James Braidwood Statue

Known as the ‘Father of Firefighting’, James Braidwood, at the age of 24, founded the world’s first municipal fire service in Edinburgh in 1824. He later went on to become the first director of the London Fire Engine Establishment – later the London Fire Brigade. He was distinguished for his heroism during the great fires in Edinburgh in 1824 and London in 1830. He was killed while fighting the Tooley Street fire in London, in 1861.