It started here

Our origin story: It started here

Scotland is home to a Series of Firsts in firefighting history and many notable events. Take a scroll through our timeline to read about some of our highlights, and find out how the first Municipal Fire Service – in the world, started here- in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Our Journey Begins…

Sketch of James Braidwood © Museum of Scottish Heritage 2022

James Braidwood, Edinburgh’s first Fire Master

Did you know the world’s first public and local authority funded Fire Service was established in the city of Edinburgh in 1824?

James Braidwood was the City’s first Fire Master and he developed lots of new and innovative techniques to improve firefighting at the time. Braidwood was responsible for the first PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) given to firefighters in Edinburgh (a helmet with protection for the back of the neck) and ensured firefighters maintained a strict fitness regime to stay in tip top shape! Learn all about his life as Edinburgh’s first Fire Master and his lasting impact on firefighting procedures and culture.

Image in black and white showing two young boys, one perched on top of the back of the other reaching up to touch a street fire alarm, dated 1878. — **1878** Glasgow is first city in UK to install street fire alarms.

Black and white image of an early motorised fire engine parked outside of a fire station. Firefighters ae sitting on top of the vehicle. — **1878** Glasgow is first city in UK to install street fire alarms.

Timeline: A Scroll
Through History

1426 – 2022

Scottish Act of 1426

The Scottish Act of 1426 contained some of the first examples of preventative legislation issuing instructions and outlining necessary equipment to aid fire fighting.

1652 Fire destroys one third of Glasgow leaving 1,000 families homeless.

By 1670 Fire Insurance Companies operated as the main source of firefighting in the UK.

1703 Edinburgh Fire Act. Passed for the formation of a “Company for Quenching of Fire and Rules to be observed by the inhabitants.

1721 The City of Aberdeen appoints ‘watchmen’ to look out for fires. Most employed in this field also work for the Society of Shore Porters.

1762 Purchase of the First fire engine in Aberdeen, part paid for by the Sun Fire Office, recently established in the City.

1781 Heckling shop in Irvine where poet Robert Burns combed flax burns down. Soon after, the town acquired a fire engine.

1824 Edinburgh Fire Engine Establishment is formed – the first municipal fire brigade in the world.

1824 The Great Fire of Edinburgh on 15th November is the most calamitous fire the city has ever seen.

1824 James Braidwood is appointed the FIRST ‘Master of Engines in Edinburgh City.

1826 The Aberdeen Engine Committee is formed.

1878 Glasgow is first city in UK to install street fire alarms.

1904 Glasgow Fire Brigade purchased a motorised Metz 80 feet / 20.3 metres timber Turntable Ladder. The first in Britain.

1906 The first motorised fire engine in Scotland is purchased by Aberdeen Fire Brigade.

1910 Leith Fire Brigade becomes fully motorised with the purchase of 2 Halley chain driven pumps.

1914 Kilmarnock firefighters extinguish a large blaze at Robertland House in Stewarton, started by suffragettes in protest against authorities’ treatment of women’s vote champion Emmeline Pankhurst.

1915 Firefighters attend a rail crash at Quintinshill where over 200 people are killed. It is the worst rail disaster in British history.

1931 The first enclosed limousine pump was commissioned for Edinburgh.

1937 The 999 service is launched in the UK, the world’s oldest emergency call telephone service.

1938 Threat of war highlights the need for a properly trained fire service. Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) is formed to supplement the work of local brigades.

1940 HMS Sussex is bombed at Yorkhill Quay, threatening to destroy much of Glasgow. Firemen direct hose jets onto the ship to avert tragedy.

1941 The Clydeside Blitz.

1941 Local fire brigades and the AFS amalgamate to form a single National Fire Service (NFS).

1948 The Fire Services Act 1947 transfers fire brigades from the NFS to local authority control, creating 11 Scottish brigades. Under the Civil Defence Act, the AFS is reformed.

1958 BA control procedures and tallies on BA sets are introduced across the UK after two firefighters are killed at the Smithfield Market fire in London.

1960 Worst peacetime disaster for UK fire service when 14 Glasgow firefighters and five salvagemen are killed in a whisky bond explosion in Cheapside Street.

1971 Fire Precautions Act, gives power to fire services to prohibit the use of premises deemed dangerous

1972 Seven firefighters lose their lives in a warehouse fire in Kilbirnie Street, Glasgow.

1974 Firefighters working week is cut from 56 to 48 hours.

1975 Firefighters’ helmets change from black to canary yellow.

1977 Firefighters attend a massive fire at Clydeport’s Braehead depot. The blaze shatters windows in 200 homes in Renfrew.

1977 In an era of government cuts and industrial unrest, firefighters begin a nine-week national strike.

1978 Firefighter’s working week is reduced from 48 to 42 hours.

1980s

1984 Glasgow Salvage Corps disbands and their duties are taken over by the fire brigade. Their HQ building in Maitland Street becomes Strathclyde’s Brigade Training Centre.

1986 The Museum of Fire relocates to Lauriston Place in Edinburgh.

1988 Fire services are called on as Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground.

1989 Strathclyde Fire Brigade appoints its first two female wholetime firefighters.

1990s

1990s Smoke alarms gain more widespread use due to focused campaigns.

1998 Strathclyde becomes the first Scottish fire brigade to set up a Fire Investigation Section to discover causes of fatal and serious fires.

1998 Furniture and Furnishings Regulations come into effect.

2000s

2000s Prevention activity is considered mainstream activity within the fire service.

2004 Firefighters rush to the scene of an explosion and building collapse in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. Over three days, the ‘Stockline Disaster’ rescue operation is the focus of intense media attention from around the world.

2005 The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 sees Scotland’s Firemasters become Chief Officers, and Fire Brigades are now Fire and Rescue Services.

2005 Fire (Scotland) Act introduces new fire safety standards which are based on risk assessment.

2007 Firefighters are called into action at the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack. They face the threat of exploding gas cylinders to extinguish the fire and save the terminal from destruction.

2010s

2011 New state-of-the-art Clydesmill fire station opens in South Lanarkshire.

2012 The fire museum and heritage centre opens in Greenock, with a focus on Strathclyde history.

2013 On the 1st of April, the eight existing Scottish Fire and Rescue Services merge into a single Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.

2016 On 1 February the SFRS National Training Centre in South Lanarkshire becomes the site of SFRS National Headquarters.

2020s

2022 New Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage opens

2024 The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service celebrates its bicentenary.

216

age of our oldest fire appliance

25

years is the average lifespan of a fire hose

207

Home appliance fires in 2021

1567

vehicles in the SFRS Fleet

International Firefighters Day 4th May

Find out more about international firefighters day 4th may
Cheapside Street Fire, 28 March 1960

Even today this incident still ranks as the Fire Services worst peace-time disaster though the fire death toll would be exceeded in November 1968 again in Glasgow.

Our origin story: It started here

James Braidwood, Edinburgh’s first Fire Master

216

25

207

1567

International Firefighters Day 4th May

Cheapside Street Fire, 28 March 1960

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