Central Fire Station

This was Sheffield’s Central Fire Station, the heart of the firefighting effort during the Blitz.

When the sirens sounded on 12 December 1940, crews rushed from here into the burning city. Young firefighter Doug Lightning arrived to find the station almost empty – his colleagues were already battling the inferno on The Moor.

From this base, engines set out again and again through the falling bombs, facing unimaginable danger. Firefighters worked without pause as the city centre burned around them, many risking – and sadly losing – their lives in the effort to save Sheffield.