0:00:23 > 0:00:26The risk of fire is ever present.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Its consequences can be devastating.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38But help has long been just a phone call away.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46The story of the British Fire Service is one of 200 years on the front line.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Firefighters have come to our rescue in Britain's darkest hours.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59I am the last surviving fireman of the Sheffield Blitz.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06They have continually strived to find more effective ways
0:01:06 > 0:01:09of fighting the flames.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Just imagine the men who'd driven through the war
0:01:12 > 0:01:13being given one of these in 1949.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18The speed of it, the power, the acceleration.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23And they've submitted themselves to the most demanding discipline and training.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28The hook ladder.
0:01:28 > 0:01:29Perfectly safe
0:01:29 > 0:01:32as long as you remembered to lean back.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37But modernisation has brought changes.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Is this really the sort of job for a girl?
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Well, I don't know until I've tried it.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Even conflict.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Scab! Scab! Scab!
0:01:48 > 0:01:53But, above all, the story of the Fire Service is of how sacrifice
0:01:53 > 0:01:56and heroism...
0:01:56 > 0:01:58If it wasn't for your father's bravery,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01I wouldn't be standing here today talking to you.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04..have forged a great British institution.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It's a breezy October day in London.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35A small fire has just broken out in a building close to the Thames.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39A fire which will soon become an inferno,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42but this isn't 1666
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and a flare-up in a baker's shop -
0:02:45 > 0:02:49it's 1834 and the Houses of Parliament.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57The fire at Westminster was rather unbelievably caused by hundreds of
0:02:57 > 0:03:02these. This is a tally stick, a form of receipt for government income.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05A wooden stick with notches on, showing the amount of money
0:03:05 > 0:03:08that had been paid into the Exchequer
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and at dawn, on the 16th of October,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15two labourers started to burn
0:03:15 > 0:03:19huge cartloads full of these sticks in the underfloor heating furnaces
0:03:19 > 0:03:22of the House of Lords.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26That, over the course of the day, caused a chimney fire and eventually
0:03:26 > 0:03:27at half past six in the evening
0:03:27 > 0:03:31a huge fireball burst out of the front of the House of Lords...
0:03:33 > 0:03:35..and lit up the London skyline.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Soon after, Superintendent James Braidwood of the newly formed
0:03:47 > 0:03:50London Fire Engine Establishment arrived on the scene.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57A 34-year-old Scotsman, Braidwood was the pioneer of modern firefighting,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00recently headhunted from Edinburgh,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04where he'd set up the world's first municipal fire service.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Braidwood was an innovator.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13His favourite trick was to drill his men in the middle of the night...
0:04:16 > 0:04:20..so that they could, by touch alone,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23find and handle their equipment.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32But no sooner had Braidwood arrived at Westminster
0:04:32 > 0:04:35than the roof of the House of Lords came crashing down...
0:04:36 > 0:04:39..with such a deafening roar that onlookers thought
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Guy Fawkes had returned.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Braidwood now faced an unprecedented challenge.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48He needed a plan of action.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51It became clear to James Braidwood
0:04:51 > 0:04:54that everything at this end of the palace was going to perish.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00So he drew an imaginary line across the palace from the river...
0:05:03 > 0:05:06..and decided that everything north of it,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and especially Westminster Hall, this great window you can see here,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15was where he was going to concentrate his efforts and those of his firefighters.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18And at nine o'clock the Chancellor of the Exchequer cried out,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21"Damn the House of Commons, let it blaze away,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23"but save, oh, save the hall!"
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Beneath its magnificent 14th-century hammer beam roof,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Westminster Hall had played host to coronation banquets,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41the marriage feasts of Henry VIII and the trial of King Charles I.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44In his bid to save the hall,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Braidwood followed a principle of his own devising -
0:05:48 > 0:05:51not to douse a blaze from a distance,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54but to venture into the heart of a building
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and attack the fire at its seat.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01And to do this, Braidwood had mustered 66 firemen
0:06:01 > 0:06:04and 14 manual fire pumps.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09This is a wooden manual fire engine pump.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11It's a typical Newsham manual engine of...
0:06:11 > 0:06:14There were various sizes. They were all made small enough
0:06:14 > 0:06:16to fit through the door of a house,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18or a church, or something like that.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20It's operated by a team of people on either side.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22You could have maybe 12 on this one,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26and people would pump this up and down and that operates the pump
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and works the water.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31And other people standing in the middle operating these treadles,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35which gives extra power to the pump and then the other person
0:06:35 > 0:06:37would use this branch pipe made of copper and
0:06:37 > 0:06:39direct this straight onto the fire.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Braidwood positioned two of his fire pumps inside the hall
0:06:49 > 0:06:51and two outside in New Palace Yard,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54where the water supply was located.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Because Westminster Hall is so gigantic,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00it wasn't possible for a single engine to get its hose
0:07:00 > 0:07:02from the outside water supply
0:07:02 > 0:07:05right down to the far end where the fire was raging
0:07:05 > 0:07:07behind the great south window.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11So the fire engines joined up their hoses in a relay to pump the water
0:07:11 > 0:07:15right down to where the firefighters were on the ledge of the window
0:07:15 > 0:07:17facing the flames coming towards them.
0:07:20 > 0:07:26The Westminster fire was now the biggest conflagration Londoners had seen since 1666.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Hundreds of thousands turned out to watch,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33applauding each large burst of flame.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Among the spectators were two of the most famous artists of the day.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42While John Constable recorded the unfolding drama close
0:07:42 > 0:07:47to Westminster Hall, in a rented boat down river,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52Joseph Turner hurriedly made sketches for two of his masterpieces.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Braidwood finally brought the fire under control just before dawn.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Both houses of Parliament had been lost,
0:08:03 > 0:08:08but Westminster Hall was saved and no deaths were reported.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Braidwood was the hero of the hour
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and yet, remarkably, he had not been duty-bound to come to the rescue.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Parliament was uninsured and Braidwood could have been
0:08:20 > 0:08:24called away at any time to deal with a fire at an insured property.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34The Westminster blaze highlighted the precarious state of fire protection at the time.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37London had no public fire service as such,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41but instead, a number of private fire brigade offices,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45set up by insurance companies following the Great Fire of London.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Each of these fire offices would have their own fire engines,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54some manual fire pumps
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and a small number of paid firefighters
0:08:57 > 0:09:02who would turn out to fires in properties that were insured
0:09:02 > 0:09:04in the name of that company.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Now, they could tell if the property was insured in their name
0:09:09 > 0:09:13because you would have a fire mark
0:09:13 > 0:09:17put up on the front of the property in a fairly prominent position.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Braidwood's London Fire Engine Establishment comprised ten of these
0:09:26 > 0:09:31private brigades, but in the years following the Westminster fire,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35increasing pressure from a rising number of call-outs spurred
0:09:35 > 0:09:41the insurance companies to demand a publicly funded fire service.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44The government ignored their appeals
0:09:44 > 0:09:48until another great blaze made everyone take notice.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53On the 22nd of June 1861,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57an urgent report came in regarding one of the huge warehouses on
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Tooley Street by the Thames, just a mile from Braidwood's station.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Packed with combustible goods, these were high-risk buildings.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Braidwood himself had recommended the use of party walls and
0:10:10 > 0:10:13iron doors to act as fire breaks -
0:10:13 > 0:10:18recommendations that were too often overlooked, or even ignored,
0:10:18 > 0:10:19as he would learn to his cost.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23As Braidwood came over London Bridge
0:10:23 > 0:10:27he'll have noticed two things which would concern him considerably.
0:10:27 > 0:10:33First of all, the tide was receding rapidly and therefore his main water
0:10:33 > 0:10:36supply was dwindling by the minute.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Secondly, he would have been concerned that
0:10:39 > 0:10:41the fire doors had been left open.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49By 6pm, the waterfront was incandescent.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52London Bridge had become impassable
0:10:52 > 0:10:56as around 30,000 spectators massed in awe of the blaze,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59but suddenly, explosions were heard.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Amongst the contents of the warehouses were 500 tonnes of saltpetre,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08one of the main ingredients of gunpowder.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13Braidwood walked from Tooley Street down a narrow alley
0:11:13 > 0:11:20towards some of his men, who were working two hose lines from the floating engines on the river.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26A section of the warehouse wall,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30measuring about 80 feet long by about 40 feet high,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33its integrity destroyed by the heat of the fire,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35was starting to bulge outwards.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41Then the wall started to collapse and Braidwood ran,
0:11:41 > 0:11:43but was then seen to pause,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47as if making sure that his men were all safe.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53The wall fell, he was engulfed in tonnes of brickwork and rubble
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and died instantly at the post of duty.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04News of Braidwood's death reached far and wide.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08"It made one very sad," noted Queen Victoria in her diary.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14His funeral a week later brought central London to a standstill.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Church bells throughout the city told a funeral peal
0:12:18 > 0:12:21as the cortege, which stretched for a mile and a half,
0:12:21 > 0:12:26made its way solemnly to Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36This grave, now rarely visited, and these words, rarely read,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39provide a memorial to a brave, unassuming man.
0:12:40 > 0:12:46James Braidwood, the founding father of the modern British Fire Service.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Following Braidwood's death,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57the insurance companies renewed their pressure on the government
0:12:57 > 0:12:59to create a public fire service
0:12:59 > 0:13:02by threatening to close down their operations.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06They said, "You can have our equipment, we'll hand it to you
0:13:06 > 0:13:08"willingly, but we've had enough of this."
0:13:08 > 0:13:11And the government took five years to consider,
0:13:11 > 0:13:18but it did result in the formation of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in 1866.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Employing 129 firemen at 41 stations across the capital,
0:13:23 > 0:13:27this body was the forerunner of the London Fire Brigade.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31With its creation came a change of emphasis.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Firefighting went from being a service duty-bound to protect property
0:13:35 > 0:13:38to one now charged with protecting life.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40This chimed with the values of discipline,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44obedience and patience that James Braidwood had sought to instil
0:13:44 > 0:13:48in his men, as well as his own sacrificial example.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53The fireman had become a symbol of Victorian heroism.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59There was a flowering of interest from print culture
0:13:59 > 0:14:04and popular authors like RM Ballantyne started writing novels
0:14:04 > 0:14:07such as this one, Fighting The Flames, published in 1867.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10This is a tale of the London Fire Brigade
0:14:10 > 0:14:16that takes the death of James Braidwood as one of its central stories and
0:14:16 > 0:14:19builds a broader narrative about
0:14:19 > 0:14:23the firefighter as an urban working-class hero.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Now it was the firemen, rather than the fires they fought, which became
0:14:29 > 0:14:32the subject for artists.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35The Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais painted The Rescue
0:14:35 > 0:14:38after witnessing the death of a fireman in action.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44Charles Vigor's 1890 painting Saved was another celebrated depiction.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Firemen may not have been drawn from the upper orders,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50but they embodied a certain ideal.
0:14:50 > 0:14:56These paintings depict the mid to late Victorian attitudes towards
0:14:56 > 0:14:59masculinity and the idea that
0:14:59 > 0:15:03in order to be a real man,
0:15:03 > 0:15:08one has to protect those who are dependents to them.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10In this case, women and children.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16As the cult of the heroic fireman grew,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20fuelled by these paintings and thrilling novels, so too
0:15:20 > 0:15:23did the merchandising possibilities for fire ephemera,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26such as toy fire engines
0:15:26 > 0:15:30and a new domestic product that began to fly off the shelves.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36This is a glass fire extinguisher grenade of the quart size.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41Its function was to be thrown, as the name suggests - grenade -
0:15:41 > 0:15:45by hand into a fire with the intention of extinguishing it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49The fact that they are quite colourful and pretty to look at
0:15:49 > 0:15:52was a sop towards the females of the family.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55If it could match the decor of the family home,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58it was far more likely to have been purchased than if it was a plain,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02ugly bottle. But these fire grenades were actually a confidence trick.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05They contained nothing more than concentrated salt water.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10So it was a pretty gullible public that took to these things.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14If domestic fire safety equipment left much to be desired,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17professional equipment was also highly variable.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24At the turn of the 20th century there were 1,600 local fire brigades
0:16:24 > 0:16:30in Britain, but firefighting apparatus was not standardised across the country.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Many provincial brigades operated with very basic equipment.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43One of the first British films ever made demonstrates this problem.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Fire!, directed in 1901 by James Williamson,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55dramatises the work of his local fire station in Hove.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02It's a telling record of just how slow and cumbersome
0:17:02 > 0:17:05the call-out to a fire still was.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20But the film also closely documents the drilled routine
0:17:20 > 0:17:22of a house fire rescue.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35There's the fireman's lift...
0:17:38 > 0:17:40..a wheeled escape ladder...
0:17:42 > 0:17:44..and the drop into a safety net.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52What the Hove firemen really wanted and needed
0:17:52 > 0:17:57were the steam fire engines regularly deployed in major cities.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06The main feature of the steam fire engine is this boiler containing
0:18:06 > 0:18:08cold water which is heated by a firebox,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11coal-fired fire in the firebox underneath.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13This was lit as the thing turned out to a fire.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16So they'd be hurtling down the street, producing steam,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19six men clinging to it and by the time it reached the scene,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22hopefully there'd be enough steam pressure to operate the pump.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25We've got a steam whistle, like a train.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28We've got a damper to help get steam up quicker.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33We've got relief valves, we've got oilers.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36The steam engine really became the main fire engine
0:18:36 > 0:18:37right into the 20th century,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40until the motor was invented and gradually pushed it out.
0:18:42 > 0:18:48In 1903 the Merryweather Company built the first petrol engine fire appliance
0:18:48 > 0:18:51and supplied it to Tottenham Fire Brigade in North London.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56By the outbreak of World War I, two other manufacturers,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Dennis and Leyland, had also entered the market.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Response times radically improved,
0:19:02 > 0:19:07but as road speeds increased, the safety of the firemen themselves,
0:19:07 > 0:19:12often kitting up as they clung onto the sides, became a serious issue.
0:19:14 > 0:19:20It wasn't until 1933, when Dennis introduced its New World model,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24that fire crews were seated inside for the very first time.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- ARCHIVE:- The last word today is an engine with a totally enclosed streamlined body,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33designed by Major Morris, chief officer of the London Fire Brigade,
0:19:33 > 0:19:34and the LCC are justly proud of it.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41The storage space for the equipment is considerably greater
0:19:41 > 0:19:44than the older type and twice as much hose can be carried.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50A powerful turbine pump is capable of delivering 800 gallons of water a minute.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55But as Europe slid ever closer to war during the 1930s,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58it wasn't just a question of having the right equipment,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00but of having the right number of fireman.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06It was the Spanish Civil War, really, and the bombing of Guernica
0:20:06 > 0:20:08that brought home to the government
0:20:08 > 0:20:13the inevitability of aerial attacks in any future conflict.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17So it was from that point onwards, really, that the government started
0:20:17 > 0:20:20to prepare the Fire Service for a wartime footing.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25To boost the number of available fireman,
0:20:25 > 0:20:32in 1938 the government created the voluntary-based Auxiliary Fire Service, or AFS.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36- ARCHIVE:- The first recruits were sent out with the job of bringing in
0:20:36 > 0:20:40more volunteers to swell the ranks of the new Auxiliary Fire Service.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Women made up a third of their number,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46employed as fire watchers and drivers,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48and to help manage the communications network.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Initially when these new recruits were imposed upon
0:20:53 > 0:20:58a professional fire brigade, they viewed them as amateurs.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03The first bombing raid changed that.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Fire! Fire!
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Between September 1940 and May 1941
0:21:13 > 0:21:17the German Luftwaffe subjected Britain to a sustained blitz,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21dropping incendiary bombs designed to spread fire rapidly
0:21:21 > 0:21:23through key cities.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29London was to endure 71 major bombing raids,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31but it was by no means alone.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Across two nights, the 12th and 15th of December 1940,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Sheffield suffered its own blitz, code-named Schmelztiegel,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41meaning Crucible.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Now aged 99,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Doug Lightning was a professional fireman
0:21:49 > 0:21:51who fought the ensuing blazes.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59I am the last surviving fireman
0:21:59 > 0:22:01of the Sheffield Blitz.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09In the first night of the Blitz, I was sat finishing my meal off
0:22:09 > 0:22:13as usual, ignoring everything, and I realised that
0:22:13 > 0:22:18the bangs that were going off were not only naval guns,
0:22:18 > 0:22:19they were bombs.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Now the roof on the old Town Hall in Sheffield was on fire.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32The German incendiary bombs were very efficient...
0:22:33 > 0:22:37..and the inspector came out and said, "Lightning," he said,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41"I'm glad you're here. I want you. I want you up that ladder."
0:22:41 > 0:22:46I was the only professional full-time man, so I went up,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50took a line of hose and straddled myself on the top
0:22:50 > 0:22:54and took my life in my hands.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03Straight away, I managed to get water onto this roof
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and I put the fire out.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11It turned out that Doug's actions had saved more than just the hall.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18Then suddenly, out of the building the Chief Constable came
0:23:18 > 0:23:23and he took me down beneath the old Town Hall.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Nobody knew this was there, by the way.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30There was a special room there, built in concrete,
0:23:30 > 0:23:36and it was the telephone centre for South Yorkshire Emergency Services.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40And he said to these people,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44"This fireman has put the fire out, so you're quite safe now."
0:23:45 > 0:23:49And I know they all cheered and they brought me a cup of tea.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54They did. You remember these daft things, don't you?
0:23:55 > 0:24:00But saving the old Town Hall was only the beginning of what would be
0:24:00 > 0:24:02a very traumatic night.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07A bomb had dropped in Queen Street
0:24:07 > 0:24:12and these out-of-town fireman that I took charge of,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15they come running to me and they said,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19"There's a fireman and he's in a doorway up there."
0:24:19 > 0:24:23I said, "I'll go and have a look at him," but
0:24:23 > 0:24:27there wasn't much to say, really, because the shrapnel had
0:24:27 > 0:24:31just chopped him into pieces, more or less.
0:24:33 > 0:24:34And, er...
0:24:36 > 0:24:38That was very sad, that was,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41because afterwards you think a lot about that kind of thing.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49In all, Doug would lose seven of his colleagues that night
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and by the end of Sheffield's Blitz,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54the bombing had claimed nearly 700 lives
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and destroyed large tracts of the city.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04It's difficult to put it all in proportion, but
0:25:04 > 0:25:09I did realise afterwards, and I've realised since, there were times
0:25:09 > 0:25:11when I was really scared.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31On the 29th of December 1940, just two weeks after Sheffield's Blitz,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33the capital took another heavy hit,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36dubbed the second Great Fire of London.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41The defining image of that raid remains this photograph of
0:25:41 > 0:25:44St Paul's Cathedral emerging unscathed from the firestorm.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49But that night and many others were also captured by a resourceful group
0:25:49 > 0:25:54of artists working as Auxiliary Fire Service volunteers.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Just as the late Victorians had promoted the image of the heroic
0:25:58 > 0:26:03firefighter, this fireman-artist committee depicted them as symbols
0:26:03 > 0:26:06of resilience and courage.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12The great thing about these paintings were that they were documentary.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16They were realistic paintings of actual situations
0:26:16 > 0:26:18experienced by that artist.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24These three paintings referred to a particular night,
0:26:24 > 0:26:28the 29th of December 1940,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33when St Paul's was in the greatest jeopardy of being destroyed by fire.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40This first one by Paul Lucien Dessau,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43the impression of movement and action is unmistakable
0:26:43 > 0:26:49as firemen strove to move a trailer pump into position
0:26:49 > 0:26:52over the rubble caused by the collapsing buildings.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54This is Fore Street in the city,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58and in the background you can see St Paul's surrounded by flame.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02The second, Leslie Carr.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Carr was renowned for detail in paintings.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12The technical details with this trailer pump with its gauges and its
0:27:12 > 0:27:16valves, etc, gives a very close representation of precisely
0:27:16 > 0:27:17the scene at the time.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21The third, by Auxiliary Fireman Haybrook,
0:27:21 > 0:27:26entitled View of The City from The West End, shows precisely
0:27:26 > 0:27:29the conditions on that fateful night.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36Firefighters tackling incendiary bombs on the roofs of buildings.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40A fireman at the head of a turntable ladder projecting a jet of water
0:27:40 > 0:27:42with St Paul's above.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The particular significance of these three paintings is that they formed
0:27:47 > 0:27:52part of a much larger display of paintings taken to America,
0:27:52 > 0:27:57along with the artists, on what was essentially a propaganda tour,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01bringing to the attention of the American public just what London
0:28:01 > 0:28:03was suffering during the Blitz.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09America would enter the war in December 1941.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13By then, more than 300 firemen and women,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16those "heroes with grimy faces" as Churchill called them,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18had perished in the Blitz.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23For the remainder of the war,
0:28:23 > 0:28:28Britain's Fire Services were run as a single national operation.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32After the war, the government returned them to local authority control,
0:28:32 > 0:28:37but the 1947 Fire Services Act brought in some important changes.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44It introduced the principle of national inspection
0:28:44 > 0:28:49to make sure that standards of firefighting were uniform across the whole country.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53It also introduced national conditions of service,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57so a national rate of pay,
0:28:57 > 0:29:02a guaranteed pension and a fixed working week.
0:29:02 > 0:29:03BELLS RING
0:29:05 > 0:29:09One of the main benefits to come from the 1947 Act
0:29:09 > 0:29:12was the introduction of better kit
0:29:12 > 0:29:17and the most prized of all was the Dennis F7 Pump Escape fire engine.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25At the Greater Manchester Fire Museum,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28curator Bob Bonner is being joined by Barry Green
0:29:28 > 0:29:33to take a spin in this shining symbol of post-war modernisation.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37BELL RINGS
0:29:46 > 0:29:49I just imagine the men who'd driven through the war in all those old
0:29:49 > 0:29:52relics being given one of these in 1949.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54- Goodness gracious. - What they must've thought.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57- They must've thought they'd landed. - They'd arrived.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58It would feel like luxury,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02and the speed of it compared to the old vehicle,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04the power, the acceleration.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11Fitted with a 5.7 litre Rolls-Royce engine, the Dennis F7 could hit
0:30:11 > 0:30:14a top speed of 60mph.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17It came complete with breathing apparatus,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20a 50-foot wheeled escape ladder
0:30:20 > 0:30:25and a pumping capacity of up to 1,000 gallons per minute.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29The F7 became the workhorse of the British Fire Service,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32remaining in use for the next 20 years.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36One of the first fire engines I rode was one of these.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Do you remember that trick where we used to follow the previous fire
0:30:39 > 0:30:41engine by looking for the water on the road?
0:30:41 > 0:30:44- Aye. They don't do that now, do they?- Well, I don't know.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46They don't seem to leak like they used to do.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49No, I don't think they do, but I found my way to many a fire
0:30:49 > 0:30:53- by following the water trail from the previous engine.- Absolutely.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00But the sounds and the smells of this and the comfort, or the discomfort,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02are all bringing it all back to me, I must say.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07- This is the classic Dennis, though, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09This was the state of the art
0:31:09 > 0:31:13and just after the Second World War, wasn't it? The Dennis F7.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16But for all this modern firefighting equipment,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19the 1947 Fire Services Act
0:31:19 > 0:31:24also made provision for crews to be deployed to non-fire related emergencies.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38On the 31st of January 1953,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42a violent storm hit the east coast of England.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47It created a tidal surge which would force 30,000 people to flee their
0:31:47 > 0:31:51homes and result in more than 300 deaths.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Responding to the disaster,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58fire brigades like the one at Great Yarmouth
0:31:58 > 0:32:01had to rely on sheer brute strength,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04stamina and individual heroism.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07My father Fred Sadd was a big strong man.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11He was well over six feet
0:32:11 > 0:32:15and he weighed nearly 18 stone.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17His hands were huge.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Do you remember the old leather footballs?
0:32:21 > 0:32:24He could pick one up with his hand that way.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34The brutal conditions on that night in January 1953 would test leading
0:32:34 > 0:32:37fireman Fred Sadd to the limit.
0:32:37 > 0:32:38With his three-man crew,
0:32:38 > 0:32:42Fred had rushed to a reported fire at prefab bungalows
0:32:42 > 0:32:45in the coastal village of Gorleston,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48only to be met with an entire street of residents
0:32:48 > 0:32:51in grave danger of drowning.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55Ordering back his men, who were all much shorter than him,
0:32:55 > 0:33:00Fred ventured out alone into the icy black floodwater.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06It must've been terrifying to be out in a storm
0:33:06 > 0:33:11and sort of up to your neck in sea water as well.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Swimming through the debris from home to home,
0:33:15 > 0:33:17pulling an old boat behind him,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20Fred ferried men, women and infants
0:33:20 > 0:33:25to the safety of a high embankment before collapsing with exhaustion.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29He hardly gave himself time to recover before wading back out,
0:33:29 > 0:33:35returning time and time again with more survivors clinging to his back.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40That night, Fred Sadd rescued 27 people.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43We were amazed at what he'd done
0:33:43 > 0:33:47because he didn't tell us what he'd done
0:33:47 > 0:33:53and we learned more from reading the newspapers than we did from him personally.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Now, 64 years to the day since that fateful night,
0:33:57 > 0:34:02Brian is returning to Gorleston to meet for the very first time
0:34:02 > 0:34:05one of the 27 people rescued by his father.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Hello, Tony. How are you getting on?
0:34:08 > 0:34:11- Hello, Brian. Pleased to meet you. - And you.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14The reason your father came to save us,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17here was a six-foot wave.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19- Six-foot wave.- Really?
0:34:19 > 0:34:23So we forced the door closed and we got wet feet and we ran upstairs and
0:34:23 > 0:34:27we hung out the window. So the Fire Brigade come and that's when
0:34:27 > 0:34:30your father turned up, stuck himself into the water
0:34:30 > 0:34:34and I was the first one. I grabbed my arms round his neck.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36Really held on tight, I did, yeah.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38I really did. He saved my life.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40- I'm really pleased to meet you now. - Pleased to meet you.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44But at the time, ten years old, you don't realise that the people,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46how good they are to save you.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50I was up there in that bedroom and I prayed to God that someone would
0:34:50 > 0:34:53come and save us and he turned up and that's the truth, that is.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55- Really?- Really the truth, yes.- Yes.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02The people next door were really big people and
0:35:02 > 0:35:04- he carried them out as well. - Really?- Yes, yeah.- Oh, right.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08I think there were six people he saved in there,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10- or seven people.- Really?- Yeah.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13And he went one by one and brought them out on his piggyback,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15on his piggyback in the water.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17- The water was up to his chest. - That must've been so cold.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21- Yeah, freezing. It was absolutely freezing.- I can't imagine.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28- Tony, I've brought something to show you.- You have?
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Oh, yes.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34He's a smart man in his uniform.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36Never seen him, never seen him.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40He just bought me out, dropped me down and went back in again.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43- There we go.- It's even got my name on there, look.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45- That's it.- Yeah. Wow!
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Yeah, this is his work sheet from the night of the floods.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50- Yes?- Yes.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Very good of him to do what he done, though.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56- Yes, that's right.- If it wasn't for your father's bravery that night,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59I wouldn't be standing here today talking to you.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05To his surprise, Fred Sadd became a post-war equivalent of
0:36:05 > 0:36:09the heroic fireman in Victorian popular culture,
0:36:09 > 0:36:11as he was put on a par with Dan Dare
0:36:11 > 0:36:14in the pages of Britain's leading comic for boys.
0:36:16 > 0:36:21This was a copy of the comic Eagle, which contained a story
0:36:21 > 0:36:23about my dad.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29Well, when we saw it, we were quite pleased and quite proud in a way.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32It's called Only The Brave
0:36:32 > 0:36:36and we thought it was done quite nicely, really.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43A picture of him carrying people from the floods.
0:36:45 > 0:36:46Him swimming away.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50And collapsing for a while afterwards.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57And then going back and rescuing one or two more.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00"You're the bravest man I know, Fred Sadd."
0:37:00 > 0:37:02"He ought to get the George Medal."
0:37:02 > 0:37:05"And sure enough, two months later, he did."
0:37:08 > 0:37:14He was very excited to learn that he'd won the George Medal.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Absolutely. And absolutely delighted, really.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Didn't show it, of course, but I knew he was.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33The heroism of firemen like Fred Sadd was an inspiration
0:37:33 > 0:37:35to a whole generation of children.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39I think the late 1950s and 1960s
0:37:39 > 0:37:42was a golden age for the Fire Service
0:37:42 > 0:37:44because it was a respectable
0:37:44 > 0:37:50career within which members of the working classes aspired to join.
0:37:53 > 0:37:59People like Bob Bonner, who signed up in 1966.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02I suppose like every boy I was absolutely fascinated
0:38:02 > 0:38:04by fire engines and firemen,
0:38:04 > 0:38:08but even more so because of my dad's connections as a wartime fireman
0:38:08 > 0:38:12and his enthusiasm that really bubbled over.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16And when it came to the possibility of it being a career,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18I started to realise that might be something for me
0:38:18 > 0:38:21and there was a cadet scheme for 16-year-old boys,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24which I was very lucky to be recruited into.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31The Fire Service of the 1960s owed much to the generation of firemen
0:38:31 > 0:38:33who had come through the war.
0:38:33 > 0:38:39Discipline, regimentation and obedience were the order of the day,
0:38:39 > 0:38:43as Ron Long found when he joined up in 1963.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48Training on stations involved a regime of drills.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55And this is one of the things that Braidwood had first introduced to
0:38:55 > 0:38:58the Fire Service - a group of men
0:38:58 > 0:38:59working in concert with each other,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01each of them knowing what his function was
0:39:01 > 0:39:03and performing it.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Sir.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13As equally important, if not more so, was the physical capabilities
0:39:13 > 0:39:15that you had to demonstrate.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17A strength test.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20'You have to wind the weights to the top in 30 seconds.'
0:39:22 > 0:39:24A lot of hose work.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Firemen's lift and carry involved picking a person up,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32getting him over your shoulders
0:39:32 > 0:39:35and covering 100 yards in less than a minute.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38They were easy tests for a young man who'd spent his life running around,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41up and down the mountains of South Wales.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46But recruits eager to get their hands on the latest appliances
0:39:46 > 0:39:48sometimes faced disappointment.
0:39:49 > 0:39:54Now, this Dennis 1940, strangely enough, has personal memories for me
0:39:54 > 0:39:57because I actually trained on this fire engine as a recruit.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01It had a long, long life and long after it should've stopped going to
0:40:01 > 0:40:05fires, it was kept on for recruits to practise on.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09The ladder was taken off and on and off and on all afternoon.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11Some days we had to push it out of the garage
0:40:11 > 0:40:13into the centre of the yard
0:40:13 > 0:40:16and then run around drilling all afternoon and push it back
0:40:16 > 0:40:18at the end of the night. But, yes,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22I know hundreds of firemen who see this for the first time and say,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24"Wow, I remember that. Trained on that."
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Part of that training, not only using ladders in the conventional
0:40:36 > 0:40:39sense of a ladder you'd prop up against a building,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41but of course the hook ladder.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46It was a ladder that was four metres long.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50You take a ladder from a companion below, hoist it above,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52stick it through a window, and by that method,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55you could progress up the outside of a building.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Looked hazardous - perfectly safe,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00as long as you remembered to lean back.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Leaning back stabilised that ladder and made sure it didn't move.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10More rigorous training and the introduction of new equipment were
0:41:10 > 0:41:14transforming the service, but these changes couldn't come fast enough.
0:41:16 > 0:41:22During the 1960s the number of house fire deaths in Britain rose steadily
0:41:22 > 0:41:26from around 400 to more than 700 per year.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30And a series of high-profile incidents raised serious questions
0:41:30 > 0:41:33about the public's awareness of fire safety
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and Britain's approach to fire prevention.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39In May 1961,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43a fire broke out at a nightclub in Bolton called The Top Storey.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48There were no fire extinguishers on the premises and the only means of
0:41:48 > 0:41:51escape were windows eight floors up.
0:41:51 > 0:41:5519 people perished.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Fire brigades were subsequently granted new powers
0:41:58 > 0:42:00to inspect clubs and issue licences.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05We have a thing in this country called stable door legislation
0:42:05 > 0:42:08whereby it takes a disaster, or a tragedy,
0:42:08 > 0:42:12to focus the authorities' minds on bringing in safety measures.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15It needs the high-profile stuff to shake people up.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17It's the way it seems to work.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21On Boxing Day 1969,
0:42:21 > 0:42:2611 people died at The Rose and Crown Hotel in Saffron Walden
0:42:26 > 0:42:29in a fire thought to have been caused by an electrical fault.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33People hanging out shouting,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35there was smoke pouring out of all the windows.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37Black smoke, you couldn't see them properly.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Just looking up and The Rose and Crown was just on fire, you know?
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Flames shooting up everywhere.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48The fire at The Rose and Crown
0:42:48 > 0:42:52was the worst hotel blaze in modern British history.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56It led directly to the Fire Precautions Act of 1971,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00which required public premises sleeping more than six people
0:43:00 > 0:43:02to be issued with a fire certificate.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11- ARCHIVE NARRATOR:- Mary lived here. Mary was born during the war...
0:43:11 > 0:43:16This new raft of fire safety legislation was reinforced
0:43:16 > 0:43:18by harrowing public information films.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22She was going to be married in the summer.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Last night...
0:43:24 > 0:43:27Mary went to bed and left the fire unguarded
0:43:27 > 0:43:29and she died in the blaze that followed.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31SIRENS
0:43:31 > 0:43:34Tonight, before you go to bed, fire guard your home.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Despite increasing prevention and precaution,
0:43:44 > 0:43:481976 saw a major crisis for which neither the public
0:43:48 > 0:43:54nor the Fire Service were prepared - another natural disaster.
0:43:54 > 0:43:59They're now trying to throw a human cordon around the houses here,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02but the situation is still by no means under control.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08The summer of '76 was the hottest since records began.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Coupled with a severe drought,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14this raised the risk of fire to an all-time high,
0:44:14 > 0:44:17with temperatures pushing 100 degrees
0:44:17 > 0:44:21and parts of southern England going without rain for 45 days.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23Fire brigades were under extreme pressure
0:44:23 > 0:44:25and appealed for volunteers.
0:44:27 > 0:44:32But a station in East Sussex was taken aback by one person
0:44:32 > 0:44:34who came offering their help.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36I knocked on the door and a firefighter,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39a fireman opened the door and I said,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42"Oh, I've come to join the Fire Service."
0:44:45 > 0:44:48I could hear in the background this phone call.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50"What?!"
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Despite this initial surprise,
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Mary Joy Langdon was quickly enlisted as Britain's first female
0:44:58 > 0:45:02firefighter and sent out to battle the blazes.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07We didn't beat them out, as I had in my head that we would.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09We used a hose.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13It was actually quite scary because I thought,
0:45:13 > 0:45:15"Gosh, it's never going to rain again."
0:45:17 > 0:45:19But regardless of the perilous state of the country,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23the press seemed more interested in the prospect of a fire girl.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28I know the age of sex equality is with us now,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31but is this really the sort of job for a girl?
0:45:31 > 0:45:32Well, I don't know until I've tried it.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36They've accepted me, so perhaps they think it is.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39There were a lot of reporters there
0:45:39 > 0:45:42and there were cameramen there.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47I mean, it was all a bit overwhelming for me.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50You know, my parents say, "It's coming on the television now"
0:45:50 > 0:45:52and I'd run out the room.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55Will they be making any concessions for your sex?
0:45:55 > 0:45:58Will you be doing all the jobs, or will there be some that you don't do?
0:45:58 > 0:46:01Well, as far as I know, there's no concessions whatsoever.
0:46:01 > 0:46:02You know, I'm just one of them.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09In the Fire Service, you work as a team,
0:46:09 > 0:46:13so there cannot be a weak link.
0:46:13 > 0:46:19You have to be able to trust every firefighter with your own life.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23So I...I feel that
0:46:23 > 0:46:26I was accepted
0:46:26 > 0:46:31on those lines because I think if they didn't think I was up to it,
0:46:31 > 0:46:37the crew at local level wouldn't have wanted to have worked with me.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42Mary Joy Langdon's acceptance into the ranks,
0:46:42 > 0:46:43and the women who followed her,
0:46:43 > 0:46:48began to change what had always been a bastion of male camaraderie.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Firemen would soon be known as firefighters,
0:46:52 > 0:46:57but this gesture of modernisation belied a crisis that was brewing in the service.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01Ten to nine this morning and out come the posters
0:47:01 > 0:47:04as the men of Lambeth Fire Headquarters prepare to march out.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09Firefighter pay had drifted away from the police.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16It had also started to drift away from the average pay of a skilled
0:47:16 > 0:47:18working-class industrial worker.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24After many years of frustration, the Fire Brigades' Union
0:47:24 > 0:47:27feels that the strike is its last resort.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Scab!
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Throughout 1977, there was growing dissatisfaction
0:47:34 > 0:47:38with the Labour government's proposals to reduce firemen's wages
0:47:38 > 0:47:40to three quarters of the average pay.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42CROWD CHANTS
0:47:42 > 0:47:45The Fire Brigades' Union demanded a 30% pay rise,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48as well as a 40-hour working week.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51But with no resolution in sight, firemen downed their hoses.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57The first-ever national firefighter strike began
0:47:57 > 0:48:02on the 14th November 1977 and continued through the harsh winter.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05But a minority refused to take part,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08creating divisions in once tightly knit teams.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12Do you realise no-one will work with you after this is over?
0:48:12 > 0:48:14So you'll be looking for a job.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17According to this, this is not the official picket line.
0:48:17 > 0:48:18It is an official picket line.
0:48:18 > 0:48:23There were certain people, including myself, that weren't for the strike,
0:48:23 > 0:48:28that believed that we were in an emergency service
0:48:28 > 0:48:33and our duty was to respond to emergency calls.
0:48:33 > 0:48:34Peaceful picket line.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37I'll have to see what's going on because I don't know.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43I remember having to go up to the station on a few occasions
0:48:43 > 0:48:48where there was a picket with firefighters there
0:48:48 > 0:48:51and then taking a fire appliance out.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55They'd be standing there with the placards
0:48:55 > 0:48:59and as you went into the station they would be shouting abuse at you.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03Scab! Scab! Scab!
0:49:03 > 0:49:07More than 20,000 troops were brought in as emergency cover,
0:49:07 > 0:49:12with a fleet of 850 former Auxiliary Fire Service engines,
0:49:12 > 0:49:14the famous Green Goddesses.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17There was ardent opposition in the media,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20with some newspapers warning firemen
0:49:20 > 0:49:22that any shred of public sympathy
0:49:22 > 0:49:25would soon go up in smoke.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28I was a station officer at the time, so I came out with my men,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31if you like. I worked at a fire station over in Bolton
0:49:31 > 0:49:34and the thing that surprised me was that the public support was there
0:49:34 > 0:49:37all the time and people were signing petitions.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40We were out over Christmas,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43people were giving us turkey and stuff like that.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Firemen were obviously on picket duties outside fire stations.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Very uncharacteristic, very uncomfortable place to be,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52but the public seemed to stay behind us all the way.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Every single fireman that you see here,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57every fireman on this station is stood outside here now.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01That's how solid we are in this action we're taking. 100%.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05The strike was settled early in 1978.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08In all, it had lasted nine weeks.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14It was quite a bad time, really, but it did lead as a result of that
0:50:14 > 0:50:17to a very successful pay and hours package,
0:50:17 > 0:50:20which meant industrial stability for a long time in the Fire Service.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27The 1980s saw a new generation of firefighters embracing
0:50:27 > 0:50:32the biggest advances in equipment since the post-war years.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Hook ladders and wheeled escapes were phased out.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39In their place, trainees got to grips with new technology,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42such as thermal imaging cameras and hydraulic cutters,
0:50:42 > 0:50:45nicknamed the Jaws of Life.
0:50:52 > 0:50:57As well as new kit came a more scientific approach to training.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00For some recruits it felt like going back to school.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05I was quite surprised, thinking that I was going to be spending
0:51:05 > 0:51:07most of my time out on the training yard training
0:51:07 > 0:51:10and then all the classroom stuff started, which I had no idea about,
0:51:10 > 0:51:14but you began to do chemistry, which I'd done at school.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Fire science, hydraulics, which is about moving bodies of water about.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21You had to learn about all of the equipment,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25and not only how to use the equipment, how the equipment was made. So I was quite surprised.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27ALARM BEEPS
0:51:27 > 0:51:30The public were also becoming more fire-aware
0:51:30 > 0:51:33as new preventative measures were ushered in.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39Fire experts today launched a campaign aimed at cutting down
0:51:39 > 0:51:40on fire risks in the home.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44They're urging householders to install smoke detectors.
0:51:45 > 0:51:50The main drivers really were the furniture regulations which came in,
0:51:50 > 0:51:53and of course the increase in domestic smoke alarms.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57And those two factors together had brought domestic fires right down
0:51:57 > 0:51:59and thankfully with them casualties.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04But while call-outs to homes declined,
0:52:04 > 0:52:09the mid-'80s were marked by a series of shocking, large-scale incidents.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11It's now well over 24 hours
0:52:11 > 0:52:14since the worst tragedy in English football.
0:52:16 > 0:52:17In May 1985,
0:52:17 > 0:52:2256 fans died when the main stand at Bradford City Football Club
0:52:22 > 0:52:24was consumed by fire.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29Just three months later,
0:52:29 > 0:52:3455 people perished when a British Airtours passenger plane caught fire
0:52:34 > 0:52:36on the runway at Manchester Airport.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44And in November 1987 came a disaster which would have a lasting effect
0:52:44 > 0:52:47on the operation of the Fire Service itself.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52On the surface the fire would've been a minor affair,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55but below ground, in the labyrinth of tunnels and shafts
0:52:55 > 0:52:58where five of London's Underground railway routes coincide,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01a disaster was being kindled.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Beneath the wooden Piccadilly line escalator at King's Cross station
0:53:04 > 0:53:07lay half a tonne of waste.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11When ignited, possibly by a discarded match,
0:53:11 > 0:53:16it took less than 20 minutes to turn the Underground ticket hall into
0:53:16 > 0:53:18a 600-degree inferno.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23Firefighters arriving on the scene found the water from their hoses
0:53:23 > 0:53:26turning to steam before it even reached the flames,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29and the very nature of the location
0:53:29 > 0:53:33presented an almost insurmountable challenge.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36Horrendous. One of the worst fires I've been to for many years.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Any fire underground is horrendous to a firefighter.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44There is no ventilation, we need to take our own lighting down there,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47we're working in very hot, difficult conditions.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50We have to do everything with breathing apparatus on.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55People who had not moved fast enough were felled as the hot air hit their
0:53:55 > 0:53:58lungs and firemen began to emerge with their bodies.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03That night, 31 people lost their lives,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06including one of the first firemen on the scene,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09Station Officer Colin Townsley,
0:54:09 > 0:54:12who was found close to the body of a woman he had stopped to help.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18The reality of what firefighting was came home that night.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25The week after the King's Cross fire
0:54:25 > 0:54:29we came in off duty for the funeral of Colin Townsley.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35Firefighters' funerals are always well attended by other firefighters,
0:54:35 > 0:54:38but this had been a real big media event and probably the biggest funeral
0:54:38 > 0:54:43that London Fire Brigade had seen since Braidwood in 1861.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Following the King's Cross tragedy,
0:54:49 > 0:54:53the equipment issued to firefighters nationwide was overhauled.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58When I first joined the job,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02we were still wearing the fire kit that people had worn for decades before that.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05That gave you no fire protection at all, you know?
0:55:05 > 0:55:08I've got scars on my arms from an ember going down my sleeve early on
0:55:08 > 0:55:11in my career and as a result of King's Cross,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14a programme to update firefighters' equipment was brought forwards.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21Firefighters were provided with new fire-resistant coats and leggings,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24giving them substantially increased body protection.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31What really made the difference is when you've got a big fire, an event
0:55:31 > 0:55:34in a fire where you had a massive expansion of fire
0:55:34 > 0:55:36where previously the firefighters would have been badly burnt,
0:55:36 > 0:55:40they had a lot more thermal protection from that equipment...
0:55:41 > 0:55:43..than we had previously, for generations.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49In nearly 30 years since King's Cross,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53over 50 British firefighters have died on active duty.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58However, no subsequent fire on mainland Britain has claimed civilian lives
0:55:58 > 0:56:00on such a devastating scale.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10Today, there are over 50 regional fire services,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13responding to nearly 2,000 call-outs a day.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19Increasingly, fewer of these are to actual fires.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Recognising this in 2004,
0:56:22 > 0:56:27the Fire Brigade was officially renamed the Fire and Rescue Service.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34That word "rescue" that really underlines the work
0:56:34 > 0:56:37that the modern professional firefighter does today.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40They respond to road traffic accidents.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43They respond to floods.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47They provide first responses to terrorist attacks,
0:56:47 > 0:56:48like the 7/7 bombings.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53They save lives to the point that they are often seen
0:56:53 > 0:56:57as an humanitarian emergency service by many people today.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03My generation of firefighters have been quite privileged
0:57:03 > 0:57:06because we're the living link between the way it was
0:57:06 > 0:57:08in the old days. It was still really busy,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11there were still loads of fires and we've been privileged that we were
0:57:11 > 0:57:15the generation who really have turned that Fire Brigade
0:57:15 > 0:57:17into the modern Fire and Rescue Service.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23150 years after his death,
0:57:23 > 0:57:27the pioneering James Braidwood might be bewildered by the range of
0:57:27 > 0:57:30services firefighters perform,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33and the state-of-the-art equipment they use,
0:57:33 > 0:57:38but he would surely still recognise the values that he sought to instil
0:57:38 > 0:57:39in his own colleagues.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43The thing about the Fire Service,
0:57:43 > 0:57:45it's a team job and you feed off each other.
0:57:45 > 0:57:50You've got to rise above the emotional aspect of it,
0:57:50 > 0:57:54but it's still there, you're not hardened to it,
0:57:54 > 0:57:59you're not unfeeling, but you have to be able to be professional about it and being a member of
0:57:59 > 0:58:02a team really helped that.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Given the opportunity, I would, you know, definitely do it again.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12I have been responsible for saving people's lives...
0:58:13 > 0:58:15..which is a big privilege.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20SIREN WAILS