Firefighting in The United States - History

History

New Amsterdam established the colonies' first firefighting system in 1647. Fire wardens inspected the houses and chimneys, fining for potential hazard. An eight-man team called a rattle watch patrolled the streets at night. When a fire was detected, they shook wooden rattles to alert townspeople. In 1711 the concerned Americans formed the so-called mutual fire societies of approximately twenty members each. When fire struck a society member, other members rushed for assistance. The first water-pumping engines were imported to New York in the 1730s. In 1736 Benjamin Franklin founded the first American volunteer fire company in Philadelphia. Such companies were soon organized in other colonies. Among those who served as volunteer firefighters were George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Volunteer firefighters were honored with frequent stanzas in urban newspapers and made the subject of heroizing prints by the popular American printmaking firm Currier & Ives. Nathaniel Currier, of Currier & Ives, also surving as a volunteer firefighter in New York City during the 1850's. In 1818 the first known female firefighter Molly Williams rose to prominence in New York, when she took her place with the men on the dragropes and pulled the pumper to the fire through the deep snow.

In the early days of the fire service, fire departments were, more or less, social organizations in the community. And, being an accepted member meant a certain social status in the community. Remnants of that social status can still be found today in the traditional style firefighter's helmets that resemble top hats worn by the early firefighters. Monies that were used to help fund the organization were obtained by insurance company payouts from fighting fires. Firefighters could easily tell just who had fire insurance and who didn't by fire insurance marks located on the front of the home. Oftentimes it was a problem for homeowners who did not have insurance to have the fire department respond to a fire in their home and effectively remove belongings and such because the firefighters knew that there wouldn't be any money in it for them.

By the 1850s and 1860s the reputation of volunteer firefighters hit extremely low. Amidst accusations of rioting, disorder and inefficiency the majority of volunteer firefighting forces in the United States were being replaced by fire departments. American firefighters built, designed or assigned specifications for their equipment. Particularly, they dedicated themselves to the engines and viewed them as integral to the fire company identity. The first fire companies - the Union Fire Company, the Columbia Fire Company and the Anacostia Fire Company were organized in 1804 to serve the White House, the Capitol and the neighborhood of Anacostia in Washington, D.C. respectively. By the 1840s and 1850s the differences between companies within the same city had become quite significant. In 1853 Cincinnati, Ohio became the first city with a fully paid fire department. In 1855 the Metropolitan Hook and Ladder Company Number 1 Firehouse, Washington's oldest extant firehouse, was built at Massachusetts Avenue.

With few exceptions, firefighters denied African Americans the opportunity to join the companies or form their own ones. As early as 1818 in Philadelphia the local free black community attempted to form the African Fire Association. Meanwhile some southern cities like Charleston and Savannah relied on African American labour.

Lately the specialized life-saving units in American fire departments - the pompier corps - were formed.

In the 20th century, the nature of an American firefighter's job began to change. Not only was structural firefighting still the main purpose of the department, but more specialized training and education, such as for high-rise structure fires, confined space environments and building construction education have been included and emphasized. Other disciplines had been taken on as responsibilities in lifesaving. Presently, most all fire departments across the United States have been trained in and perform technical rescue, vehicle rescue, high-angle rescue, woodland firefighting and hazardous materials incidents. Additionally, most all career departments as well as many volunteer departments have emergency medical assets at their immediate disposal.

There have been several notable fires which cost the life of many firemen. 343 FDNY firefighters were killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 2007, the Sofa Super Store fire in Charleston, South Carolina killed nine firefighters.