Fire department

A fire department's station and engines, in Bennett Valley, California

A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (British English), also known as a fire protection district, fire authority, or simply fire service is a public or private organization that provides predominantly emergency firefighting and fire protection services for a specific geographic area, which is typically a municipality, county, state, or special district. In the United States a fire brigade is the private firefighting organization of a company or enterprise, operated under rules from OSHA. A fire department usually contains one or more fire stations within its boundaries, and may be staffed by career firefighters, volunteer firefighters, or a combination thereof (referred to as a combination department).[1]

A fire department may also provide "fire protection" or fire prevention services, whereby firefighters visit homes and give fire safety advice and fit smoke alarms for members of the public. In many countries fire protection or prevention is seen as an important role for the fire service, as preventing a fire from occurring in the first place can save lives and property.

Organization

Fire departments are organized in a system of administration, services, training, and operations; for example:

Emergency fire & rescue vehicles of the German fire services.

A fire service is normally set up where it can have fire stations and sophisticated fire engines strategically deployed throughout the area it serves, so that dispatchers can send fire engines, fire trucks, or ambulances from the fire stations closest to the incident. Larger departments have branches within themselves to increase efficiency, composed of volunteers, support, and research.

Jurisdiction

Logistical Center & Maintenance Depot of the Houston Fire Department.

A fire department's jurisdiction is organized by the governmental body that controls the department, although there are private fire services as well. This comes from a municipality, county, prefecture, state, province, or nation type of government. The most common type of government control is at the municipality level. The jurisdiction size and organisation would be set up by a department or the government in charge of these duties. This deals with the placement of fire stations, equipment, and personnel within the area of control. Fire departments periodically survey their jurisdiction areas and use the data for redeploying proper coverage. This data comes from travel time, range from station, and/or a population survey. This brings equal service to the entire community and gives the department efficient places to launch operations.

History

Knox Automobile produced the first modern fire engine in 1905.
A 1951 Dennis P12 fire tender as formerly used by the Wiltshire Fire Brigade.
A Fire and Rescue NSW truck in 2008.

Ancient Rome

The earliest known firefighting service was formed in Ancient Rome by Marcus Egnatius Rufus who used his slaves to provide a free fire service.[2] These men fought fires using bucket chains and also patrolled the streets with the authority to impose corporal punishment upon those who violated fire-prevention codes. The Emperor Augustus established a public fire department in 24 BCE, composed of 600 slaves distributed amongst seven fire stations in Rome.[3]

1600s and 1700s

Fire departments were again formed by property insurance companies beginning in the 17th century after the Great Fire of London in 1666. The first insurance brigades were established the following year.[4] Others began to realize that a lot of money could be made from this practice, and ten more insurance companies set up in London before 1832: The Alliance, Atlas, Globe, Imperial, London, Protector, Royal Exchange, Sun Union and Westminster.[5] Each company had its own fire mark, a durable plaque that would be affixed to the building exterior. A company's fire brigade would not extinguish a burning building if it did not have the correct fire mark.[6]

Amsterdam also had a sophisticated firefighting system in the late 17th century, under the direction of artist Jan van der Heyden, who had improved the designs of both fire hoses and fire pumps.[7]

The city of Boston, Massachusetts established America's first publicly funded, paid fire department in 1679.[8][9] Fire insurance made its debut in the American colonies in South Carolina in 1736, but it was Benjamin Franklin who imported the London model of insurance. He established the colonies' first fire insurance company in Philadelphia named the Philadelphia Contributionship,[4] as well as its associated Union Volunteer Fire Company, which was an unpaid (volunteer) company.[10]

In 1754,[11] Halifax, Nova Scotia established the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, which is today Canada's oldest fire department.

In 1773, the city of Petersburg, Virginia established one of the first fire departments in the United States[12][13] and it was also made up of unpaid volunteers[14]

1800s

In the 19th century, the practice of fire brigades refusing to put out fires in buildings that were uninsured led to the demand of central command for fire companies. Cities began to form their own fire departments as a civil service to the public, obliging private fire companies to shut down, many merging their fire stations into the city's fire department. In 1833, London's ten independent brigades all merged to form the London Fire Engine Establishment (LFEE), with James Braidwood as the Chief Officer.[15] Braidwood had previously been the fire chief in Edinburgh, where the world's first municipal fire service was founded in 1824, and he is now regarded, along with Van der Heyden, as one of founders of modern firefighting.[7] The LFEE then was incorporated into the city's Metropolitan Fire Brigade in 1865 under Eyre Massey Shaw.

Established in 1853, the Cincinnati Fire Department is the oldest paid fully professional municipal fire department in the United States.[16]

In 1879, Notre Dame University established the first University-based fire department in the United States [17]

1900s

In 1906, the first motorized fire department was organized in Springfield, Massachusetts, after Knox Automobile of Springfield produced the first modern fire engine one year earlier.[18]

Emergency Medical Services

In many countries or regions (e.g., the United States, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau), fire departments are often responsible for providing emergency medical services. Firefighters are cross-trained as emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians, ambulance technicians, or paramedics. Some services act only as "first responders" to medical emergencies, stabilizing victims until an ambulance can arrive. Many fire services also operate ambulance services.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cote, Arthur E. (2003). "Basics of Fire and Fire Science". Organizing for Fire And Rescue Services. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-87765-577-0.
  2. ↑ "Fire-brigades in the Roman realm". Economypoint.org. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  3. ↑ Coe, Charles K. (February 2009). Handbook of Urban Services: A Basic Guide for Local Governments. M.E. Sharpe. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7656-2294-5. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 Cote, Arthur E.; Bugbee, Percy (December 1988). Principles of fire protection. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-87765-345-5. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "From Fire Marks to James Braidwood, the Surveyor who set up the Fire Brigade". Independent Surveyors Association. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  6. ↑ "Firemarks and payments". London Fire Brigade. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  7. 1 2 Hensler, Bruce (1 June 2011). Crucible of Fire: Nineteenth-Century Urban Fires and the Making of the Modern Fire Service. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-1-59797-684-8. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Klinoff, Robert (2007). "Public Fire Protection". Introduction to Fire Protection, 3rd Edition. Thomson Delmar Learning. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-4180-0177-3.
  9. ↑ "History - City of Boston".
  10. ↑ IFSTA (2004). Fire Service Orientation and Terminology. Fire Protection Publications, University of Oklahoma. ISBN 978-0-87939-232-1.
  11. ↑ "Museum shows off Canada's oldest fire department's history". The Chronicle Herald.
  12. ↑ "Established in 1773, the Petersburg Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services is one of the oldest organized fire departments in the country"
  13. ↑ "Petersburg, VA - Official Website - Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services".
  14. ↑ "Petersburg, VA - Official Website - Fire Department History".
  15. ↑ "James Braidwood and the London Fire Engine Establishment (LFEE)". London Fire Brigade. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  16. ↑ Grace, Kevin (Oct 29, 2012). Irish Cincinnati. Arcadia Publishing. p. 44. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  17. ↑ ENR/PAZ // University Communications: Web // University of Notre Dame. "NDFD, nation's oldest university fire department, turns 135".
  18. ↑ KNOX AUTOMOBILE COMPANY Accessed: 4/27/2012
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