by
Marty
FFRS Associate -- Missouri, USA
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Volunteer fire departments have been
around for a long time. Where did they originate and who started them?
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The man who established the first
volunteer fire department also invented bifocals, wrote and printed Poor
Richard’s Almanac, studied electricity and helped draft the Declaration
of Independence. His name was Benjamin Franklin. The first volunteer
fire department began in Philadelphia in 1736.
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Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia from
Boston at the age of eighteen. Boston had been greatly affected by fire.
The city of Boston experienced major fires in 1653 and 1676. After the
fire in 1676, Boston purchased a London pumper. The city then hired
Thomas Atkins and twelve other men to fight fires. These were the first
paid firefighters in the United States. In 1711, another major fire
occurred in Boston. One hundred ten families lost their homes. At the
age of six Benjamin Franklin witnessed this fire. Concerned citizens
banded together and formed The Mutual Fire Societies in 1711. When fire
struck a member of the Mutual Fire Society, other members of the club
rushed to help battle the blaze. Each society had approximately twenty
members. Dennis Smith stated the following: “The Mutual Fire Societies
became social as well as protective associations, setting a pattern for
organized volunteer firefighting groups, which would one day be the
backbone of firefighting in America and would dominate it for a century
and a half.”
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In 1682, the city of Philadelphia was
founded by William Penn. When determining where to locate the city Penn
gave careful thought to the dangers of fire. He had witnessed the London
fire in 1666 and did not want Philadelphia to suffer the same fate. To
reduce the possibility of fire, a fire ordinance in Philadelphia in 1696
required chimney cleaning. Philadelphia also had a large number of brick
buildings that made it less susceptible to fire.
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In 1718, Philadelphia bought its first
engine. It was named The Shag Rag but it was not put into service until
1730 when Philadelphia had a fire that destroyed much of the commercial
district along the river. The Shag Rag was no match for the
conflagration because it only produced a trickle of water. In the twelve
years the city owned it no one had maintained it. Ben Franklin urged the
city to get better organized to fight fires. Shortly thereafter the city
bought four hundred fire buckets, twenty ladders and hooks and two
additional engines.
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In 1733, Ben Franklin often wrote about
the dangers of fire and the need for organized fire protection in his
newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette. Ben Franklin was familiar with
Boston’s Mutual Fire Societies which were also known as “Fire Clubs.”
But the “Fire Clubs” existed for the protection of its members, not the
community at large. Collins wrote that [Ben Franklin] “wanted
organizations that would battle all fires, regardless of whose property
was burning.”
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After an extensive fire in Philadelphia in
1736, Franklin created a fire brigade called The Union Fire company with
30 volunteers. The first full-fledged volunteer firefighter in America
was Isaac Paschal. The idea of volunteer fire brigades gained
popularity. Not wanting more than 30-40 men per company, additional
companies were formed in Philadelphia. Some of them were: The
Fellowship, Hand-in-Hand and Heart-in-Hand, and Friendship Companies.
Each of the companies paid for their own equipment and located it
throughout town at strategic places. Most early fire companies in
Philadelphia and other cities had professionals, wealthier merchants and
tradespeople serving in the volunteer fire department. These citizens
were able to afford to purchase equipment and pay fines for missing
meetings and fires.
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Some famous Americans who served as
volunteer firefighters were: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay, John Barry, Aaron Burr, Benedict Arnold, James
Buchanan and Millard Fillmore also served as volunteer firemen.
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In 1818, women began serving as volunteer
firefighters. The first recorded female volunteer was Molly Williams, a
black slave who belonged to a New York merchant, Benjamin Aymar of
Oceanus No. 11. Paul Ditzel in Fire Engines, Firefighters provided the
following information: “Molly was a very distinguished volunteer of No.
11 Engine. She used to be called ‘Volunteer No. 11.’” Molly fought fires
wearing a calico dress and checked apron. During a blizzard in 1818, she
helped drag the engine to the scene of a fire. She always told those who
asked, “‘I belongs to ole ‘Leven; I allers runs wid dat ole bull-gine.’”
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In 1820, Marina Betts served as a
volunteer in Pittsburgh and claimed she never missed an alarm during her
ten years as a firefighter. Paul Ditzel stated: “Betts became famous for
dumping buckets of water over male bystanders who refused to help fight
fires.”
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Lillie Hitchcock, a resident of San
Francisco, was America’s most famous female firefighter. She worked with
Knickbocker Engine Company No. 5 beginning in 1851. According to
Frederick J. Bowlen’s account, one day on the way to a fire there were
not enough men to pull the engine for the Knickerbocker Company. Not
only that but when the Knickerbocker Company’s engine was passed by the
Manhattan No. 2 and Howard No. 3 on the way to a fire, the men received
humiliating remarks from the other firefighters. Fifteen year-old Lillie
Hitchcock saw their plight and dashed to the vacant spot on the rope.
Pulling with all her might she shouted to the bystanders, “Come on, you
men! Everybody pull and we’ll beat them!” This teenage socialite began
attending fires and the company gave her an honorary membership. Even
after her marriage to Howard Coit she was still interested in
firefighting. As time passed she no longer followed the engine to fires
but she visited many an injured firefighter and sent flowers when
firemen died in the line of duty. Her estate provided funds to build a
monument to honor volunteer firefighters.
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Before 1850 no city in the United States
had fully paid, full-time firefighters. Volunteer firefighters played
and continue to play an invaluable role in protecting lives and
property.
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References:
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Bowlen, Frederick J. “Elizabeth Wyche
“Lillie” Hitchcock Coit.” San Francisco Chronicle. 30 May 1939.
Museum of the City of San Francisco Web Page.
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Collins, Donald. Our Volunteer Firemen,
1736-1882. Ephrata, PA: Science Press, 1982.
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Smith, Dennis. Dennis Smith’s History of
Firefighting in America: 300 years. New York: Dial, 1978.
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