Introduction
Fire Fighting or Fire Services in United States date back to 17th century due to conflagrating inferno of 1631 in Boston, a colony of Massachusetts Bay passed legislation for no smoking in public accommodations. In 2012, 1,129,250 firefighters worked in United States, 31% of them were career fire fighters and 69% of them were volunteers. Currently there are 30,100 Fire Departments in United States alone and these departments have 6,900 aerial apparatus, 66,900 pumpers, 52,650 fire stations and 74,000 suppression vehicles. In 2012, 68% of the responses from fire departments were for medical calls and fire department responded to a fire in every 23 seconds. Majority of fire fighters come from age group of 30-39 & 40-49 years for protection of larger communities (“nfpa”).
History of Fire Services
Fire services in United States started from New Amsterdam now known as New York, when Peter Stuyvesant the Director-General appointed 4 wardens in 1648. In 1653, similar laws were followed in Boston and first engine was bought in 1654. Philadelphia got their engine in 1719 and New York secured their fire engine in 1731. In early years, Fire extinction and prevention depended upon chimney laws, simple ladders, bucket brigades and imported hand-pumped engines from Europe manned by volunteers. Actual fire departments and companies were active in cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia in early 18th Century. Thomas Jefferson and many other prominent individuals were amongst early volunteers. In early years, fire alarms were given verbally or by gongs, bells and rattles. Gradually telegraph fire alarm system developed its distinct fire boxes. Now Fire services have radio pagers, paid dispatchers, 911 emergency telephone network and voice-activated street boxes as emergency response system.
Firefighting labor was divided since the beginning, Hose companies were responsible for water supply to engines and they applied the water to fires. Ladder and Hook companies used to be responsible for rescuing, overhaul and ventilation. Even today, turnout coats, helmets, axes, boots used today clearly resemble the predecessors. Despite their skill, dedication, enthusiasm and energy were incapable to control and manage major fires. An example on this is New York; major portions of city were engulfed in destruction in 1776, 1835 and 1845.
Major Fires in US History
Among many fires which led to massive destruction their cities, two of the most commonly discussed fires are:
Chicago 1871
On 8th October 1871 just past 9’ o clock in evening, fire started in 13, Dekoven Street at barn behind Patrick and Catherine O’Leary’s home. How this fire actually started is still a mystery but Ms. O’Leary’s cow got the credit in many cases. With many firefighters exhausted from fighting a huge fire from previous day, were sent to a different neighborhood. When after their misdirection they finally reached O’Leary’s house, they were faced by a fir out of their control. The blaze from the fire rapidly spread across north and east. Commercial, industrial, wooden houses and many private mansions got consumed in the fire. After, two days of blazing fire rain started to fall and 10th October 1871 the fire finally died which left the city completely devastated. Close 300 people dies, 100,000 people became homeless and property worth $200 million was destructed. The Chicago fire was a major event in the history of the great city of Chicago (“Chicagohs”).
San Francisco 1905
The San Francisco fire burned 490 Cityblocks, 25,000 buildings and more than 3,000 people died due to the fire and the earthquake which presided and resulted in fire. The earthquake which hit San Francisco on 18th April 1906 destroyed many man-made structures. The fire was an aftereffect of the massive earthquake and dynamites used by poorly led and untrained firefighters to break fires which destructed many man-made structures. According to some estimates, this was the cause destruction of more than 50% of the buildings which could have been saved (“toptenz”).
This fire led by earthquake turned out to be one of the largest in American history and destroyed water mains which didn’t help, but the biggest problem for San Francisco was its dire straits before the earthquake and fire due to unresponsive and corrupt government which diverted funds given to solve the emergencies for other projects, which left firefighters without required equipment. However, its remarkable the speed with which San Francisco recovered and left no trace of any anguish it suffered in past.
Cause and Effects of Fires
Chicago 1871
Cause and Effect
Historians agree to the source of fire being the small fire which started in barn behind the home of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick and Catherine O'Leary. The blaze spared the home of O’Leary at 137, Dekoven Street, but that was the fate of most of the city. In early morning of 10th October, a Tuesday, the fire died out and left Chicago with only a spare of its earlier self. Property worth $192 million was destroyed, 300 people dies and 100,000 were left homeless.
In end of 1871, Board of Police and Fire commission held their enquiry. The main purpose of the investigation among other things was to determine the actual cause of fire. Th board took 50 people which included Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary and a reporter noted down 110 pages in handwritten testimony. Despite the long drawn enquiry, board members failed to determine the cause of fire and the report they shared stated “whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night, or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine” (“thechicagofire”).
Despite the devastating fire, the infrastructure of Chicago city which included its transportation system stayed intact. Reconstruction started rapidly and stimulated economic development, population migration and growth; many architects played their role in making Chicago a modern city with several skyscrapers. At time of fire, population of Chicago was 324,000 and in coming nine years the population rose to 500,000. By 1890, Chicago became major transportation and economic hub with more than 1 million people residing.
Today, training academy of Chicago Fire Department is at O’Leary’s house from where the great fire started. In 1997, Chicago city council passed resolution to vindicate Catherine O’Leary who died in 1895 and her cow for the fire (“History”).
San Francisco
Cause and Effect
On 18th April 1906, the first shock of a devastating earthquake was felt at 5:12 AM and the earthquake lasted for total 28 seconds. The city woke up to a terrifying fate of destruction and if the earthquake was not enough, within a space of few hours around 52 fires started and number which can raise alarm bells in any situations. Three days after the fire was finally extinguished, the death toll stood at 478 which included the death of Fire department Chief, Dennis Sullivan and the property loss stood at $350 million.
In early morning three fire alarms broke at Mason and Bay streets and firemen at downtown had just returned back and were tired when this quake started. Out of 600 glass batteries 556 broke due to the earthquake and almost all alarms broke at first shock. Thus, most of the alarms were not working when the fire started out (“guardiansofthecity”).
The earthquake resulted in 225,000 people in the San Francisco ending up homeless. The fire destroyed ¼ of the city which counted to 500 blocks and 28,000 buildings. Reconstruction efforts led to spending of $90 million in the next one and half years. Fires continued to burn for three days and nights and the heat were as high as 2,700°F, making the fires more catastrophic than the prior earthquake. The navy helped in putting the fires out by water lines and gave water to fire department to help them use steam engine. San Francisco got $9 million as relief money from cities, individuals, states and other nations. Army distributed clothing, food and necessities to victims and ran around 21 refugee camps. Many shack-styled cottages were made in next 6 months as replacement of tents of refugee camps in Fort Point, Presidio, Golden Gate and others (“buffalo”).
Role of Technology in development of Fire services
The firefighters of twentieth century both paid and volunteers started to benefit from three advancements in technology which were The Internal combustion engine, Radio Communication and SCBA (Self-contained breathing apparatus).
Overtime, the Fire services have seen many other technologies like the Sprinkler. Fire Sprinklers has become very important part of installation and maintenance of property for fire loss reduction and prevention.
Smoke Alarms and detectors are instruments which are activated as soon as they get any sign of smoke from the area they are installed in. They are extremely effective and many hotels and restaurants install smoke detectors and alarms for security purposes (“fema”).
GIS (geographic information system) is another emerging tool for fire services. Its supports preparedness, planning, response, mitigation and management of incidents. GIS provides information in correct form it is needed. GIS uses extension of maps capability with interactive and intelligent maps having all the information, data and analysis needed (“esri”).
Conclusion
Fire Fighting or Fire Services in United States date back to 17th century due to conflagrating inferno of 1631 in Boston, a colony of Massachusetts Bay passed legislation for no smoking in public accommodations. Fire services in United States started from New Amsterdam now known as New York, when Peter Stuyvesant the Director-General appointed 4 wardens in 1648. Among many fires which led to massive destruction their cities, two of the most commonly discussed fires are Chicago 1871 and San Francisco 1905. In many cases Firefighters have performed several acts of heroism and they have been commended and recognized for their bravery. They have quieted many blazing fires all around United States for close to 150 years. There are times when you deem to think what could have happened if they didn’t come to save the people, property and infrastructure every time their get a fire response on their alarms. Adoption of cross of Malta’s medieval knights is emblem of fire services, and they continue to save property and lives on regular basis.
Works Cited
“THE U.S. FIRE SERVICE” . http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics/the-us-fire-service. nfpa.org. Web. 2013
Dunnings, D.J. “History United States Fire Service”. http://www.signal51group.com/Hist/US_history/ush.htm. signal51group.com. Web. 2013
“The Great Chicago Fire”. http://www.chicagohs.org/history/fire.html. chicagohs.org. Web. 2013
Danelek, J. “Top 10 Most Famous Fires in History”. http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-famous-fires-in-history.php. toptenz.net. Web. 2013
“Chicago Fire of 1871”. http://www.history.com/topics/great-chicago-fire. history.com. Web. 2013
Bates, R.F. “What do we know about the Great Chicago Fire?”. http://www.thechicagofire.com/. thechicagofire.com. Web. 2013
“Quick Facts about the 1906 Earthquake and Fires”.
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/1906_Earthquake/additional_information/earthquake-facts.asp. buffalo.edu. Web. 2013
“GIS Technology and Applications for the Fire Service”. http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/fire-service-gis-applications.pdf. esri.com. March 2006. Web. Nov 2013
“America at Risk”. http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa-223-508.pdf. fema.gov. June 2002. Web. Nov 2013
