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• The cost to train and equip a firefighter is approximately $7,400

• Services contributed by volunteer firefighters save localities across the country an estimated $37.2 billion per year.

• The majority of fire departments in the United States are volunteer. Of the total 30,542 fire departments in the country, 21,671 are all volunteer; 5,271 are mostly volunteer; 1,582 are mostly career; and 2,018 are all career.

• Volunteers comprise 73% of firefighters in the United States. Of the total estimated 1,096,250 volunteer and paid firefighters across the country, 800,050 are volunteer.

• Many early firefighters grew mustaches and beards. These were crude smoke filters. A theory is stated that the firemen would fill the beard with water, stick it in their mouths and breathe through the wet hairs.

• Many Volunteer firefighters established fines ca. 1800 (These were stiff fees at the time.)
  No helmet worn at a fire $.25
  No badge worn on shirt $.25
  Failure to attend a meeting $.50
  Discussing politics at a meeting $1.00
  Improper behavior at a meeting $1.00
  Swearing during a meeting* $1.00
  Coming to a meeting intoxicated $1.00
  Smoking a cigar $.25
  Chewing tobacco $.25

• Decorating Volunteer Fire Engines ca. 1790s

  When a new engine arrived at a station, it was painted a drab gray. The volunteers decided how to decorate it. The time and money devoted to this undertaking was often mind boggling. Zophar Mills, a foreman of Eagle Engine Company in New York wrote, “I kept an account of my expenses in connection with the Fire Department, and I found that in seven years I had paid three thousand dollars.” Each company wanted their apparatus to be more lavish than other fire departments. After selected a paint color or colors, the firemen found funds to purchase additional embellishments such as plating (silver, gold, brass, or copper), inlays, mirrors and lanterns with colored lenses.

  A pumper was incomplete without a painting. Many had more than four. Some companies hired well-known artists of the day to decorate their equipment. Many rigs sported elaborate decorations.

Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia from Boston at the age of eighteen. Boston had been greatly affected by fire. The city of Boston experienced major fires in 1653 and 1676. After the fire in 1676, Boston purchased a London pumper. The city then hired Thomas Atkins and twelve other men to fight fires. These were the first paid firefighters in the United States. In 1711, another major fire occurred in Boston. One hundred ten families lost their homes. At the age of six Benjamin Franklin witnessed this fire. Concerned citizens banded together and formed The Mutual Fire Societies in 1711. When fire struck a member of the Mutual Fire Society, other members of the club rushed to help battle the blaze. Each society had approximately twenty members. Dennis Smith stated the following: “The Mutual Fire Societies became social as well as protective associations, setting a pattern for organized volunteer firefighting groups, which would one day be the backbone of firefighting in America and would dominate it for a century and a half.”

In 1682, the city of Philadelphia was founded by William Penn. When determining where to locate the city Penn gave careful thought to the dangers of fire. He had witnessed the London fire in 1666 and did not want Philadelphia to suffer the same fate. To reduce the possibility of fire, a fire ordinance in Philadelphia in 1696 required chimney cleaning. Philadelphia also had a large number of brick buildings that made it less susceptible to fire.

In 1718, Philadelphia bought its first engine. It was named The Shag Rag but it was not put into service until 1730 when Philadelphia had a fire that destroyed much of the commercial district along the river. The Shag Rag was no match for the conflagration because it only produced a trickle of water. In the twelve years the city owned it no one had maintained it. Ben Franklin urged the city to get better organized to fight fires. Shortly thereafter the city bought four hundred fire buckets, twenty ladders and hooks and two additional engines.
In 1733, Ben Franklin often wrote about the dangers of fire and the need for organized fire protection in his newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette. Ben Franklin was familiar with Boston’s Mutual Fire Societies which were also known as “Fire Clubs.” But the “Fire Clubs” existed for the protection of its members, not the community at large. Collins wrote that [Ben Franklin] “wanted organizations that would battle all fires, regardless of whose property was burning.”

After an extensive fire in Philadelphia in 1736, Franklin created a fire brigade called The Union Fire company with 30 volunteers. The first full-fledged volunteer firefighter in America was Isaac Paschall. The idea of volunteer fire brigades gained popularity. Not wanting more than 30-40 men per company, additional companies were formed in Philadelphia. Some of them were: The Fellowship, Hand-in-Hand and Heart-in-Hand, and Friendship Companies. Each of the companies paid for their own equipment and located it throughout town at strategic places. Most early fire companies in Philadelphia and other cities had professionals, wealthier merchants and tradespeople serving in the volunteer fire department. These citizens were able to afford to purchase equipment and pay fines for missing meetings and fires.

Some famous Americans who served as volunteer firefighters were: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Barry, Aaron Burr, Benedict Arnold, James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore also served as volunteer firemen.

As early as 400 B.C. hose played a part in fighting fire. In this era, the hose was made out of ox gut. Firemen filled bags with water and then forced them into the ox gut. The water was forced out of these early hoses by either sitting or stomping on the bag and the hose.

In 1673, two Dutchmen, Jan van der Heiden and his son Nicolaas developed fire “hoase.” These 50-foot lengths of leather tubes were sewn together the way shoemakers made boots. This hose was attached to the gooseneck nozzles on early engines, enabling firefighters to get closer to the fire and shoot a stream of water at it more accurately. Van der Heiden is also credited with inventing an early version of suction hose.

Until about 1800, water for fighting fires came from wells, cisterns and natural bodies of water. When water main services came into existence, fireplugs or hydrants were added to give fire companies access to the water.

In 1803, the Philadelphia Hose Company was founded. Arriving at their first fire, they astonished their fellow firefighters.... Collins quotes: “The new hose company quickly attached their leather hose to the hydrant and stretched it right up to the burning building. A nozzle was attached to the hose and water gushed through the line.” A foreman of a fire company came up to Ruben Haines, the hose company foreman, and adamantly demanded Haines divert the water to the engine where it would then be directed onto the fire. Haines refused, he saw no reason to send the water from the hydrant to the engine first.

Sewn leather hoses often leaked badly and broke under pressure. In 1807, two members of the Philadelphia Hose Company, James Sellers and Abraham Pennock revolutionized fire hose when they developed a way to rivet leather strips together. The hoses were made of the thickest and best rear-quarter cowhides. They were nearly leak-proof except at the couplings. The riveted hoses were 40 to 50 feet in length and had metal couplings. They weighed about 85 pounds.

Leather hose required heavy maintenance. It was necessary to wash, dry and preserve it. One fire company washed theirs in a coffin. Some used codfish & whale oil as preservatives. Many other stations used warm beef tallow and Neat’s foot oil (made from cattle bones) and would work it into the leather. However, after applying the tallow and oil, the heat of a fire caused the hose to smell and become sticky. One station stored their hose in a dill-pickle barrel but many others used horizontal racks to store theirs.

Sellers & Pennock’s advancement with hose had far reaching consequences. With strong hose, it was possible to use suction to draw large quantities of water. The idea of using suction was considered in the United States as early as 1698. New York City had a suction engine in 1793. But without reliable hose using suction to fight fires was very ineffective. The improvement in hose also permitted pumpers to relay water from distant sources. In Boston, in 1825, the mayor reported 100 feet of hose doing the work that formerly required 60 men hauling buckets. Around 1827, the Fire Chief for New York City counted 30 pumpers in a line a mile and a half long from the source of water to the fire.

In 1821, James Boyd patented his invention for rubber-lined, cotton-webbed fire hose. Charles Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process for rubber in 1839. B. F. Goodrich developed rubber hose reinforced with cotton ply. The Cincinnati Fire Department used this improved hose in 1871.

As more manufacturers entered the marketplace, they each produced their own size of hose and coupling. This problem was addressed in 1873 at the first convention for the International Association of Fire Engineers. The Association adopted the standard size of 7102 threads to the inch.

Five years later in 1878, the American Fire Hose Manufacturing Company, located in Chelsea, Massachusetts marketed their new product, the “first seamless cotton fire hose produced for steam fire engines.” Other companies improved hose as well. In a short time fire hose could handle 350 psi. Progress continued and woven cotton became the standard for fire hose. As better weaves were developed the hose became stronger. In this modern age fire hose is lightweight, durable and flexible.

This invaluable tool for firefighting has undergone dramatic changes over the centuries. What improvements will firefighters of the future see?