Firefighter - History of Fire Brigades

History of Fire Brigades

Although people have fought fires since there have been valuable things to burn, the first instance of organized professionals combating structural fires occurred in Ancient Egypt. Likewise, fire fighters of the Roman Republic existed solely as privately organized and funded groups that operated more similarly to a business than a public service; however, during the Principate period Augustus revolutionized firefighting by calling for the creation of a fire guard that was trained, paid, and equipped by the state- the first truly public and professional firefighting service. Known as the Vigiles, they were organised into cohorts and also served as a night watch and city police force.

Today, fire and rescue remains a mix of paid, call, and volunteer responders, with some Fire and Rescue Services in the UK employing a combination of retained firefighters (who carry pagers to remain on-call while at home or at work) and a small number of unpaid volunteer firefighters- a practice common with other services.

Read more about this topic:  Firefighter

Famous quotes containing the words history of, history and/or fire:

    Philosophy of science without history of science is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind.
    Imre Lakatos (1922–1974)

    The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product of history and given social relations removes all barriers to coercion and manipulation by the powerful.
    Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)

    You are no surer, no,
    Than is the coal of fire upon the ice,
    Or hailstone in the sun.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)