Firemen and Their Exploits / With some account of the rise and development of fire-brigades, of various appliances for saving life at fires and extinguishing the flames.

by F. M. Holmes

But, the water obtained and the engine ready, the method of attacking the fire at close quarters and inside the edifice is adopted if practicable; and, to accomplish this purpose, the firemen have to fight through blinding and suffocating smoke. For hours they may struggle, well-nigh choked and scorched, though scarce a flash of flame may be visible. To reach the seat of fire, doors are broken down, and even iron shutters opened; while hose is led upstairs, or down into cellars, in order to quench the flames at their source.

Sometimes, however, on arrival at a fire, the chiefs realize that the conflagration has gained such hold that the firemen's efforts will be most usefully directed to prevent it from spreading. When the water has done its work, the fireman can usually turn it off by a relief-valve without recourse to the engineer, the complete control thus gained tending to prevent unnecessary damage by water.

The American fire-brigades—or departments, as they are called—may be broadly divided into two classes: those of great cities, consisting of a paid staff of officers and men, devoting all their time to the service; and, secondly, those of smaller places, consisting of a staff of unpaid volunteers, pursuing their usual daily avocations, but agreeing to respond to fire-alarms;—these men, though unpaid, are generally exempt from service as jurymen and militiamen, and sometimes are permitted a slight abatement of taxation. Some brigades, again, consist partly of fully-paid firemen, and partly of volunteers.

Many of these organizations are not only charged with the extinguishment of fires, but also with the regulation of the storage and sale of combustibles, and in some cities with the supervision of building construction. It is claimed that this arrangement has led to a much more economical and efficient administration of this department; and undoubtedly the fire-brigade has a very lively interest in the security and stability of buildings. The firemen's efforts to improve them rank as valuable precautions and preventives of fire.

It is also claimed that some of the American fire departments, as, for instance, that of New York, are among the best in the world, and their engines superior in size and capacity and greater in number than those of other lands. On the other hand, the laws regulating the prevention of fires are said to have been less stringent than those obtaining in some other countries.

The terrible fire in New York in 1835, when the loss reached three million pounds, led to the development of the fire-service and of apparatus; and prizes were offered for designs for steam fire-engines. Cincinnati appears to have taken the lead at first; but the New York Fire Department is now regarded as one of the most perfect. It is under the control of three commissioners, whom the mayor appoints; and it has substantially a military organization.

The paid brigades are usually divided into companies, varying from six to twelve individuals, including both officers and men. A company may be supplied with a steam fire-engine and tender for hose, or with a chemical fire-engine, such being called "engine companies"; or with a hook-and-ladder truck and horses, called "hook-and-ladder companies"; or with hose-cart only and horses, called "hose companies." A hose-cart will carry nearly a thousand feet of hose, as well as tools for use at fires and half a dozen firemen; while some of them also convey short scaling-ladders.

A water-tower is sometimes placed with an engine or a hook-and-ladder company; and, again, these two companies are occasionally brigaded together. Further, many cities are arranged into company districts, the captain of each company taking general control over all material, and the enforcement of the laws connected with his department. In some cities, the companies are combined into battalions under a chief of battalion, the highest officer commanding the whole being known as the chief of the department, or may be rejoicing in the imposing title of the Fire-Marshal.

Some of the larger cities have shown their wisdom in appointing their firemen for life, including the highest officers, dismissal only taking place on misconduct; but in others the baneful practice is followed of dismissing at least the chief officials after a change in local politics—a plan which does not conduce to great efficiency and discipline. New York has abandoned this policy since 1867.

In arranging sites for the fire companies, the principle pursued is to distribute small companies with different appliances over as wide an area as possible, instead of concentrating men and appliances at certain central points. By thus placing companies separately, it is believed that a larger area is served in the same time than by concentrating them together. On the occurrence of large fires, when many companies are called out, distant companies are called from various points, like reserves, to take the places of some of those in action, to meet calls that may arise in the same districts; while at some stations, or company houses, the men are divided into two sections with duplicate apparatus, so that, while one responds instantly to the first call, the second at once prepares to answer any subsequent alarm.