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The history of the fire
service in the United States begins in New
Amsterdam (later New York), when
Director-General Peter Stuyvesant appointed
four fire wardens in 1648. Similar
legislation followed in Boston in 1653, and
this city purchased its first fire engine in
1654. Philadelphia secured an engine in 1719,
and New York in 1731.
Early efforts at fire
prevention and extinction relied on chimney
laws, bucket brigades, simple ladders, and
hand-pumped engines imported from Europe, all
manned by loosely organized volunteers.
Actual fire companies and departments,
however, were active in Boston, New York, and
Philadelphia early in the eighteenth century.
Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and
Thomas Jefferson, as well as other prominent
men, were among the ranks of these early
volunteers.
Alarms of fire in the early
period were given verbally and by rattles,
gongs, and bells. The fire alarm telegraph
system, with its distinctive fire boxes,
developed gradually. Today there are paid
dispatchers, radio pagers, the Emergency 911
telephone network, and voice-activated
emergency response system street boxes.
The labor of firefighting was
divided from the beginning. Hose companies
supplied water to the engines and they, in
turn, applied it to the fire. Hook and ladder
companies were responsible for rescue,
ventilation, and overhaul. It is much the
same today. Similarly, the helmets, turnout
coats, boots, axes, and so on used today
closely resemble their predecessors.
Despite their energy, skill,
enthusiasm, and dedication, volunteers in
large cities were unable to control major
fires. A typical example is New York: large
portions of the city were destroyed in 1776,
1835, and again in 1845. Even so, the
volunteers stubbornly defended their system
and hand-drawn equipment against the critics.
By the mid-nineteenth century,
urban volunteer fire departments in this
country had reached their zenith. They were
well organized and, for the most part,
effective firefighting forces. But they were
also excessively large, racked by dissension
and rowdyism, and unwilling to adopt the new
technology of the steam engine. This
resistance to change, well-publicized fights,
and pressure from insurance companies and
influential citizens led to the end of the
volunteer system in large cities. Politics,
ethnic tension, greater fire risks,
increasing population, and a decline in the
quality of membership were also factors in
the change from volunteer to professional
firefighters. The transition was not an easy
one, however, and the volunteers sometimes
fought with their paid successors. In New
York the problem was exacerbated by the
traditional practice of using nonfiremen, or
"runners," to augment the regular force of
some three thousand men. These runners, of
dubious character and intensely loyal to
individual companies, were often only too
ready to engage in fights with rival
companies. Responding to criticism of the new
steam engines by most of his contemporaries,
Cincinnati's chief engineer, Miles Greenwood,
reportedly said that steamers didn't get
drunk or throw brickbats. He apparently felt
their only drawback was that they couldn't
vote.
With a successful
self-propelled steam engine in service
("Uncle Joe Ross"), Cincinnati instituted the
first paid department in 1853. New York
followed in 1865 and Philadelphia in 1871. It
should be noted, though, that many former
volunteers filled the ranks of these early
departments. Elisha Kingsland, long a
volunteer, served as New York's first paid
chief engineer.
A paid department, however,
did not guarantee that major fires could be
quickly and successfully controlled. Witness
the devastating fires that occurred in
Chicago, 1871; Boston, 1872; Baltimore, 1904;
and San Francisco, 1906. Nevertheless, paid
departments did offer the following
advantages: a constant labor force, modern
equipment, greater discipline and efficiency,
selective response, and improved alarm
systems.
Twentieth-century
firefighters, both volunteer and paid,
benefited from three technological advances:
the internal combustion engine, radio
communication, and self-contained breathing
apparatus (scba).
As technology advanced, however, risks also
increased. The large fires of yesterday were
certainly dangerous, but they were not fueled
by toxic chemicals, petroleum distillates,
and radioactive material, sometimes in a
skyscraper setting. As a result, two
distinctively modern firefighting units have
evolved in large cities: hazardous materials
and high-rise. Some departments also have
rescue units, fire boats, and ambulance
service.
Fire protection in the United
States today is provided by volunteer and
paid firefighters, male and female, acting
both separately and in concert. Volunteer
departments greatly outnumber paid ones at
present, but the fire service continues to
change. In many suburban and rural areas,
volunteer departments are in peril.
Recruiting and retaining members is becoming
increasingly difficult because of the high
cost of housing, strict training
requirements, population mobility, and
distant employment. The coming decades will
bring more paid departments, greater reliance
upon female firefighters during the day, and
increased interdepartmental cooperation via
the mutual aid system.
Another factor that affects
today's firefighter is the keen competition
for the taxpayer's dollar; regrettably, this
often revives the old rivalry between
volunteers and professionals. Municipal
governments and their constituents are faced
with the huge costs of apparatus and
equipment, insurance, and building
maintenance. Volunteer departments have
traditionally provided low-cost fire
protection, but it remains to be seen if they
can continue to do so.
Twentieth-century
firefighters, like their early counterparts,
endure extremes of heat and cold, enjoy
parades, and curse false alarms. Having
adopted the cross worn by the medieval
Knights of Malta as their emblem, they also
continue to save lives and property on a
daily basis.
Bibliography:
Donald J. Cannon, general
ed., Heritage of Flames (1977); Paul
C. Ditzel, Fire Engines, Firefighters
(1976); Dennis Smith, Dennis Smith's
History of Firefighting in America
(1978).
Author:
Thomas J. Dunnings, Jr.
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