Station went operational on Friday March the 7th 1969 and was Officially Opened on Friday 21st March 1969.

Livingston had an ex AFS Foam Carrier a Bedford SL 4x2 which was withdrawn around 1976/77

Second pump was put 'on-the-run' on the 7th December, 1998

In the Integrated Risk Management Plan 2005/2010 the second pump is to become Retained crewed. (May 2006)

Both pumps wholetime day shift Mon - Fri and one wholtime and one retained rest of time. 2/4/2008.

By August 2011 the FIU and DIM vehicles were based at Livingston in their own accommodation separate from the main Fire Station. There are sixteen officers crewing these vehicles, four per shift.

May 2024 The Fire Investigation Unit has moved from Livingston Fire Station to the ARC at Newbridge.

Livingston had a call sign of 55 in Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, this was changed to L02, the new National Call Sign on 3/5/2017.

Establishment 2008

New fire station ready for action

LIVINGSTON’S £100,000 fire station will become operational on Friday, the “Post” learned this week.
With a permanent crew under Station Master Mr T. Jordan on 24-hours duty, the fire appliance will be on call to deal with any outbreaks of fire in the New Town.
The station has one innovation, a telephone at the main doors enabling anyone to make an emergency call if the tender is out at a fire.

THE REASON

A spokesman for the South Eastern Area Fire Brigade said: “Often when a fire station is as centrally situated as the one in Livingston people go direct to the station for help. This is why we have installed this telephone.
“If the fire tender is out on duty then the person simply dials 999 and will he connected through the exchange to Bathgate and a tender will he sent out immediately."
(Livingston Post, Thursday, March 6, 1969. Page 6.)

Livingston 

FIRE STATION – The new £100,000 fire station will swing into action today. Mr T Jordan is the Station Master and his crews will soon be on call round the clock to deal with any outbreaks in the Livingston area. A telephone will be placed at the doors of the station to enable members of the public to phone for assistance if the appliance is at another fire.
(West Lothian Courier, Friday, March 7, 1969 Page 11)

FIRE STATION OPENING

The Craigshill Fire Station is to be officially opened tomorrow (Friday) by Mr Tam Dalyell, Member of Parliament for West Lothian.
The Fire Station has been fully operational for a couple of weeks now, but the official opening had been delayed.
Present at the opening ceremony will be members and officials of the South Eastern Fire Area Joint Committee, the body responsible for providing Livingston with it’s first Fire Station.
(Livingston Post, Thursday, March 20, 1969. Page 1.)

FIRE STATION OPENED

‘A positive incentive for the New Town to grow and attract further industry’
BY BILL GREIG

“FIREMEN belong to a profession just the same as the police,” said Mr Tam Dalyell, Member of Parliament for West Lothian, when he officially opened Livingston’s new £80,000 fire station on Friday.
Mr Dalyell said he was surprised to discover the skill required by a fireman in carrying out his job.
The provision of proper services was important if new industry was to be attracted to a town like Livingston, he commented.
“One of the important things for a successful new town is that the ancillary services should be up to scratch.
“The proper provision of schools, housing, medical and fire services is something that is going to bring industry to Livingston.
“I am quite certain that this new fire station is not only an important thing for the people of Livingston but a positive incentive for the New Town to grow and attract further industry.”

“A NECESSITY”

Mr Dalyell also praised the work being carried out by the South Eastern Fire Area Joint Committee in the field of teaching junior firemen.
Councillor Richard Wilson, chairman of the Joint Fire Committee, said that it had been six years since the firemaster had first submitted a report to the Joint Committee about the provision of a fire station for Livingston.
It was stated that a fire station was a necessity and the committee were very far-sighted in having the station opened when the population of Livingston was reaching the 10,000 mark.

PRESENTATION

One lighter moment in the occasion was after Mr Dalyell officially declared the station open and was presented with a pen and ink stand with a model fire engine on top.
Mr Dalyell took great interest in the escalator ladder and quipped that when he took it home he was sure that one of his children would become a recruit for the fire service.
A similar memento was presented to the Rev. James Maitland, D.D., who dedicated the new station.
Bailie William Simpson-Bell thanked Mr Wilson for the work he had carried out in getting the fire station project started and completed.
<PHOTO> Mr Dalyell (left), the Chief Firemaster, and Counclilor Wilson admire the desk set gifted to the M.P.
<PHOTO> Firemen give a rescue display after the opening on Friday of the new station.
(Livingston Post, Thursday, March 27, 1969. Page 6.)

LIVINGSTON FIRE STATION

Most prominent building in town

The most prominent feature in Livingston is the 70 foot high tower of the new fire station in Craigshill which was officially opened on Friday by Mr Tam Dalyell, M.P.
Because of the prominence of the building, great care was taken in its design. This included discussions with the appointed architects and Livingston Development Corporation architects.
It was agreed that a low single-storey Station was what was required on the site. The tower was also a topic for consideration as it was likely to be the highest structure in that part of the New Town.
It would not have been practical to minimise the height of the tower so it was decided to slim down the structure, colour it white and add vertical ribbing to the concrete walls.
The projecting balconies wrap round the structure with timber frames added as a training aid.
The result is a practical building that fits in with the modern surroundings of Livingston.
The layout of the Station follows the basic principles resolved for previous stations. On one side of the three bay appliance room there are the stores and workshop, and into the other side opens the muster bay. Directly off the muster bay lies the dormitory and a short corridor to the right leads to the Officers’ Rooms, watch room, and main entrance hall.
The kitchen is at this end of the building and the mess room and study open off the entrance. A corridor to the left, off the muster bay leads to the leading fireman’s room, the lecture room, rest room and lockers.
The service area at the east is arranged in a logical progression of rooms to permit a straightforward walk-through for the men on their return from a fire, when they would after cleaning and servicing the machine, enter the scrub area and then progress through the drying room, showers and toilets to the lockers and back into the body of the station.
Adjacent to the oil-fired boiler house at the east end of the building there is a smoke chamber, from which an underground tunnel leads out into the yard. This is for training in the use of breathing apparatus in dense smoke, which can be exhausted through a duct up to the top of the tower.
The Station Officer’s house is provided at the end of the site.
The colours of the Station are generally black and white, in keeping with the Development Corporation’s policy. The exception is the honey coloured fascia panels, moulded from a through coloured acrylic sheet. These are securely fastened to the roof structure by concealed metal fixings and should prove durable and maintenance free.
The question of maintenance was one that was in the forefront of the building’s design. Therefore, to stand up to the wear and tear of duty, the fittings are all designed to be strong and still remain attractive.
The appliance bay doors are of varnished teak partially glazed and open upwards, those at the front being electrically operated either from the doors themselves or from the central console unit in the watch room.
A specially designed sequence of electrical switches and locks have been provided to lock the Station should all the personnel be called out at once, even if some doors have been left standing open.
In the event of someone coming to the station when all crews are away, there is a glazed running call telephone box adjacent to the entrance with a direct line to the emergency services.
The Station is capable of extension to five bays if necessary.
The view from the Station over the New Town is pleasing, but, more important is that it is a building that blends in with the surroundings and is a fine architectural addition to Livingston.
(Livingston Post, Thursday, March 27, 1969. Page 9.)

Firemen complain about conditions 

Complaints by firemen at Livingston new town, West Lothian, which is the only station in Scotland where men work shifts of 24 on and 24 hours off, are to be investigated by a sub-committee of the South East Fire Area Joint Committee.
A letter signed by 12 of the 15 Livingston firemen read at yesterday’s meeting of the committee in Edinburgh said the men were “very discontented and annoyed at the present conditions” of work and pay.
It claimed that they had agreed to accept the “ridiculous situation” of working a 72-hour week “grudgingly,” and had done so more or less without complaint until January when a bonus system for firemen working a 56-hour week had been introduced, to which they were not entitled.
They urged the committee to put them on a 56-hour week, pointing out they had been working “this abortion of a duty system” for the past 15 months.
Mr James Anderson, Firemaster of the South Eastern Fire Brigade, said the present system was for a trial period of two years because of the small number of fires in the new town and the low risk.
He agreed that the men working long hours were now worse off than those on the 56-hour week, but this was due to the fact that a new long duty allowance was still in the course of being negotiated by the National Joint Council.
It was agreed to ask the N.J.C. about the delay in making the new long duty payments
(The Glasgow Herald Wednesday, June 24, 1970 Page 11f)

RISE FOR FIREMEN 

The extra duty allowance paid to firemen at Livingston is to be raised by £110 a year, the increase backdated to January 1, it was agreed at the meeting in Edinburgh yesterday of the South Eastern Fire Area Joint Committee.
This will remove an anomaly in wages agreements under which firemen at Livingston, working 72 hours a week, were paid less than firemen elsewhere, working 56 hours a week. The Livingston men will change to a 56-hour week on January 1.
(The Glasgow Herald, Wednesday, July 29, 1970. Page 7d)

551 is wholetime 4 watches of 7, 24 hours a day
552 is crewed Mon-Fri 8am-5pm by a day shift duty crew of 6
552 is crewed 5pm-8am Mon-Fri and all weekend by RDS crew of 13 (2 Crew managers 11 FF) of the 13, 5 are wholetime and 1 is Edinburgh Airport Fire Service
In the first month 552 as an RDS appliance was mobilised 16 times.
At night and weekends the PDA changes and 551 mobilises to all one pump attendances and are backed up by 552 or 601 who cover Dedridge and Murieston and 591 who backs them up to Uphall. This has the knock on effect that 552 RDS have a smaller than expected amount of turnouts.

If you know of any mistakes in this or have any additional information please let me know.