The fire station with a watchtower, located at Poltavskyi Shliakh St, 50, is the oldest surviving fire station building in both Kharkiv and all of Ukraine.

This impressive complex of buildings, constructed in an eclectic brick style, was built in stages between 1845 and 1857. The architect was Arkady Alferov.

In addition to the fire station, which included stables and workshops, the complex also housed a police station with cells for detainees.

In fact, during the early decades, the fire department itself—as well as firefighting operations—was commanded by police officials.

The police station is still located within this complex to this day.

The first official fire departments were established in Kharkiv in 1823.

Originally, there were three fire stations—one for each of the city’s districts (equivalent to today’s neighborhoods). The third district, Zalopanskaya, was assigned Fire Station No. 3.

Here’s an interesting fact: each fire station was assigned flags and lanterns of a specific color; at Station 3, they were yellow.

Recruits who were unfit for military service were assigned to the fire department, and it was not until the 1870s that firefighters began to be hired on a voluntary basis.

In 1908, the complex underwent a renovation based on a design by architect Borys Kornienko, during which the fire station took on its modern appearance. Kornienko raised the watchtower and altered the façade, making it more intricate; parapets were added to the roof, and the architect also expanded the wing-like extensions.

The 34-meter-high watchtower, from the top of which firefighters surveyed the cityscape and spotted fires, is a prominent landmark along Poltavskyi Shliakh. This became particularly noticeable after the destruction of the Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Demetrius Church in the 1930s. 

The fire watchman relayed signals from the watchtower to the crew below using an alarm bell, whose chimes encoded the coordinates of the area where the fire had been spotted. Overall, Kharkiv’s fire watchtowers remained relevant even after the city was connected to the telephone network. For example, in 1913, there were 201 fires in the city; 99 fire alerts were received by telephone, while 102 were detected from the watchtower. Additionally, starting in 1907, separate electric fire alarm systems were installed at key locations throughout the city.

In 1923, firefighters in Kharkiv established the first fire brigade in the Soviet Union.

In 2008, the watchtower, which had been in poor, dilapidated condition, was restored (work carried out by the Kharkiv branch of the “UkrNIIproektrestavratsiya” Institute under the direction of V. Novgorodov and engineer I. Kravtsov). There were plans to build an observation deck on the watchtower, but they were never implemented.

In the early 2020s, a large museum dedicated to the history of firefighting in the Kharkiv region, featuring an extensive collection, was established on the grounds of the fire station.

The windows of the fire station, an architectural landmark, were damaged as a result of a Russian airstrike on July 2, 2025.