1. History of Fire Protection
Unit 1
Chapter 3

2. Introduction Evolution of Fire Protection Historical Perspective
Apparatus
Equipment
Operations
The US Fire Problem today
Scope of Fire Agencies
Risk Management

3. Evolution of Fire Protection in US
First recognized firefighting force
Corps of Vigiles
Result of numerous disastrous fires
Used buckets & axes
Patrolled streets
Had fire prevention responsibilities as well
Romans had crude pumps
Technology lost for 1,000 years

4. Evolution of Fire Protection in US
Jamestown, VA founded in 1607
Destroyed in 1608 by conflagration

5. Plymouth, MA founded in 1620
Destroyed in 1623 by conflagration
All 13 original colonies experienced devastating fires

6. Evolution of Fire Protection
What factors led to these conflagrations?
Closely spaced buildings
Thatched roofs
Wooden chimneys
No water supply/equipment
Boston, MA in 1631
Prohibited thatch roofs and wooden chimneys (after fires proved the need to eliminate these two things)

7. Evolution of Fire Protection
New Amsterdam (New York) in 1647
Building code prohibiting wood or plaster chimneys
Established fire wardens
Established a curfew
“Rattle watch”

8. Great London Fire of 1666 Burned for 5 days
Destroyed nearly 2/3rds of the City
Buckets, hooks & primitive fire engines inadequate
Led to development of a building code
Led to formation of Insurance Companies
Dr. Nicholas Barbon
For premium would rebuild house if destroyed by fire

10. Evolution of Fire Protection
LONDON:
City had no firefighting force
Insurance companies began advertising
Insurance companies established their own fire brigades to minimize risk of loss
Plaque (Fire Mark)
Only extinguished fires in buildings they insured
Concept spread to US

12. Evolution of Fire Protection
In the US - Mutual Fire Societies developed
Mostly for salvage of property
Predecessor of volunteer fire companies
Members carried a bag (for valuables) containing
Screwdriver
Bed key

13. Evolution of Fire Protection
Boston - 1st publicly funded paid FD
Ben Franklin - Union Volunteer Fire Company
Said to be 1st volunteer fire company

14. Evolution of Fire Protection
England - Insurance companies had their own FDs
US - Insurance company paid the 1st company to put water on the fire
What was the predictable result?
Fierce competition among various organizations to get “1st water”
First fully paid FD - Cincinnati
1853

16. Water Water Systems Wooden fire mains As early was 1649 Wooden plug
Water cisterns - early 1800s
Water available for firefighting
Considered preferable to wooden mains
Required a pumper that could draft
Fire Hydrants
Installed on public water mains in 1830s and 40s
Initially mains were only 3-4” in diameter

17. Hose Hoses Sewn leather 1673 Riveted leather 1800s
Rubber lined cotton jacketed
1821
Synthetic hose
Late 20th century

18. Pumps Pumps Siphona - 4th Century BC Modern hand pumps 1653
Newsham hand pump
1721
Combined 2 separate hand pumps
Pulled & operated by hand

20. Too heavy for men to pull
Used horses

21. Pumps Very controversial - why???? -Viewed as a threat to volunteers
-Previously handpumpers required large volunteer companies

22. Pumps Chemical engines Centrifugal pumps Late 1800s
Carried 2 tanks
Soda & water
Acid
Mixture created pressure to discharge water
Centrifugal pumps
Post-internal combustion engine

23. Tactics Tactics: Pre-fire pump era Bucket brigades
Use of hooks to pull down buildings
Use of gunpowder to blow up buildings to create fire breaks
Tax money used to compensate those who’s house/building was torn down - but not those who’s house was burned down

24. Tactics Tactics - Pumper era Steam pumpers Chemical engines
Handpumpers
Hose & nozzles
Large complex pumpers requiring large numbers of men
Steam pumpers
Chemical engines
Centrifugal pumps

25. Fire Alarms
How did the community alert it’s firefighters of an alarm in 1776?
Yelling
Church bells
How did firefighters get more help to the scene in 1886?
Runners
Telegraph box (1850s)

26. Fire Alarms
How did the difficulty in communicating impact the ability of the FD to respond to fires?
Need more people on trucks
Need a lot of trucks
Stations need to be closer together
How did the implementation of radios change how fire departments operate?

27. US Fire Losses 1871 - Great Chicago fire 3 days
3 1/2 square miles of buildings
100,000 homeless
300 killed

28. Chicago Fire

29. U S Fire Losses 1871 - Peshtigo, Wisconsin
2400 square miles of forests
some buildings
1000 deaths

30. US Fire Losses 1904 - Baltimore 155 acres of mercantile property
$50 million damages
50,000 lost jobs
Led to standardized hose fittings

31. US Fire Losses 1906 - San Francisco Earthquake
4.7 sq. miles destroyed by fire
25,000 buildings burned
450 killed

32. US Fire Problem Today
Where are the conflagrations of the 21st century occurring?

33. Wildland Fires Contributing factors: Combustible roofs
Houses located close to combustible vegetation
Poor fire preparation of wildland areas
Response distances/head start

34. US Fire Problem Other fire problems:
US has highest fire death rate per capita
4,000 fire deaths/year
22,000 injuries/year
80% of deaths occur in residential fires
3rd leading cause of accidental death in homes
2 Million fires/year reported
$10 billion in direct losses

35. US Fire Problem 40% of homes that burn do not have a smoke detector
Accounts for 60% of the fire deaths
Working smoke detector doubles your chance of surviving a fire
30% of fires that kill young children are caused by “children playing” with fire

36. US Fire Problem
What are the top 5 areas of origin of fires in residences?
Kitchen - 29%
Bedroom - 13%
Living room/den - 8%
Chimney - 8%
Laundry area - 4%

37. Scope of US Fire Agencies
What is the role of a fire department?
Originally - focus was saving lives & property from fire
Water and collateral damage - non-issue
Prevention - necessary evil
Modern thought:
Manage community risk
Fire is one component
STRATEGIC THINKING
Buggy whip maker in doing great
Can improve, keep costs down, etc.
Now it’s maybe
If he doesn’t look around and see what’s happening - he’ll be out of business soon
By taking on additional tasks - we can still retain much of the staffing size we need to handle major fires
Vehicle extrication
EMS
Hazmat
Public ed

38. Managing Community Risk
Saving property from fire & other disasters
Saving lives, including
EMS
Technical rescue/hazmat/terrorism response
Fire prevention & education
Outreach programs
Vaccinations/wellness programs
Seat belt programs
Back yard pool safety

39. Fire Defense Planning
Provide an integrated fire defense system at the least cost to the public
What is the acceptable level of fire losses?
Deaths
Injuries
Property
What is the best way to reach that level?
Who’s decision is it?
Are we more likely to reach 0 deaths by hiring more firefighters?
Or by requiring sprinklers/smoke detectors?
By education programs

40. Risk Management What is Risk?
Looks at 2 factors
Probability
Consequence (severity)
Risk management -the evaluation or comparison of risks and the development of approaches that change the probabilities or the severity of consequences
What is riskier:
Activity where:
1 in 2 chance of getting hurt - but if you get hurt 90 % chance it will be a small cut, 9% chance it will be a cut that needs a stitch, and 1% chance it could take 2 stitches or
1 in 1,000 chance of getting hurt, but if you get hurt there’s a 90% chance you will die, 9% chance you will become a vegetable, and 1% chance you will ever walk again
High Frequency - High Severity
High Frequency - Low Severity
Low Frequency - High Severity
Low Frequency - Low Severity

41. Risk Management Failure

42. Risk Management Three control measures for managing risk are:
Engineering
Administrative
Personal protection (PPE)
Which one is the preferred technique?
Which one is used as the last resort?
What is the preferred (best) control measures to use:
EXAMPLES:
Exposure to diesel exhaust
Engineer Cleaner engines
Exhaust removal systems
Administrative
SOP to not rev engines in stations when starting
SOP not to leave trucks running in station
Leave door open for 15 minutes
PPE - supply face mask or SCBA
FFs getting back injuries
Chemical process - that creates toxic fumes