This National Monument Doubles As Singapore’s Oldest Active Fire Station

Central Fire Station in Singapore is a National Monument on Hill Street – but unlike many heritage buildings, it is still doing the job it was built for more than a century ago. Yep, it may be more than a century old (it was built in 1909), but it's still an active – and the oldest surviving – fire station.

You’ve probably walked past its red-and-white facade plenty of times; I definitely have. But I only recently found out there’s actually a free gallery you can visit here – the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery.

So after walking past this place for years without knowing what was inside, I figured it was finally time to go in.

I expected a fairly straightforward history exhibit; instead, I got old-school fire engines, archival footage of historic firefighting incidents, a chance to sit inside a fire truck – and a firefighter mannequin basically stuck in an infinite NPC loop, sliding up and down a fireman’s pole.

And by the end of my visit, what stuck with me most wasn’t the novelty stuff. It was how much Singapore’s firefighting story has changed, and how quickly fire can still turn deadly.

Overview

• Official name: Central Fire Station
• Address: 62 Hill Street, Singapore 179367
• Year built: 1909
• Current use: Active SCDF fire station and Civil Defence Heritage Gallery
• Year gazetted as a National Monument: 1998
• Nearest MRT station: City Hall
• Admission: Free
• Admission details: Walk-ins are welcome, but book online if you want a guided tour
• Gallery opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, including public holidays, 10am–5pm; closed Mondays

Why Central Fire Station is worth a visit

Firstly, the building is super easy to recognise. Red brick, white plaster, bright red shutter doors, and a huge tower rising over Hill Street. But what I like most is that this isn’t one of those heritage buildings where you have to imagine what it used to do.

Behind those red doors are fire engines and rescue vehicles ready to respond to emergencies (it's giving "Autobots, roll out!"). Central Fire Station remains operational today, serving areas including the CBD and Chinatown.

Then, right beside the working station, you’ve got a public gallery showing you how Singapore went from relatively basic firefighting squads to the modern SCDF.

Before Central Fire Station, firefighting in Singapore looked very different

During the 19th century, fire outbreaks were rife in Singapore and posed a serious challenge to the British Administration. This was largely because many homes were constructed from highly flammable materials such as wood and attap, and their close clustering meant that flames could spread with alarming speed.

At the time, the town relied only on a handful of small, makeshift fire stations. Their firefighting squads were poorly trained and comprised a mix of soldiers, convicts, and volunteers.

It was not until 1888 that Singapore saw the formation of its first organised firefighting unit, the Singapore Fire Brigade, and in 1891 its first purpose-built station was erected along Cross Street. G. P. Owen, who was then Secretary of the Singapore Cricket Club, became the brigade’s founding superintendent.

In 1904, Montague W. Pett, a professional firefighter from England, succeeded Owen. Pett transformed the force from a largely untrained outfit into a modern and disciplined brigade. He also pressed for the creation of a new, fully equipped fire station to meet the needs of a growing town.

This was where Singapore’s horse-drawn fire engines gave way to motorised ones

Construction of the Central Fire Station began in 1908 at the foot of Fort Canning Hill on Hill Street, and the building was completed the following year. The station housed a fully motorised fleet of fire engines, replacing the outdated horse-drawn equipment used before. The new vehicles dramatically improved how quickly firefighters could respond to emergencies.

IMAGE: NG KAI

Inside the gallery today, you can trace that evolution through vintage appliances and equipment before reaching displays about the technology SCDF uses now. The gallery was opened in 2001 specifically to tell the story of firefighting and civil defence in Singapore.

IMAGE: NG KAI

And yes, you can climb into one of the fire engines (only the one pictured above) for a photo.

What to look out for when you visit

That “blood-and-bandage” facade

The red-and-white colour scheme isn’t just Central Fire Station being aggressively on-brand.

Designed by William Ferguson, the building’s striking red-and-white rusticated facade is a hallmark of what is often referred to as “blood-and-bandage” architecture. At the Central Fire Station, this style takes on a fitting symbolism, echoing the firefighters’ mission to protect and save lives.

IMAGE: NG KAI

Here, the “blood” is represented by the exposed red brickwork, while the “bandage” refers to the white-painted plaster layers. This architectural approach was especially popular during the Edwardian era (1901–1910).

The 34-metre lookout tower

IMAGE: NG KAI

Among the station’s most eye-catching features is its 34-metre lookout tower, once manned round-the-clock by a fireman keeping watch for outbreaks nearby. In fact, during the 1920s, it was the tallest point in Singapore.

The bright red shutter doors

IMAGE: NG KAI

These are probably the part of the building us members of the public walk past most often without thinking twice. But they’re not decorative heritage features; behind them are actual emergency vehicles waiting to be deployed.

IMAGE: NG KAI

Inside the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery

You can follow the development of Singapore’s firefighting and civil defence services, see different generations of fire engines and equipment, watch archival videos, and explore interactive exhibits.

Then there’s that mannequin. Dressed like a firefighter, it mechanically moves up and down the fireman’s pole. It is objectively a little random; it is also absolutely something I stopped to film.

But the gallery isn’t just vintage vehicles and photo opportunities.

The Bukit Ho Swee fire section hit differently

The part I spent the most time thinking about was the section on the 1961 Bukit Ho Swee fire. On 25 May that year, what began as a small fire escalated into one of Singapore’s worst blazes.

Around 40 hectares were scorched, four people died, and approximately 16,000 people lost their homes. The disaster became a major turning point in Singapore’s public housing story. Central Fire Station’s firefighters were among those involved in responding to the disaster.

IMAGES: FACEBOOK/@COLETTE FOO

Seeing that section during my visit felt especially timely. Singapore has been dealing with dry conditions and unhealthy haze since September, with NEA warning that dense smoke haze from regional fires were drifting towards the country.

Of course, the Singapore we live in today looks nothing like the densely packed wooden kampungs of 1961; most of us are living in concrete HDB blocks.

But the exhibit was still a sobering reminder that you don’t need an attap house for fire to be dangerous, because one spark in the wrong place can still turn into something serious very quickly.

Central Fire Station survived war too

With the looming threat of conflict in 1939, the British Administration established the Auxiliary Fire Service to bolster manpower and prepare for wartime emergencies such as air raids. The Central Fire Station’s iconic red-and-white façade was camouflaged in an attempt to avoid enemy detection, but the building nonetheless suffered direct hits during bombing raids.

After the fall of Singapore in 1942, most of the brigade’s European personnel were sent to Changi Prison as prisoners-of-war. The remaining members continued their duties under Victor G. Donough, who served as Superintendent during the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945).

Despite these upheavals, the Central Fire Station remained in operation after the war and continues to serve Singapore today. Over the decades, its firefighters have been at the forefront of some of the nation’s most devastating crises, from the Bukit Ho Swee fire in 1961 to the Hotel New World collapse in 1986.

Thinking of visiting the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery?

Admission is free. Give yourself around an hour if you want enough time to properly explore the exhibits rather than rush through them.

IMAGE: NG KAI

The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, including public holidays, from 10am to 5pm, and is closed on Mondays. Walk-ins are welcome. If you want a guided tour, book a slot through SCDF’s website in advance.

Wait, what makes something a National Monument?

In Singapore, National Monuments are buildings, structures or sites recognised for their national significance and value to our built heritage. They are gazetted by the Preservation of Sites and Monuments, a division of the National Heritage Board, which is why the title is reserved for places that carry especially important historical, architectural, social or cultural meaning.

As of 2026, Singapore has 77 National Monuments. Some are obvious landmarks, like the Padang, St Andrew’s Cathedral and Fort Siloso. Others are places you may have walked past without a second thought, which is exactly why this series exists.

One National Monument at a time, we’re here to uncover the stories hiding in plain sight.

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