New LFB pix Gallery

Fire at 298 Old Brompton Road, London SW5

Fire at 298 Old Brompton Road, London SW5, 25 February 1956. An escape ladder is extended to the second floor, with Sub Officer Kirby of A9 Fulham carrying a 19-month-old child, Dennis Norman McGowan, down in his arms, and Sub Officer Temple following. The child had been left in his cot in the front room before the fire started. At this stage the strings of the ladder were smouldering which, together with the heat and smoke from the shop, made the situation extremely dangerous. The child's mother waits in the foreground to be reunited with her son

© London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans Picture Library

Boys on an 18th century fire engine, Wirksworth

Boys playing on an 18th century fire engine at Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It was believed to be the oldest fire engine in England, dating back to 1721, made by Newsome. Its most recent use had been to facilitate the washing of windows, but the Town Surveyor had offered it to the South Kensington Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum) as it was older than any fire engine held there

© London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans Picture Library

Statue of Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw

Bronze statue of Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw (1828-1908) about 18 inches high, by Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. The statue is kept in the dining room of the Massey Shaw Suite, Winchester House, Southwark Training Centre. Another copy is held at Windsor Castle. Inscribed on the base are the words: To The Extinguisher from Some of His Chums, 1870. Shaw was Superintendent of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (now London Fire Brigade) and its predecessor, the London Fire Engine Establishment, from 1861 to 1891. He introduced modern firefighting methods, and increased the number of stations

© London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans Picture Library