Blackwall Fire Station was the home station of Blue Watch in London's Burning, located in south east London (though the real-life Blackwall is located north of the River Thames in the borough of Tower Hamlets). The station seen up to series 12 was a real working fire station, Dockhead, in Bermondsey on Wolseley Street, about half a mile from Tower Bridge. In series 13 Blackwall moved to new premises nearby (the real life Leyton Fire Station, which opened in 1990).
The original Blackwall was a much older station operating from 1897-2001 (Dockhead was actually first opened in 1928). It featured a recreational room (though this was rarely seen after Series 1), mess room, games room, watch room, BA room and three appliance bays which had the supports replaced in series 12. The watch were usually seen in the mess room and the kitchen. The mess room was refurbished in between Series 5 and Series 6. There were various offices and a dormitory as well as separate sleeping rooms for more senior officers. Due to its age, the station was considered cramped and antiquated, and was threatened with closure on several occasions.
In Series 13, Blackwall had moved to a brand new modern station which was a lot bigger and had more facilities, although it only had two bays (Leyton first opened in 1990 replacing a 1 bay station on the same site). It also featured a roof garden which Pitbull was in charge of. In Series 13, George and Adam drove past the old Blackwall which was now boarded up, and it was revealed that there were plans to turn it into a posh restaurant with flats on top. George, who didn't really like the idea, noted that Sicknote would be turning in his grave by now.
One episode showed an old map of the Blackwall area before it was built-over; the map showed countryside and marsh, and "The Black Wall" (perhaps a defence against high-tide flooding) running west to east across the top (north) of the map.
