway. These have included road traffic collisions where persons are trapped in their vehicles, and many chemical spills. Most recently the crew attended a major incident when a National Express coach overturned at the Newport Pagnell Service Area.
Numerous rescues have been carried out from building fires in the past year, the crew saving a number of lives on a number of the local housing estates. Broughton crews have been first in attendance at a number of major fires in industrial and shopping premises in recent times, notably MK Recycling Factory and Electrolux.
The crew were in attendance in the early stages of the scaffold collapse at Jurys Inn in Central Milton Keynes in 2006
The future
The station is in a key location as the development of the eastern flank of Milton Keynes continues and the likely increase in both industrial risk and population continues.
The ultimate aim of any station is to see the figures for all types of incidents fall, which will result in fewer deaths and injuries. To achieve this, the crews will continue to carry out Home Fire Risk Checks for the residents of Milton Keynes and surrounding towns and villages as well as maintaining and enhancing their own operational technical skills.