As the shrill siren echoed along the street, everyone knew they had to clear a path for the fire engine. It bustled and roared along, red and furious, to fight the fire in a hotel. Its crew, qualified and equipped, were bursting with adrenalin, knowing that their training in the science of fighting fires would save the lives of many people in what otherwise would have been a total disaster.
As we look back at history, we see that even the Romans had fire-fighting teams, but it was a Christian called James Braidwood who would turn this brave action into a scientific skill, and thus save many lives. Braidwood, who was born in Edinburgh, would go on to pioneer the world’s first municipal fire service in the city of his birth in 1824. Only six years later, after his team had battled the Great Fire of Edinburgh, he put together a manual on how to improve the methodology of fire-fighting, using the best available practice. It was this manual which would become the blueprint for the service in Britain and the world.
In 1832 he was given the task of heading up the London Fire Engine Establishment, and would be called upon to lead the fight against the huge blaze at the Palace of Westminster shortly after. It was there that he established London’s first full-time fire brigade. A memorial near St Giles’ in Edinburgh has a text with the words, “This statue is dedicated to the memory of James Braidwood, a pioneer of the scientific approach to fire-fighting… he developed new fire-fighting techniques, many of which are still used today.” His book, which was published after he died trying to save lives in a terrible fire at Tooley St in London, was entitled Fire Prevention and Fire Extinction (1866). He was so appreciated that his funeral procession was measured at about 1.5 miles long.
James Braidwood was a dedicated Christian whose inspiration for fire-fighting came from the prophet Zechariah in the Bible, who spoke of Joshua the high priest as “a brand plucked from the fire” (Zechariah 3:1-2, NKJV). For Braidwood, God’s calling for his life was to save as many people as he could from the fires of destruction, just as he believed the gospel of Christ could save people from the fire of hell. Using his skill, he determined to develop the scientific understanding of fire-fighting to increase the success rates of the firemen. The text on his tombstone in London has a Scripture: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13, KJV). His wife Mary, equally devout, chose the words of the famous hymn about Christ for when she would be buried alongside him ten years later:
“Just as I am without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me.
And that Thou Bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.”
Braidwood, concerned with both the physical care of people and their spiritual wellbeing in this heart-breaking work, made sure that Christian chaplains from London City Mission would be appointed to come alongside those in need. This was for both the firemen, their families, and the victims of fire who have survived, as well as the grieving families who have lost loved ones.
“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them” (Psalm 111:2, KJV).
Image: James Braidwood (1800-1861): Grein at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons