Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition: Indiana History Series, #2

By Paul R. Wonning

Learn the story of the firefighters, departments, museums and fire towers in Indiana.

History of Fire Fighting

The book begins with a history of firefighting from the earliest firefighting equipment and formation of the first fire departments. Early firefighting equipment and methods are also discussed.

United States Firefighting History

Readers will learn about the first fire companies formed in the United States as well as some of the earliest destructive fires that took place.

Indiana Firefighting

The book covers some of the early fire departments in Indiana as well as some of the state's most destructive fires.

Fire Towers

Fire towers once formed an important link in fire control in the dense forests that cover Indiana. Readers will learn about the history of fire towers as well as the locations of the remaining fire towers in Indiana.

Fire Fighting Museums

A comprehensive listing of firefighting museums in both the United States and Indiana.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mossy Feet Books
• Release date: Dec 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223270027

Paul R. Wonning

Publisher of history, gardening, travel and fiction books. Gardening, history and travel seem an odd soup in which to stew one's life, but Paul has done just that. A gardener since 1975, he has spent his spare time reading history and traveling with his wife. He gardens, plans his travels and writes his books out in the sticks near a small town in southeast Indiana. He enjoys sharing the things he has learned about gardening, history and travel with his readers. The many books Paul has written reflect that joy of sharing. He also writes fiction in his spare time. Read and enjoy his books, if you will. Or dare.

Book preview

Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition

Indiana History Series, Volume 2

Paul R. Wonning

Published by Mossy Feet Books, 2023.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

SHORT HISTORY OF FIRE FIGHTING - INDIANA EDITION

First edition. December 20, 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Paul R. Wonning.

ISBN: 979-8223270027

Written by Paul R. Wonning.

Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition

Fire Companies, Towers and Museums of Indiana

Indiana History Series

Paul R. Wonning

Description

Learn the story of the fire fighters, companies and fire towers in Indiana. The book includes the histories and locations of the Hoosier State's remaining fire towers and a full listing of the fire fighting museums in the United States and Indiana.

Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition

Published Paul R. Wonning

Copyright 2017 by Paul R. Wonning

Ebook Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given way to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition

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Paul R. Wonning

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Indiana Places

Table of Contents

Ancient Firefighting

Roman Firefighting

Early European

Great Fire Of London

London Rebuilding Acts

First Fire Insurance Company

Private Firefighting

Fire Insurance Marks

Fire Fighting United States

October 04, 1648 - Peter Stuyvesant Establishes Americas First Volunteer Firemen

January 7, 1698 - Fire Destroys Jamestown Virginia

December 03, 1731 - Volunteer Fire Department Of The City Of New York Organized

Franklin And Friends Founded The Union Fire Company

Great Fire Of Boston

Great New Orleans Fire

Ben Franklin Founds First Property Insurance Company

Firefighting Equipment

Fire Bucket

Bucket Brigade

Bed Key

Salvage Bags

Axe

Bunker Gear

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus

Pike Pole or Fire Hook

Halligan Bar

History of the Fire Extinguisher

Fire Helmet

Firefighter's Uniform

Firefighter Badge

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Fire Hydrant

Fire Alarm

Fire Pumps

Smoke Detectors

Sprinkler Systems

Fire Hose

History Of The Fire Engine

Dalmatians

First Fully Paid Fire Department – Cincinnati, Ohio

Telephone Number Stickers

911 System

Volunteer Firefighter Training

Professional Firefighter Training

Combination Departments

Types of Firefighting Companies

Types of Firefighters

Firefighter Department Organization

Fire Fighter Ranks

The Fire Lookout Tower System

United States Fire Fighting Museums

Indiana Fire Department History

Indiana Fire Museums

International Firefighter Organizations

United States Fire Fighting Associations

Indiana Fire Departments

Acknowledgements

Sample Chapter

Indiana’s Timeless Tales - Pre-History to 1781

Illinoisan Glacier Boundary

Also In This Series

Short History of Libraries, Printing and Language - Indiana Edition

Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition

About the Author

Mossy Feet Books Catalogue

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Short History of Fire Fighting - Indiana Edition

Paul R. Wonning

Ancient Firefighting

Historical evidence indicates that the first fire fighting equipment surfaced in the Egyptian city of Alexandria sometime in the Third Century BC. A Greek inventor named Ctesibius invented a water pump with which firefighters could spray water on a fire.

Ctesibius (C. 285 - 222 BC)

History knows little about Ctesibius' origins. Tradition holds that his father was a barber in Aspondia, a site near or in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Tradition suggests that he took up his father's career early in life and invented a counterweight-adjustable mirror. His greatest reputation is as a mathematician, engineer and inventor. Historical lore suggests he was the founder of the Alexandrian school of mathematics and engineering and served as the head of the Museum of Alexandria. Inventions credited to Ctesibius include the water pump, water organ, an improved water clock and several types of automated machines. His force pump found use in pumping water from wells and as one of the first primitive fire fighting machines.

Firefighting did not become organized until the Romans began organizing fire brigades.

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Roman Firefighting

Marcus Licinius Crassus (c. 115 BC or 112 BC – 6 May 53 BC), often called the richest man in Rome, created the first known firefighting force. Fires were common in Rome, however the city had no organized firefighting force. Crassus started his own firefighting force by training about 500 of his slaves to fight fires. When a fire started, he would offer the owner of the building an exorbitantly low price for the property. If the owner accepted, Crassus had his slaves put out the fire. Crassus would then renovate the building and sell it a profit. If the owner refused, Crassus allowed the building to burn down.

Slave Fire Fighting Brigades

The Roman Emperor August established the first known permanent firefighting force in 6 AD. Augustus used elements from previous private fire fighting brigades to form a military style firefighting brigade of 600 slaves to fight fires. He placed smaller units in fourteen strategic areas around the city in permanent camps. These forces had problems communicating with each other, so Augustus reorganized the brigades using freedmen to staff the brigades.

Vigils

Calling these men vigils, he had them based in the same fourteen districts and had the men patrol the streets, looking for fires. The vigils doubled as policemen as they had authority to arrest people breaking laws. The equipment they used included fire buckets (amae), sponges (spongiae), force-pumps (siphones), axes (dolabrae), picks (secures), ladders (scalae), grappling hooks (falces), quilted blankets (centones), wicker mats (formiones), poles (perticae), brooms (scopae) and vinegar.

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Early European Firefighting

France's King Louis IX created the guet bourgeois, which was a combination police/fire protection group. The members of these groups served as a combination police and fire company as they conducted night watches looking for fires and lawbreakers. England had only rudimentary fire protection until 1666. That year the Great Fire of London raged across the city.

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Great Fire of London - 1666

A combination of high winds, drought and a close packed city built with wooden structures and crowded with sheds and yards packed high with flammable hay and straw. In addition, many of the houses had thatched roofs, which are highly flammable. Most houses and buildings used a material called wattle-and-daub to cover exterior walls. This material, composed of wooden lath (wattle) that workers cover with a wet, sticky mixture of clay, sand, animal dung and straw (daub), is flame resistant when it is new. However, many of the London buildings were old and the daub had dried out and broken away. This left the old, dry, flammable wattle exposed.

Fire Fighting in 1666

Organized fire fighting in this era did not exist. Firefighting in cities like London consisted of residents using bucket brigades to move water from a water source, like a cistern, well, lake or river, to the fire. Two lines of people formed. In one line, a person dipped the bucket into the water, filling it. They passed the bucket down the line and dumped it on the fire. The second line of people returned the empty bucket to the beginning of the first line for refilling. English law required every parish church to have fire fighting equipment stored in an easily accessible place. The equipment included long ladders, leather buckets, axes, and fire hooks. The people used the fire hooks to pull down buildings to create a fire break, which was an area cleared of flammable materials that denied the fire fuel and, hopefully, stopped it. Another method of fighting fires in the closely packed cities was to use gunpowder to demolish buildings, creating a firebreak. Mostly, these methods were effective most of the time.

The Fire Starts

The cause of the fire is still a mystery, but historians know it started on Pudding Lane, near the London Bridge, in the bakery shop owned by Thomas