Great Fire of Edinburgh

The fire broke out around 10pm on 15 November 1824, in James Kirkwood's engraving workshop on the second floor of the Old Assembly Close, a narrow alleyway just off the High Street.

[2] Although this new force arrived quickly with their custom-built fire engines, they had difficulty locating a water supply and did not begin to tackle the blaze until 11pm, by which time six stories of the building were ablaze.

Efforts focused on saving the adjacent Parliament Hall and Law Courts, and stopping the fire leaping to St Giles Cathedral.

Due mainly to a downpour of rain, the conflagration was brought under control by Wednesday evening, although small outbreaks continued and final smouldering did not cease until Friday, 19 November.

Over the following days, engineers from the castle and navy were employed to pull down the highly unsafe remnants of buildings left precariously balanced along the closes.

Public officials (Bailies, Law Officers and "Gentlemen of Importance"), assuming authority under older municipal regulations, were found to have issued contradictory orders to the harassed firemen.

This finding prompted the passing of a new regulation whereby the City Firemaster (or, in his absence, his Deputy) was to be given complete command of all firefighting operations, a ruling subsequently adopted throughout Britain's fire services.

The south side of the Royal Mile from the Tron Kirk to Parliament Square was rebuilt as a planned run of well-proportioned but plain five-storey Georgian tenements.

The statue was created by the Glasgow sculptor, Kenneth Mackay, and paid for from a fund set up by the late Dr Frank Rushbrook CBE, then 93-year-old former Firemaster at Lothian & Borders Fire Brigade.