1 EAGLETON NOTES: Citizen Firefighter

.

.

Thursday 9 October 2014

Citizen Firefighter

When I passed Glasgow's Central Station recently I decided to take another picture of 'Citizen Firefighter'.



The bronze statue named Citizen Firefighter was sculpted by Kenny Hunter.  It recognises the work of firefighters past and present and is in remembrance of those who have risked their lives and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in an attempt to save people from burning buildings.

Less than three months after it was unveiled on June 17 2001, Citizen Firefighter became a focal point for the people of Glasgow after the events of September 11 in New York and became a place for many to leave flowers and tributes to the many firefighters who died in those events.

Citizen Firefighter also stands as a reminder of all of the Glasgow firefighters who have died while on duty.  Perhaps the first of those was Fireman James Bruce who, on January 15, 1832, fell to his death from a ladder while tackling a fire in the former Queen's Court building on the east side of Queen Street.

16 comments:

  1. This is a good idea, there ought to be more statues dedicated to the emergency services.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A good idea for a statue and a well made one too.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

    ReplyDelete
  3. Until I read the blogpost I thought I was looking at an image of one of those street performers who cleverly freezes in a statuesque manner. There should be more statues of ordinary heroes and less of the rich and famous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glasgow has some absolutely superb examples of the street performers too YP. I see no reason to reduce the number of statues for famous people (by no means all of whom are rich) but I agree that there could be more to other groups. They couldn't be to individuals because they would then become famous!

      Delete
  4. Excellent idea and sculpture :))

    ReplyDelete
  5. They're worth honouring. Clever use of the mask to point out that they usually remain anonymous to us...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with YP and Monica.
    But then I started thinking of all the soldiers who were just following orders.
    So, perhaps we need statues to specific, faced, 'ordinary' people who DIDN'T follow BAD orders.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Only last week, I've been reading up on the York Minster Fire from 1984 (it was mentioned in Jack Sheffield's book "School's Out"), so your post tied in nicely with that. Monica and YP have said it all, and Kate definitely has a point, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've still got to get to that Jack Sheffield book but I remember the fire well.

      Delete
  8. A very poignant statue to a well-deserving group who risk their lives everyday to save others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Virginia they become such an important part of our lives when accidents and fires happen.

      Delete

Comment moderation is activated 14 days after the post to minimise unwanted comments and, hopefully, make sure that I see and reply to wanted comments.