The strength of the brigade at present is as follows:—
| 50 | Fire-engine stations. |
| 105 | Fire-escape stations. |
| 4 | Floating stations. |
| 53 | Telegraph lines. |
| 85 | Miles of telegraph lines. |
| 3 | Floating steam fire-engines. |
| 1 | Iron barge, to carry a land steam fire-engine. |
| 5 | Large land steam fire-engines. |
| 16 | Small land steam fire-engines. |
| 15 | Seven-inch manual fire-engines. |
| 56 | Six-inch manual fire-engines. |
| 12 | Under six-inch manual fire-engines. |
| 125 | Fire-escapes. |
| 396 | Firemen, including the chief officer, the superintendents, and all ranks. |
The number of firemen employed on the several watches kept up throughout the Metropolis is at present 90 by day and 181 by night, making a total of 271 in every 24 hours; the number of those sick, injured, on leave, or under instruction, is generally between 40 and 50. The remaining men are available for general work at fires.
The number of journeys made by the fire-engines, during the year 1873, of the 50 stations, was 6,556, and the total distance run was 20,503 miles.
The number of calls for fires, or supposed fires, received during the year was 1,703. Of these, 83 were false alarms, and 1,548 were calls for fires, of which 166 resulted in serious damage, and 1,382 in slight damage.
These figures refer only to the regular calls for fires, or supposed fires, involving the turning out of firemen, fire-engines, horses and coachmen; they do not include trifling damage by fires which were not sufficiently important to require the attendance of firemen; neither do they include the ordinary calls for chimneys on fire, which are separately accounted for further on.
The fires of 1873, compared with those of 1872, show an increase of 54; but compared with the average of the last ten years there is a decrease of 17.
The proportion of serious to slight losses in 1873—166 to 1,382—is about as favourable as hitherto.
The following table gives it both in actual numbers and percentages, and shows that there was considerable success in reducing losses during the year.