Firefighters have paid tribute to the founder of the modern fire and rescue service.
James Braidwood was the first superintendent of the world's first municipal fire service, founded in Edinburgh in 1824. He went on to lead the London Fire Engine Establishment and died at the Tooley Street fire in 1861 when a warehouse collapsed on him as he directed his firefighters.
Officials from the Fire Brigades Union attended a service at Inverness Cathedral on Sunday 6 September, alongside Braidwood's great-great granddaughter Diana Hamilton-Jones, who has organised an annual memorial since 2018.
Among those attending were FBU Scotland treasurer Seona Hart, London EC member Dave Shek, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service chief officer Stuart Stevens, and London Fire Brigade Commissioner Jonathan Smith.
Ian Murray, President of the Fire Brigades Union, who was also in attendance, said:
"James Braidwood set the standard that firefighters still work to today. He insisted on proper training, the right equipment, and leaders who would never send their crews anywhere they would not go themselves. When he died at Tooley Street, he died alongside his firefighters, trying to protect them.
"It was an honour to attend the service in Inverness and to remember a man whose contribution to our service deserves to be far better known."
