The show was memorable for its theme tune - "Hi Ho Silver" by Scottish singer Jim Diamond, which became a UK top ten hit single in 1986.
Realising that he must act quickly, he goes into the house without breathing apparatus and rescues the child, but he is severely injured by inhaling toxic smoke.
He attempts to prove that he can still make it, but he is declared unfit for duty after collapsing during a practice simulation because his lungs have been permanently damaged, and he is forced to leave the fire service.
The comedic element usually comes from Harry's frequent minor misfortunes or his best laid plans going awry in unexpected and sometimes farcical ways - with Ken usually having to come to his rescue and sort out the mess.
On Ken's behalf, and without his knowledge, Harry places a box-number advertisement in a newspaper stating: "Ex-fireman seeks interesting work.
Other regular characters were played by Rachel Davies (Doreen Evans), Julie Graham (Moira Connolly), Lesley-Anne Sharpe (Debbie Yates), Amanda Burton (Margaret Daly), Elizabeth Carling (Laura Marsh), Brigit Forsyth (Helen Yeldham), Saskia Wickham (Alex Wilton), Joan Scott (Ethel Ellard) and Gordon Warnecke (Hanif Kurtha).
The show's writers included Geoff McQueen, Kevin McNally, Bernard Strother, Anthony Minghella, Tony McHale, Kieran Prendiville and Veronica Henry.
Rather than promote the show's overall premise, the titles were used as a thematic device to help establish the settings and plotlines for each series, chronicling a narrative progression through Ken's life as he moves onto new locations and business ventures.
However, the titles do follow one central interlinking theme of Ken imagining himself as a Lone Ranger type hero riding to the rescue on his trusty motorbike 'White Lighting', which helps undescrore the meanings behind the lyrics of the series theme tune "Hi Ho Silver" by Jim Diamond, which in turn evokes aspects of Ken's character where his core drive is to help others in need and assist in solving their problems.
Inside he finds a vintage large format camera, he soon imagines himself as a Lone Ranger type character in a Wild West setting wandering into a saloon, where he meets Margaret and Harry.
Harry is standing by a TV shop watching clips from a Western and previous Boon title sequences, and is stunned when he sees the apparition rush by him.
In the theatre, he finds a number of doppelgangers of himself in the audience staring at him; the film starts and it contains clips from opening titles and significant moments from the previous six series, before his soul rides past him on 'White Lighting' and hurtles through the pews.
Although never explicitly mentioned by the show's creators, Boon shared many conceptual similarities with contemporary ITV drama series Minder - both being set in a gritty working class city (Birmingham/London), both centering around the relationship between a 'heavy' (Ken Boon/Terry McCann) and a businessman (Harry Crawford/Arthur Daley) - although one key difference being that neither Ken or Harry's activities are illegal - unlike those depicted in Minder.
Both shows delved into the criminal underworld whilst exploring moral issues in the sub-plots, at the same time blending it with a certain amount of comedic relief.