Wotton Town had its own very efficient Fire Brigade. A former Fire Chief, the late Frank Ford, was fond of telling a story about the old brigade in the days when its fire tender was horse-drawn. The horse was kept in a field (by coincidence the field which was later to be used as a site for the new fire station). On one occasion when there was a particularly bad fire, the firemen who rushed to get their horse found the animal in a frisky mood and unwilling to get meekly into harness. Instead it galloped around the field, quite unconcerned that fire was raging out of control in the town. It was not a particularly glorious incident in the brigade's history, but the happy sequel was a purchase of a mechanical fire appliance and the wayward horse was 'retired'.

The Wotton Fire Brigade ~ 1928