THE dangers of fire were evident as soon as making flames was first discovered.

It was realised even among the Egyptians and the Romans that some sort of fire fighting was needed to extinguish out-of-control flames, but this usually consisted of human chains and buckets of water.

It was the great fire of London in 1666 that changed things; fire insurance companies were created and this was how property was protected across the country, including here in East Lancashire.

Policy holders were given a badge, or fire mark, to fix on their building. The fire brigade would look for it before they put out the blaze; often buildings were left to burn until the right fire company attended.

As years went on, many industries, mills and factories organised their own fire brigades, using firstly horse drawn fire carts and then steam machines.

Local councils then started their own fire services, often amalgamated with the police and in the Thirties there were around 1,500 of them, before the creation of the National Fire Service.

The Second World War was the busiest time ever in its history - and its firefighters were even on the beaches during the D-Day landings.