Establishment and Duties of Fire Brigade.
4. On and after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six the duty of extinguishing fires and protecting life and property in case of fire shall within the metropolis be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be entrusted to the Metropolitan Board of Works; and with a view to the performance of that duty it shall be lawful for them to provide and maintain an efficient force of firemen, and to furnish them with all such fire engines, horses, accoutrements, tools, and implements as may be necessary for the complete equipment of the force, or conducive to the efficient performance of their duties.
5. The said Board, hereinafter referred to as the Board, may take on lease, purchase, or otherwise acquire stations for engines, stables, houses for firemen, and such other houses, buildings, or land as they may think requisite for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act, and may from time to time sell any property acquired by or vested in them for the purposes of this Act:
The Board may also contract with any company or persons authorized to establish the same for the establishment of telegraphic communication between the several stations in which their fire engines or firemen are placed, and between any of such stations and other parts of the metropolis.
6. On and after the said first day of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, all stations, fire-engines, fire escapes, plant, and other property belonging to or used by the fire engine establishment of the insurance companies in the metropolis shall vest in or be conveyed or assigned to the Board for all the estate and interest of the said companies therein, upon trust to be applied by the Board to the purposes of this Act, but subject to all legal liabilities and obligations attaching thereto, including the payment of all pensions that have been granted to the members of the said Fire Engine Establishment, according to a list that has been furnished to the chairman of the said Board by the chief officer of the said fire-engine establishment, and all trustees for the same shall be indemnified against such liabilities and obligations. The Board may also, if they think fit, purchase the stations, fire-engines, and plant belonging to any parish, place, or body of persons within their jurisdiction.
7. The force of firemen established under this Act, hereinafter called the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, shall be under the command of an officer, to be called the chief officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade.
The chief officer and men composing the said fire brigade shall be appointed and removed at the pleasure of the Board.
8. The Board shall pay such salaries as they think expedient to the said fire brigade. They may also make such regulations as they think fit with respect to the compensation to be made to them in case of accident, or to their wives or families in case of their death; also with respect to the pensions or allowances to be paid to them in case of retirement; also with respect to the gratuities to be paid to persons giving notices of fires; also with respect to gratuities by way of a gross sum or annual payment to be from time to time awarded to any member of the said force, or to any other person, for extraordinary services performed in cases of fire; also with respect to gratuities to turncocks belonging to waterworks from which a supply of water is quickly derived.
9. The Board may by byelaws make regulations for the training, discipline, and good conduct of the men belonging to the said fire brigade, for their speedy attendance with engines, fire escapes, and all necessary implements on the occasion of any alarm of fire, and generally for the maintenance in a due state of efficiency of the said brigade, and may annex to any breach of such regulations penalties not exceeding in amount forty shillings, but no byelaw under this section shall be of any validity unless it is made and confirmed in manner directed by the Metropolis Local Management Acts; and all the provisions of the said Acts relating to byelaws shall, with the necessary variations, apply to any byelaws made in pursuance of this Act.
10. The vestry of any parish or place in the metropolis may allow such compensation as they think just to any engine keeper or other person employed in the service of fire engines who has hitherto been paid out of any rate raiseable in such parish or place, and who is deprived of his employment by or in consequence of the passing of this Act, and any compensation so allowed shall be paid out of the rate out of which the salary of the officer so compensated was payable.