History of Fire Technology

Fires has always been a danger to people and animals since the dawn of time. It has only been recently, starting during Ancient Rome, that we as people have tried to prevent them. These brave men would find where the fire was, locate the closet water source and pass buckets full of water down the line to put it out. In London fires were little concern until a bakery fire, Great Fire of London, burned up two square miles and left thousands homeless. It was in Jamestown that the first "Firefighters" were needed, although there was a lot of fires previously, there was no name for these heroes and frequently were soldiers for the king. Since the organization of Firefighting many famous people have stepped up to help save lives, such as George Washington. It was in 1818 when the first female firefighter came to be, Molly Williams, who during a massive blizzard pulled the pumper to the fire through the deep snow. Through the years the amazing people had given up a lot for no pay and little respect, that they deserve.  On April 1st, 1853 that the first "official" fire department was made in Cincinnati, OH, which had full time employees and pay. In 2010, about 70% of firefighters are volunteer, with only 5% of calls being real fires and the rest false alarms and medical aid. Throughout history firefighters have been there to save the day, save lives, and will hopefully continue to for generations ahead.