Page 55 - Red Alert

RED ALERT - THE FIRE SERVICE

Steam fire engines to safety matches

As time went on, the many Fire & Rescue In 1826, John Walker,
Services started to work together. The London a chemist from
Fire Engine Establishment was introduced in Stockton-on-Tees
1833. It had 80 full time firefighters and 13 fire invented the match.
stations. It was during this time that the first Then 29 years later,
steam fire engines were invented.
the ‘safety match’
was put on sale.
Although the safety
match was invented
by Gustavs Pasch, a
Swedish man, it was
Mr J.E. Lundstrom
who actually sold the
invention. The safety
match meant that
fewer fires would start
by accident as the new
match would only spark
if it was scraped against
a certain surface.

In what year was the
safety match invented?

In 1861, following a very bad fire in London, it became clear that insurance companies could not afford to deal with large fires.
Four years later the Metropolitan Fire & Rescue Service Act was passed. The new Metropolitan Fire & Rescue Service was paid
for by public taxes. Over the next few years, the Fire & Rescue Service improved a great deal and in 1921 the last horse drawn
fire engine stopped working.

53