Soon after 1781, Irvine Town Council acquired a fire engine and towards the end of the 18th century the entire ground floor of the Tolbooth was altered to provide a chamber for its storage, along with three shops, an Ordinary Council Room and an office for the Town Clerk.
By 1836 Irvine had three fire engines which were pulled by hand. These may have been similar in style to the Ardrossan Burgh fire engine, held at the Heritage Centre, which took twelve men to haul it to the scene of the fire and manually operate it. In 1852 the fire engines were fitted with shafts so that they could be pulled along by horses and in 1860 the old grammar school at Kirkgatehead was turned into a fire station. Street hydrants to provide the fire engines with water were installed in 1882 and the volunteer firemen received training four times a year. The old fire engines were still being used in 1899 when the corn mill at the edge of town went on fire, outside the range of the street hydrants. As a result, people had to form a line passing buckets of water from the nearest water source to the firemen at the front, who threw the water at the building. Despite their best efforts the corn mill burnt to the ground.
In 1922 Irvine’s own fire brigade was disbanded and the fire engines and appliances were disposed of. Irvine now had to rely on the services of the fire brigade units in Kilmarnock and Ayr along with the services of the Ayrshire Dockyard Company Fire Brigade.
In January 1938, with the threat of war looming, the Auxiliary Fire Brigade was established as part of the Civil Defence Service. Shortly after the outbreak of war in 1939, Irvine Town Council appointed Malcolm S. Hume as Burgh Fire Master. He had nine years prior experience as a firemaster with the Paisley Fire Brigade. In 1940 they acquired a fire engine which had the words “Royal Burgh of … Fire Brigade” written on its side. The word Irvine was deliberately left out and it wasn’t until the end of the war that Irvine was inserted into the blank space. On 18 August 1941 the Auxiliary Fire Services were integrated into the National Fire Service. When it was disbanded in 1948, Irvine’s fire brigade, which was stationed at the Low Green, was reduced to a part-time basis. In 1966 the fire engine was replaced and continued to serve Irvine until a new fire station was opened at Pennyburn. Originally named Irvine North it was officially opened in October 1970 and renamed Irvine when the Dreghorn Fire Station was opened at South Newmoor in December 1980. On 24 November 1995 the station at Pennyburn was renamed Kilwinning Fire Station.