Fire prevention and fire extinction

by James Braidwood

"Although so fully occupied, he never refused advice on professional matters to all who sought it. The various dock companies, public institutions, country fire brigades, private firms, &c., benefited largely by his experience. The numerous inquiries from foreign countries and the colonies with regard to the best means of extinguishing fires, also made great inroads on his time. In 1833 he became an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, to which, in 1844, he contributed a valuable paper 'On the means of rendering large supplies of Water available in case of Fire, &c.,' for which he was awarded a Telford Medal; and in 1849 a second paper 'On Fire-Proof Buildings.' In 1856, a paper on 'Fires: the best means of preventing and arresting them; with a few words on Fire-Proof Structures,' was read by him before the Society of Arts.

"He took great interest in the passing of Acts of Parliament for regulating buildings in the metropolis, was consulted by the framers of these Acts, and used his utmost influence to prevent the endangering a whole neighbourhood by the erection of monster warehouses for private profit. He strongly contended for the principle of dividing buildings by party-walls carried through the roof, and restricting these divisions to a moderate cubic content. Writing to Lord Seymour, Commissioner of Woods and Forests, on the 28th June, 1851, he said 'that no preparations for contending with such fires will give anything like the security that judicious arrangements in the size and construction of buildings will do.' The wise provisions introduced through his instrumentality into these Acts of Parliament were continually being evaded, and clusters of warehouses quickly rose which he saw would, if on fire, defy all his means of extinction. In a letter to Sir W. Molesworth, First Commissioner of Public Works, dated 10th February, 1854, on the subject of a proposed warehouse in Tooley-street, he wrote 'The whole building, if once fairly on fire in one floor, will become such a mass of fire that there is now no power in London capable of extinguishing it, or even of restraining its ravages on every side, and on three sides it will be surrounded by property of immense value.' How literally this was realized, and at what cost, was shown by the great warehouse fire in Tooley-street, on the 22nd June, 1861, at which Mr. Braidwood lost his life."

The great fire at Cotton's Wharf; Tooley-street, broke out on Saturday, June 22nd, 1861, and continued to burn for more than a fortnight, consuming Scovell's, and other large warehouses, and, in all, upwards of two millions' worth of property. The fire is believed to have originated in the spontaneous combustion of hemp, of which upwards of 1000 tons were consumed, together with 3000 tons of sugar, 500 tons of saltpetre, nearly 5000 tons of rice, 18,000 bales of cotton, 10,000 casks of tallow, 1100 tons of jute, and an immense quantity of tea, spices, &c., besides many other descriptions of goods. Although discovered in broad daylight, and before the flames had made any considerable headway, the want of a ready supply of water, and the fact that the iron doors in the division walls between the several warehouses had been left open, taken in connexion with the extremely combustible nature of the materials, soon rendered hopeless all chance of saving the buildings and property. Mr. Braidwood was upon the spot very soon after the alarm had been given, and nearly the whole available force of the Fire-engine Establishment was summoned at his command. He appears to have at once foreseen that the fire would be one of no ordinary magnitude, and that the utmost that could be done would be to prevent its extending widely over adjoining property. The floating fire-engines had been got to bear upon the flames, and the men in charge of the branch pipes were, after two hours' work, already suffering greatly from the intense heat, when their chief went to them to give them a word of encouragement. Several minor explosions, as of casks of tallow or of oil, had been heard, but as it was understood that the saltpetre stored at the wharf was in buildings not yet alight, no alarm was then felt as to the walls falling in. At the moment, however, while Mr. Braidwood was discharging this his last act of kindness to his men, a loud report was heard, and the lofty wall behind him toppled and fell, burying him in the ruins. Those of his men who were near him had barely time to escape, and one person at his side, not a fireman, was overwhelmed with him. From the moment when the wall was seen to fall, it was known that whoever was beneath it had been instantly crushed to death. It is needless, and it would, indeed, be out of place, to describe here the further progress of the fire, which had then but fairly begun, and which was still burning more than a fortnight afterwards.

Great as was the general consternation at so terrible a conflagration, it is doubtful if the public were not still more impressed by the dreadful death of Mr. Braidwood, and by a feeling that his loss was a public misfortune. Her Majesty the Queen, with that ready sympathy which she has ever shown for crushed or suffering heroism, commanded the Earl of Stamford to inquire on the spot, on Monday, whether the body had yet been recovered by the firemen, and Her Majesty's sympathies were also conveyed to Mrs. Braidwood. It was not, however, until the following morning, that after almost constant exertions, under the greatest difficulties, the crushed remains were rescued. An inquest was necessary, not merely to ascertain what was already well known, that death had been instantly caused by accident, but to know whether culpable carelessness of any kind had indirectly led to the sorrowful event. None, however, appeared. The remains of the fallen chief were afterwards borne to his late residence in Watling-street. The members of the committee of the London Fire-engine Establishment, formed of representatives from all of the twenty-five insurance companies of London, had already met to express, by a formal resolution, their sincere condolence with Mrs. Braidwood and her family. It was known that the funeral would take place on Saturday, June 29th, and it was widely felt that a general expression of sorrow and respect should be made, in view of the common loss of so valued a public servant, as well as for the noble qualities for which he had been so long and so well known. On the occasion of the funeral this was shown not more by the great length and marked character of the cortége itself than by the general suspension of business in the leading thoroughfares of the city through which it passed, and by the hushed demeanour of the countless multitude who pressed closely upon the procession throughout its entire course. Among the thousands who sadly led the way to the grave were the London Rifle Brigade, about 700 strong (and of which Mr. Braidwood's three sons were members), the Seventh Tower-Hamlets, and other rifle corps, upwards of 1000 constables of the metropolitan police force, besides nearly 400 members of the city police, the superintendents and men of the various water companies, the secretary and conductors and the band of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, a large number of private and local fire-brigades, and the members of the London Fire-engine Establishment. The pall-bearers were six of Mr. Braidwood's engineers and foremen, some of whom were at his side when he fell, and who had barely escaped with their own lives. Following the chief mourners were the Duke of Sutherland, the Earl of Caithness, the Rev. Dr. Cumming, and a large number of relatives and friends of the deceased, and the committee of the London Fire-engine establishment. The procession was nearly one mile and a-half in length, and was about three hours in its progress from Watling-street to Abney Park Cemetery, where the solemn service of the dead was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Cumming, of whose congregation the deceased had long been a member. With the exception of the great bell of St. Paul's, which tolls only on the occasion of the death of a member of the royal family or of a lord-mayor in office, the bells of all the churches in the city were booming slowly through the day, and so evident was the general sorrow that it could be truly said that the heart of the nation mourned.

On Thursday, July 4th, a public meeting was held at the Mansion House, when resolutions were passed for the collection of subscriptions towards a memorial to Mr. Braidwood's long and arduous public services. This memorial, it was felt, should take the form of a permanent provision for his family, for the post of Fire Brigade Superintendent had never been a lucrative one. Before, however, the collection of subscriptions had extended beyond a few hundred pounds, it was made known that the insurance companies had promptly settled upon Mrs. Braidwood the full "value"—speaking in an insurable sense—of her husband's life. Mr. Braidwood had for many years supported two maiden sisters, and the public subscription was applied, therefore, to the purchase of small annuities for each of them.

It will be remembered that the London Fire-engine Establishment was from the first controlled only by the insurance companies, upon whom of course, fell the whole cost of its maintenance. Their interest in the suppression of fires, although direct and unmistakeable, was not the same as that of the public. Thus, it would be to the public advantage that no fires should happen, whereas such a result would be fatal to the insurance companies, since no one in that case would insure. Although the protection of the Establishment was in practice extended alike to both insured and uninsured property, the real object for which it was formed and maintained was undoubtedly that of protecting insured property only. It was the interest of the companies to incur as little expense as would, on the whole, fairly effect this purpose, and it was not their interest to effectually protect the whole of the metropolis from fire. Thus it was that, with all the excellence of the organization and discipline of the Fire-engine Establishment, it was greatly inferior in extent to what was requisite for the proper security of the first city in the world. Mr. Braidwood had long felt this truth, but, acting for a private association, he could only go to the extent of the limited resources at his disposal. It was, more than anything else, the great fire at Cotton's Wharf that first directed public attention to the necessary insufficiency of any private establishment for the general suppression of fires, and that has led to the legislation under which the Fire-engine Establishment was, on the 1st of January last, taken over and extended by the Metropolitan Board of Works. London will now, it is hoped, be better protected from fire, because of the increased extent of the means of protection; but it can hardly be expected that the discipline of the brigade will be improved.

Apart from the public value of Mr. Braidwood's career in increasing the common security against a common foe, there was much in his personal, intellectual, and moral qualities worthy of admiration. He was a man of strong and commanding frame, of inexhaustible energy, and of enduring vitality. The constitutions of but few men could have withstood such long continued wear and tear as fell to his. He braved all weathers, all extremes of heat and cold, could sleep or wake at will, and could work on long after others would have given way. He was always at his post, and in no moment of difficulty or danger did his cool judgment or his steady courage forsake him. It was this, together with his considerate bearing, and on occasions of special trial his almost womanly kindness to his men, that inspired them with unlimited confidence in him and in his plans. Beyond this, he was a man of superior mind, with strong comprehensive and generalising faculties. His various published papers, and a correspondence of which but few could know the extent and importance, as well as his ready, clear, and exact manner in stating his views before committees and before those in authority, who so often consulted him, all attest an order of mind which, in a different sphere, would alone have won distinction for its possessor. His profession was one in which it happens that almost every person thinks himself competent to give advice; yet, without any assumption of authority, Mr. Braidwood could make it felt wherever he pleased that he was a master in the art of extinguishing fire. But he was not on this account the less ready to listen to suggestions, and there are numbers who can bear testimony to the patient, honest, and appreciative manner in which he considered the many and diverse propositions submitted to him as the head of the Fire Brigade of the first city in the world. The soundness of his views and opinions is sufficiently attested by the success of his practice—a success which, but for the Government tax upon fire policies, would have long since made fire insurance in London almost the cheapest of all the forms of protection of property from danger. The London Brigade was insignificant in numbers and tame in display when compared with the eight hundred sapeurs pompiers of Paris, with their parade and all their accessories of effect—insignificant and tame, too, after the glittering apparatus, imposing paraphernalia, and deafening clatter of the "Fire Department" of New York; but Mr. Braidwood's chosen men knew how to do their duty, and considering the differences in the mode of building and of heating, and in the extent of lighting in the three great metropoli just named, it is an easy matter, on reference to statistics, to prove that none others have done better.

Above all, Mr. Braidwood was a gentleman of deep Christian feeling; and those who knew him best had never doubted that, had it been his lot to linger long in pain, knowing the end that was to come, his calm but unwavering faith in a better future would have sustained him through all. Brought up from childhood in the faith of the Scotch church, he was a regular attendant upon the ministrations of the Rev. Dr. Cumming. In his own quiet way he did much good in the poorer districts of London, and he took a special interest in the ragged schools of the metropolis. What he was in his own home may be best inferred from the crushing force with which his dreadful yet noble fate fell upon those who were dearest to him. His family had already too much reason to know the dangers which had always attended his career. A step-son had fallen, five years before, in nearly the same manner, and now lies buried in the same grave. Eleven members, in all, of the brigade, had perished in the discharge of their duty during the time Mr. Braidwood had commanded it: a fact which, taken with daily experience, pointed to other victims to follow. Such consolation, then, as a stricken widow and a mourning family could have, next to an abiding faith in the goodness of God, was in the recollection of the virtues and noble qualities of the husband and father, and in the spontaneous sorrow with which a great people testified their sense of his worth and of their common loss.

To show the universal as well as national esteem in which Mr. Braidwood was held, two extracts are here given from the numerous letters of condolence addressed to his bereaved family, from all parts of the world. Mr. G. H. Allen, Secretary to the Boston (America) Fire Department, writes: "It gives me pleasure to unite with the Board in testimony to the extreme kindness of Mr. Braidwood in the conduct of our correspondence, whereby we have been greatly benefited and received extensive information. Allow me also to extend our sympathy to those who have lost one who will ever be remembered as standing at the head of the most valued arm of the Government, and one that you can hardly expect to be replaced, except by years of experience and great natural ability." Mr. T. J. Bown, Superintendent of the Sydney (Australia) Fire Brigade, in a letter dated 22nd August 1861, says, "On receipt of the sad news, our large fire-bell was tolled, the British ensign hoisted half-mast high, and crape attached to the firemen's uniform, as a token of respect for one of the noblest and most self-denying men that ever lived, who spent and lost his life in the service of his fellow-creatures."