Smoke, Flame, Fire!: A History of Firefighting

Fire! FIRE! At the first sign of a fire we call the fire brigade. But what did people do before the fire service existed? Learn about the evolution from the first brigades to the multi-skilled fire services that operate around the world today.

Wayland Books have partnered with The National Archives to bring you this incredible photographic record of one of the most revered professions around: firefighting.

Trace firefighting through history, beginning with the Romans. Then learn about the Great Fire of London, the man who created the first organised fire service, the evolution of firefighting equipment and the introduction of women to the service.

Today, a firefighter does more than simply put out fires. They play a key role in search and rescue operations, road accidents and disaster relief. Learn about all this and more in Smoke, Flame, Fire!

Includes fire safety advice

Roy Apps is the author of more than fifty children's books, including The Twitches, Fang Gang and How To Handle. He is the author of the highly successful Dream to Win series for Franklin Watts.
His novel The Secret Summer of Daniel Lyons won The Writers' Guild Children's Book Award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Awards. It is now a successful musical.
Roy writes extensively for radio, theatre and TV. In 2001 he was awarded a BAFTA for his children's TV work, which includes Byker Grove, The Ghost Hunter and Barmy Aunt Boomerang.
Roy visits schools, libraries and bookshops to read from his books and to share the secrets of The Shed in Your Head . He runs Writing Projects for all ages and over the last few years has helped young and new writers make books, stage plays, films, performance poetry and most recently, an opera.