Brandstationen i Backa

The small fire kiosk at the entrance to Backa isn’t much of a fire station by today’s standards, but when the building was erected in the early 1920s, there was nothing else available. In 1923, a new fire regulation was established, which required each city to have its own fire brigade, consisting of both a paid professional corps (the first full-time firefighters) and a voluntary citizen fire brigade. In the latter, all men between the ages of 20 and 50 were to be engaged if the need arose, which can be compared to today’s civil duty as part of total defense. In rural areas, however, the requirements were not as stringent, although there were guidelines for fire safety there as well. This depended on the population size, the number of factories, and the level of fire risk. The greater the risks, the more focus there was on a preventive fire force.

In many cases, rural people were organized similarly to the city’s citizen fire brigade, and community members helped each other when a fire occurred. The fire station in Backa took the form of an outdoor toilet and was equipped with a fire pump, water pump, and everything needed to extinguish a fire. When the alarm sounded, one can only assume that people dropped everything they had in their hands to rush to the fire station and take with them whatever they needed. In the 1920s, it was still uncommon to have indoor water taps, and many would go out to the yard to fetch water from the well. This made firefighting difficult and placed significant demands on those who came to extinguish the flames.

Twenty-one years later, in 1944, an updated fire law was enacted, which imposed higher demands for a reliable fire defense. Brigades were also formed in rural areas with the task of working preventively to reduce the risk of fires. Additionally, property owners were required to acquire and maintain necessary fire and rescue equipment and take necessary measures to prevent and combat fires.