Scotland's largest fire service was born in 1975. It wasn't an easy birth. Strathclyde Fire Brigade was given the vast task of protecting over two million people across a 5,500-square-mile area that includes Clydeside and twenty-three inhabitated islands. At its heart was Glasgow, the notorious 'tinderbox-city' whose full-time firefighters were among the best-trained and best-equipped in the world. In many rural and island communities, however, the local fire brigade was comprised of a handful of volunteers and the fire station was a garden shed where the hose could be stored. The Strathclyde Fire Brigade has come a long way since those early years and this book looks at how the service has evolved over the last three decades - from the early rivalries between Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire firefighters to the common purpose of striving for better fire protection across the whole of Strathclyde. The book also examines the impact major advances in firefighting equipment and techniques has had on the service. And Strathclyde firefighters talk about the close camaraderie and black humour that help them to cope with tragic incidents.