The history of the fire engine

When boys (and some girls) grow up they want to be two things, a fireman or a policeman. Nothing is as exciting as a big red truck speeding down the road with sirens blaring and lights flashing off to put down some big fire and most likely save people’s lives. Where did it all start though?

1700 – Water pumps on wheels:

The first fire engines were water pumps fixed with wheels. You had fire fighters called “bucket brigades” who pulled the water pump to the fire and started pumping while the other fire man hosed the fire down. The water pump didn’t have any seats and was just a basic pump and wheel design. It moved slowly as the water filled tank was heavy. Even if two people were pulling it they took quite some time to get to the fire and then the fire most likely destroyed everything already.

1800 – Water pumps pulled by horses

Paid fire fighters came into the scene which made it easier to set up a budget. This way the service could hire horses to pull the heavy water pump. This resulted in quicker response times and a lot of homes and lives being saved. The only problem was that this still didn’t solve the issue of transporting the firemen since they had to run after the water pump and rest before they could start fighting the fire. The fire fighters later added running boards and steps which they could jump onto.These added designs made the pump heavier for the poor horse which resulted in the next invention.

1841 –Steam powered fire engine

The first steam powered fire engine was built in New York and was self propelled. It didn’t last though as most fire fighters saw this design as a dangerous concept and didn’t trust the propulsion solution. They only started using it ten years later once they trusted the design.

When the building started to grow in size in the 1930’s fire fighters installed ladders to reach the higher floors. This resulted in a 150 feet long ladder which was installed on a swivel which was built onto the fire truck.

1960’s – Modern day Fire trucks

The full final design of the fire engines as we know it was defined in the 1960’s. The truck was self propelled, had seats for the fire fighters, had a modern water pump, ladders and a cherry picker.

 Time surely does improve inventions; it’s great that technology can become so advanced in such a short time. Can’t wait to see when they invent Hover Fire Trucks or fire truck trailers for sale.