And we have put together a gallery of 23 pictures which show the huge changes that we have seen in how the fire service operates over the last 60 years.
For a start firefighter uniforms and safety equipment have changed beyond recognition from what they had in the 1960s.
And the equipment they use has been similarly transformed, with the fire engines now used by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service very different to those that were used all those decades ago.
And while fire crews were all male in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the 1990s saw women finally joining up as firefighters.
Take a look at the pictures below, some showing crews battling some of Sheffield’s most well known fires, others showing the faces of those who were there to fight the flames.

1. 1960s
Sheffield Fire Brigade. Equipment being prepared for hoisting to the upper floors of a building using a variety of knots for each item, August 9, 1964. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers | Sheffield Newspapers Photo: Sheffield Newspapers

2. 1970s
Station Officer Brian Fletcher pictured at the South Yorkshire Fire Brigade HQ in Division Street, Sheffield, July 16, 1979 | Sheffield Newspapers

3. Factory blaze
Firefighters battling a blaze at the JH Dickinson Ltd, cutlery manufacturers, Lowfield Cutlery Forge (corner with Sark Road), in the late 1980s. Photo: Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield

4. First woman firefighter
Claire Duke, centre, pictured in 2008, become South Yorkshire's first female firefighter in 1992.. Picture: Liz Mockler S0732LM | National World Photo: National World