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Kind: captions
Language: en

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Across the UK, we take it for granted

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that if a fire breaks out
you can call an emergency number,

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firefighters will arrive,

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they'll do their best to save lives
and put out the fire,

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and you will not get sent a bill
for making that call.

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Sure, if some movie director has arranged
a massive pyrotechnic stunt for a movie

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and they need firefighters standing by
just in case something goes wrong,

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they'll probably pay for the time there,
but in everyday life,

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firefighters are funded by government,
through taxes, for everyone.

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But that's not always been the case.

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The Great Fire of London in 1666
lasted for four days.

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The idea of "firefighters" hadn't
really been invented at that point.

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The Great Fire was only stopped
by a change in the wind,

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and by the military blowing up houses
to create a firebreak.

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The whole of central London
burned to the ground.

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Rebuilding took 30 years.

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The enormous monument on the site
where the fire started

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is still standing today,
350 years later.

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After the Great Fire, the job
of fire protection in London

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was taken up by insurance companies.

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Building owners would pay a fee
for a few years' coverage,

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and the insurance company would
attach a metal "fire mark"

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to the front of the building.

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Like...

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...these, on the wall of St James' Palace.

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So in 18th-century London, if a fire
broke out and smoke started rising,

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several fire brigades, each run by
a different insurance company,

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would all rush to the scene.

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And then they'd check for fire marks,

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and only fight the fire if they
saw their own company's mark,

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or the mark of a company
they had an agreement with.

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If the building wasn't insured,
they would let it burn.

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Their job was protection
of property, not life.

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If a neighbouring building
was insured with them,

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and the fire looked to be
spreading that way,

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well, they'd make sure
that building was safe, of course.

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And it wasn't just London.

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There were similar schemes

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all around the country
and around the world.

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If firefighters standing aside while
a building burns seems immoral to you...

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well, there are lots of places
where that's still the case today.

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Or where firefighting companies
will send a bill afterwards,

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assuming that an insurance company
will pay it.

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In places where there aren't enough people,
or there's not enough political will

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for a government-funded fire service,
that may still be the only option.

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In London, it wasn't until 1833
that ten of those insurance companies

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joined their fire brigades together
to create a single fire service...

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...still private.

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In 1866, the government
finally took over and created

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the London Fire Engine Establishment
as a public service.

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But that was only after another major fire.

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It took disaster,
it took death and destruction,

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to move things forward to the point
where you can call the fire service

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to save lives, not just property,
and without having to worry about the bill.

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You can still see a few fire marks

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on old buildings around London
and around the UK these days,

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although not all of them are original,

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some are recent reproductions
put up for effect.

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Heck, those on the wall of the Palace
might be reproductions for all I know.

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But fortunately, it doesn't matter,

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because firefighters don't have
to check for them any more.

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That was going to be a really good
shot of Buckingham Palace

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and all you're going to see
is the traffic light.

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Don't know why I thought
I'd be able to get

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a good zoom shot of
Buckingham Palace from there.

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The road's closed, by the way.

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I'm just going to make that clear.

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I didn't just walk out into, uh,
an active road. It's...

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It's closed off for pedestrians.