| For as long as cities have existed, fires have been | | | | volunteer firefighter for Alexandria, Virginia. He |
| a problem. People have been concerned with an | | | | was part of the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine |
| organized response to firefighting since the | | | | Company, and in 1774 he purchased a new fire |
| Ancient Egyptians used hand-operated pumps to | | | | engine and donated it to the town. The fire engine |
| extinguish fires. | | | | was the first engine for the town. |
| In North America, Boston's governor John | | | | The United States did not employ professional |
| Winthrop outlawed wooden chimneys and | | | | firefighters in the sense of government-organized |
| thatched roofs in 1631. In 1648, New | | | | departments until the time of the Civil War. |
| Amsterdam's (now New York) governor Peter | | | | Before then, amateur fire brigades competed with |
| Stuyvesant appointed four able-bodied men to act | | | | one another to be the first to respond to a fire. |
| as fire wardens. These fire wardens were able to | | | | While it would be nice to think they responded |
| inspect all chimneys and to fine any people who | | | | quickly out of the goodness of their hearts, fire |
| violated the rules. The city burghers later created | | | | brigades responded quickly and wanted to be first |
| the Rattle Watch. This group was composed of | | | | in order to receive the payout from the insurance |
| eight prominent citizens. These citizens patrolled | | | | companies. |
| the streets at night carrying large wooden rattles. | | | | Underwriters across the country also employed |
| If they spotted a fire, the rattles were spun. This | | | | their own Salvage Corps in some cities. The first |
| alerted the citizens that there was a fire. The | | | | female firefighter of which we know was Molly |
| Rattle Watch then directed responding citizens in | | | | Williams. She took her place on the dragropes |
| forming bucket brigades. | | | | during a blizzard in 1818. She was responsible for |
| In January of 1678, the first fire engine company | | | | pulling the pumper to the fire through the deep |
| went into service. The captain (foreman) of the | | | | snow. |
| company was Thomas Atkins. In 1736, Benjamin | | | | While now fire houses are a place for |
| Franklin established the Union Fire company in | | | | professionals to meet, they used to be a sort of |
| Philadelphia. | | | | social gathering place. The money given to a |
| Other founding fathers have played a role in | | | | brigade for fighting a fire went into the fire |
| firefighting as well. George Washington was a | | | | house's fund rather than to individual members. |
