"Enola E"
Date
of Creation: 1994
The Roman emperor Augustus is credited with instituting a corps
of fire-fighting watchmen in 24 BC. In the preindustrial era, most cities had
watchmen who sounded an alarm at signs of fire. Following the Great Fire of
London in 1666, fire brigades were formed by insurance companies and after a
major fire in Boston in 1631, the first fire regulation in America was
established. In 1648 in New Amsterdam (now New York) fire wardens were
appointed, thereby establishing the beginnings of the first public fire
department in North America. Ben Franklin was a volunteer fireman and the chief
of the first centralized volunteer company in the colonies.
The first
fire engines, appearing in the 17th century, were tubs carried on runners, long
poles, or wheels; water was still supplied to the fire site by bucket brigade.
The hand-stitched leather hosepipe of 1672 enabled fire fighters to work closer
to the fire without endangering their engines and increase the accuracy of
water placement. At about the same time the development of pumping devices made
it possible to draw water from rivers and ponds. In the early 19th century
copper rivets replaced the stitching on hoses and cotton- covered rubber hoses
were developed around 1870. The steam-pump fire engine, introduced in 1829, was
used in many large cities by the 1850s.
With the development of the
internal-combustion engine, pumpers became motorized. The first pumper using a
single engine for pumping and propulsion was manufactured in the United States
in 1907. By 1925 the steam pumper had been completely replaced by motorized
pumpers. At the same time, the pumper acquired its main characteristics: a
powerful pump that can supply water in a large range of volumes and pressures;
several thousand feet of fire hose, with short lengths of large-diameter hose
for attachment to hydrants; and a water tank for the initial attack on a fire
while fire fighters connect the pump to hydrants, and for areas where no water
supply is available. In rural areas, pumpers carry suction hose to draw water
from rivers and ponds.
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