Did you know the first municipal fire service in the world was established in Edinburgh in 1824?

In Edinburgh at the time, the wooden buildings were very close to each other which meant if there was a fire, it spread quickly.

Some folk tried to be equipped at home by having fire buckets and if you were really wealthy you could pay an insurance company for their watchers who would sound the alarm if your building went on fire and provide a crew to put it out. However, even these teams were known to fight over the water supply!

As you can imagine, this sort of system favoured the well-off and the average person just had no chance.

On the 15th of November in 1824, Edinburgh experienced what is known as the Great Fire which famously burned for five days. As a result of this thirteen people lost their lives and many ended up with nowhere to live after their houses burned down.

This was one of the catalysts for the powers that be to set up the Edinburgh Fire Engine Establishment which was the first fire brigade in the world paid for by the city and free to the general public.

The man in charge of this new fire brigade was a 23-year-old building surveyor named James Braidwood, who is now considered the “father of the modern fire service”.

If you would like to know more about this little piece of history, follow this link: https://museumofscottishfireheritage.org/discover/it-started-here/

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