Caption:
The Fire-Brigade, 1850. Fire in Lambeth, south London: 'The flames were first discovered by a policeman of the L division, and engines from various stations quickly arrived at the scene. Before, however, water could be procured, the flames had attained so great an ascendancy, that the atmosphere was illumined for miles round, and the utmost alarm was occasioned among the inhabitants of the neighbourhood...The firemen worked bravely; but the extent of the catastrophe was appalling'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.