Edinburgh has a long fire service history
James Braidwood was born in Edinburgh in 1800. He was made Superintendent of Fire Engines at age 23. His first command was the Great Fire of Edinburgh three weeks later which destroyed the old center of the city. He personally hired all the men as Firemaster (what a great title!) and ran a tight ship. He had them drill one day a week at 0400 hrs so they would learn to operate in total darkness.
Preceding Dunn and Brannigan by 150 years he wrote the book "On the Construction of Fire Engines and Apparatus: The training of Firemen and the Method of Proceeding in Cases of Fire".
On January 1, 1833 he became Superintendent of the LFEE- London Fire Engine Establishment (run by fire insurance companies 19 stations, 80 FTEs). He lived "above the shop" at the Watling Street Station for the rest of his life. Ultimately, firemen throughout the country would be known as "Jim Braidy's".
On the hot evening of June 22, 1861 Scovell's Warehouse (a well known target hazard) in Tooley Street on the Thames caught fire. During the fire, a wall fell on Braidwood and his senior officer killing both. Historians noted the entire metropolis of London came to a standstill for the funeral.
Tooley Street ruined the fire insurers, and in turn, the LFEE. This ultimately led to the birth of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade on January 1, 1866.