What was the first fire apparatus

The trend started with the introduction of the horse-drawn steam pumper. The demand for more water to fight bigger fires increased the weight of the fire engine and, in turn, rendered the horse ineffective for bigger engines.

By , companies such as the Ahrens-Fox Manufacturing Company from Cincinnati and the Knox Automobile Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, were leading the conversion from steam to gas-powered.

However, it soon became apparent that the advantages of using motorized vehicles vs. By , the steam pumper had been completely replaced by motorized pumpers. Difficulties developed in adapting geared rotary gasoline engines to pumps, which then made it necessary for gasoline-powered fire engines to be outfitted with two motors; one to drive the pump and the other to propel the vehicle.

However, these pumps were gradually replaced by rotary pumps and centrifugal pumps, which are used today by most modern pumpers. The move from rural to urban increased the need for more efficient apparatus. Daniel D. Most early fire companies were not able to fight fires on any meaningful level. Instead, their job centered mostly on rescuing property in advance of a house burning down. The most common tool of a colonial firefighter was a bed key, with which they would dismantle a bed usually the most valuable item in a house and salvage it for the property owner.

In the early colonial cities of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, the early eighteenth century saw the development of rules relating to buckets, hooks, ladders, and the makeup of firefighting companies.

While the rules were becoming clearer, the technology was not really possible until the development of a pump suitable for supplying enough water to put out larger fires. Pumps of some sort or another had existed since at least the Roman times. If a fire was on an upper floor, for example, it was more or less impossible to extinguish it. In , however, Richard Newsham filed his patents for a new type of fire pump.

The pump was mounted on a wooden chassis so it could be easily moved to the place of fire including inside a home. Attached to the device was a large lever, with places for firefighters to place their feet. The firefighters would push their weight down on each side of the level, thus generating enough force to push water through a leather hose in a constant jet. The image beside this shows a version of a Newsham engine.

The era of modern firefighting had begun. The sprawling U. Because of the added weight of the steam pump, it was necessary to have a large team of horses to pull the truck, thus requiring cities to provide stables and upkeep for large numbers of horses.

If citizens saw a Dalmatian in full flight, they would clear the road, thus allowing the horses to pull the fire engine unobstructed. In this respect, Dalmatians were the earliest form of the fire siren.

The image beside shows a team with a horse-drawn steam-powered fire truck. The large horses were required to pull the heavy steam pump, as well as the three-man team at least who would be required to operate the pump. As a result of the logistical problems of keeping numerous horses stabled, fed, and watered, as well as the technological advances of the late nineteenth century, many fire trucks began to move over to gasoline engines. As in Europe, insurance companies supported local fire brigades who in turn protected insured buildings.

Marked by metal badges indicating their insurance provider, these buildings became the object of competition by neighboring fire departments. While the first ladder thrown onto a burning building was considered grounds for possession, much of the fireground was relegated to arguments and fights before extinguishment was initiated.

By the s, it became evident that such powerful private entities and their associated fire departments would need to be overseen by the government and not big business. As a result, America entered the manufacturing age of career and volunteer professional fire departments supported by municipal and district partnerships. During this great industrial revolution, the fire service benefited from countless advances in equipment and operations.

The internal combustion engine, the electric pump, call boxes and geographic addressing aided fire departments in their sworn duty to protect life and property.

This rapid growth in population, business and industry was not without its consequences. Instead of wood, wool and cotton as fuels, firefighters were faced with new building materials like steel, aluminum, nylon and artificial rubber. The 21st century has seen the creation of new and increased hazardous fire conditions.

Steel and nylon are being replaced by plastics, polymers and their phosgene and hydrogen sulfide gases. Farms and ranches are being replaced by urban sprawl and light industry. Villages and towns are now cities and metropolitan districts. Today, instead of steam pumpers drawn by horses, there are diesel-driven engines with dual-stage pumps capable of delivering over 1, gpm to the fire.

Rubber boots and leather helmets have been replaced by vapor barriers under fire-resistive coats and composite helmets compatible with SCBA. Fires are located by infrared cameras, not hooks and ladders, and size-up can be conducted with drones. Soon we will extinguish fires by light particles and sound waves. Today, firefighting is viewed more as a formal career, much like law, medicine and corporate business.

The development of fire fighting forces in the United States, especially in the Northeast, has brought innovations in modern fire fighting throughout the world. The first recorded structure fire in the United States occurred in in the colony of Jamestown. On January 7, a fire leveled most of the fragile colony which was just barely a year old. Captain John Smith wrote of the fire in his journal: "Most of our apparel, lodging and private provisions were destroyed, I begin to think that it is safer for me to dwell in the wild Indian country than in this stockade, where fools accidentally discharge their muskets and others burn down their homes at night.

In the early days, most fire companies were volunteer or privately operated. There was some competition for services. Some of the firefighters were actually recruited not only for their strength in fighting fire but also for their fighting abilities to protect the company and its equipment.

Insurance companies paid the fire company that put out the fire, so the one that made it to the scene, hooked up to a hydrant and completed the task, got paid.

The dogs worked well at this task of protecting not only the horses, but the equipment in the stations and on the fire ground as well. Fire fighting equipment in the colonies was rudimentary at best. Leather buckets, hooks and chains, swabs, ladders, and archaic pumps were the tools of the trade in the early days. Fire buckets in colonial towns had the owners names painted on them. Laws often required residents to purchase them and keep them in repair.

In the s, in New York, the number of buckets a home or business needed was determined by the risk of fire. A baker must have three buckets and a brewer had to have six buckets on hand in case of fire.

They passed buckets of water to the fire, and empty buckets back to the well to be refilled. Later, with the invention of the hand pumper, bucket brigades were used to keep the pumper full of water. Hooks and chains were used to make firebreaks by pulling down walls of burning buildings to keep the fire from spreading.

Swabs mops were used to extinguish embers on thatched roofs.