A History of the UK Fire Service

The history of the Fire Service in the UK goes back hundreds of years. While doing research for a previous blog post about the Great Fire of London, I came across an interesting fact. The first municipal fire brigade in the UK was formed in 1726 in Beverley, in East Yorkshire, near Hull.

Well, I couldn’t let that pass without delving deeper. While it may be the 300^th anniversary of the foundation of this vital emergency service in the UK, firefighting brigades have existed for much longer.

A brief history fire fighting

Since the discovery of fire, humans have also had to learn how to control and dispel flames. When humans grouped together to form larger settlements, a fire could easily wipe out an entire community.

Yes, it’s timeline time again! And this is long.

Ancient world

There is evidence of the existence of firefighters in ancient Egypt.
In the 3^rd century CE, Marcus Licinius Crassus created a private brigade of around 500 firefighters in Rome. At the first call for help, members of the brigade would rush to the scene, then watch for a bit while Crassus negotiated a price with the property owner. If no agreement was reached, they let the property burn.
Also in the 3^rd century, the invention of the force pump is attributed to Ctesibius of Alexandria.
In 60 CE, Emperor Nero established a group of firefighters called Vigiles to combat fires using buckets and water pumps drawing from local water sources.

History UK Fire Service — A hypothetical reconstruction of Ctesibius’ and Heron’s first fire pump at Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, in Athens, Greece.

The Middle Ages

A fire was often left to burn out. However, efforts by individuals may have been attempted to minimise the spread, such as pulling down the burning building with long hooks.
1426 – The Scottish Act of 1426 contained some of the first examples of preventative legislation that outlined the equipment necessary to aid firefighting.

15^th and 16^th Centuries

Again, not much was done other than attempting to minimise the spread by pulling down burning buildings using crooks and chains. Owners of large buildings sometimes stored fire buckets, as did some public buildings and churches.

The 17^th century

Following the devastation caused by the Great Fire of London in 1666, everything changed. However, efforts were made not to prevent loss of life, but to minimise damage to property.

In 1667, Nicholas Barbon established the first fire insurance company. The Fire Office employed small teams of Thames watermen as firefighters. (These were the men who operated the equivalent of a taxi service across the Thames.) Over the next century, multiple private fire brigades were established by insurance companies to protect the property of their customers.

18^th century

Fire engines were basic (more details to follow). In 1703, 12 fire masters were appointed in Edinburgh. Four years later, churches in London were required by Parliament to keep an engine and a leather pipe. No one was officially responsible for operating and maintaining the engines or fire equipment.
In 1726, the local authority in Beverley appointed and paid men to manage the local fire engine and turn out with it to fight fires.
Between 1791 and 1805, private companies operated The Fire Watch, which was a patrol of London’s streets, and private insurance companies continued to operate fire brigades, but it became an increasingly expensive endeavour.

19^th century

In 1824, after three devastating fires in Edinburgh, 6 insurance companies jointly funded the Edinburgh Fire Engine Establishment. James Braidwood was appointed Master of Fire Engines in the city and is known as the ‘Father of the British Fire Service’. He established new fire stations, designed the first protective wear and equipment that shaped the history of firefighting in the UK and the world.
1832 the amalgamation of London’s insurance brigades formed the London Fire Engine Establishment. The company also nabbed James Braidwood to come and run the service. These early firefighters were often former sailors. Following their service in the navy, they were deemed reliable and disciplined and therefore accustomed to the watch shift system. They also continued to practise awarding rations of rum to boost morale.
In 1866, London taxpayers funded the establishment of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, and by 1881, firefighting and fire rescue had been merged into the responsibility of fire brigades.

20^th century

In 1904 the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was renamed the London Fire Brigade, and until 1938, the provision of fire brigades by local authorities remained discretionary. But with the advent of war, compulsory provision was supplemented by the central government by creating the Auxiliary Fire Service. The AFS, along with local authority fire brigades, fought all fires during the Blitz (1940-1941) and on 15^th August 1941 fire fighting units were officially centralised under the National Fire Service.
After the war, the Fire Service returned to local authority control in 1948. At the time there were 135 fire brigades in England and Wales, 11 in Scotland and 4 in Northern Ireland. In 1974, many brigades were amalgamated, and there are now 61 serving the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Fighting Fires in the 18^th Century

So, the 18^th century heralded the birth of the fire service. But in the early 1700s, firefighting had barely progressed beyond using buckets and hooks.

Fire Marks

The fire brigades funded by the insurance companies fought fires on properties that their companies insured. To identify their customers, a metal plaque was fixed to the property with the symbol of the insurance company and a customer ID number to prove they were insured. Some of these marks can still be found on older buildings.

Uniforms

Each company adopted brightly coloured uniforms, primarily as a means of identification, but also to publicise the insurance company. New uniforms were provided every year at the company’s annual general meeting, and the firefighters paraded through the streets to show off their new uniforms. Firefighters later took part in other public processions, and the local fire brigade became an important element of civic life and community events.

Equipment

At the start of the century, equipment was limited to buckets, axes, fire hooks (about 8 to 15 feet long) and chains that were used to pull down the burning remains of buildings to contain the blaze.

Ladders were not originally part of the kit. In response to concerns regarding the loss of life in fires, the Fire Escape Society formed in London in 1828. The society provided wheeled ladders which were positioned around London and could be moved to the location of a fire to help people escape from burning buildings. The escapes were funded by public donations and were only put out at night. During the day they were stored in churches, so not the most effective system.

Fire Engines

One of the earliest fire engines was built in London in 1678 by John Keeling, a pump maker in Blackfriars. It was basically a large barrel on wheels with a pumping mechanism that squirted water from a metal spout in the centre of the barrel. It had a small capacity of about 6 quarts and didn’t squirt water over a great distance, so it had to be placed close to the fire. For the men pumping and those constantly refilling the barrel, it will have been hot and dangerous work. Leather pipes, the earliest from of hose, gradually came into use to help provide more targeted water delivery.

Newsham’s Fire Engine

In 1721, Richard Newsham patented a ‘new water engine for the quenching and extinguishing of fires’. This was like a water trough on wheels, but the pump featured an air vessel that created a steady jet of water. It still had to be filled using buckets and local water sources, and pumped by hand, but it could deliver up to 170 gallons per minute. Manual labour was still the only means of pumping water through leather hosepipes that could be pointed at the blaze.

In the late 19^th century, steam-powered boilers replaced manual pumping systems and the invention of vulcanised rubber improved the efficiency of fire hoses. In the early 20^th century, horses were retired from the fire service, and motorised engines were used to drive fire engines and power the pumps.