The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in
Great Britain as part of
Civil Defence Air raid precautions. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. In this job it was hampered severely by incompatibility of equipment used by these different brigades - most importantly the lack of a standard size of hydrant valve. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded in August 1941 by the
National Fire Service.
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