The Firefighters

Derek Wright

June 2003

From Roman times through to the modern age, fire and firefighting has always been a serious business. Ex-fire officer, Derek Wright, takes us through the history of firefighting – from bucket chains to foam blankets, from the horse-drawn pump to the high-pressure hose. But, with 30 years firefighting experience behind him, he asserts that water is the still the best fire extinguisher we know of.

Ancient Rome is known to have had an organised firefighting service. About 7000 paid men, the 'Vigiles', were recruited as firefighters. It's most likely that a similar organisation was set up in all large Roman cities, including London. It's known that the Romans used bucket chains – buckets passed hand-to-hand to deliver water to the fire.

In about 200 BC, Ctesibius of Alexandria invented a pump able to deliver water to a fire. The pump was manually operated and employed piston technology. An air vessel was incorporated into the output side of the pump to counteract the pulsating effect of the pump. (The remains of one such pump was discovered in the ruins of a fire station in Silchester, Hampshire.) But as the Roman Empire disintegrated, the pump invention was temporarily lost.

Improving the pump

Without a reliable means of putting water onto a fire, the most effective way to fight fire was often to pull down the buildings around the one that was burning, to create a fire break. The most useful firefighting tools became the axe and the hooks that were used to pull down the flaming buildings. Bucket chains were used to put out any small fires that may break out in adjacent properties.

Then, in the Middle Ages, 'squirts' began to be used to apply jets of water to fires. The squirt worked rather like a bicycle pump. The nozzle was dipped into water and about one litre was sucked up by pulling out the plunger. The charged squirt was then directed at the fire and the plunger pushed home to eject the water. Squirts were used on the 1666 Great Fire of London.

One of the first designs of fire pump consisted of a hand-operated pump fixed into a water tank. The tank was mounted on a trolley, which could be manhandled to a fire. Four men worked the pump through extended handles to deliver a pulsating jet of water through a swivelling nozzle mounted on top of the tank. The tank was kept filled by a bucket chain.

The need for larger pumps was met by the invention of a 10-man pump by Richard Newsham in 1725. The development of the manual pump continued into the late 19th century. Horse-drawn, 20-man manual pumps provided fire cover in many small towns, stately homes and factory estates until displaced by motor driven appliances in the 20th century.

Organised firefighting

After the 1666 Great Fire of London, building owners began to insure their properties against loss by fire. This prompted the insurance companies to protect their risks by setting up their own fire brigades.

To ensure the insurance company fire brigades only fought fires in properties insured by them, buildings displayed fire marks depicting the icon of the company concerned. When fire was reported, insurance firefighters raced to the scene, but only those whose mark was on the building actually fought the fire. It's believed that on occasions rival crews actually interfered with each others' firefighting efforts.

As the insurance industry grew, companies realised the advantages of pooling their firefighting resources. In London, this eventually led to the formation of the London Fire Engine Establishment, which eventually became the London Fire Brigade.

The first large city to establish a proper fire brigade was Edinburgh. The organisation was under the command of James Braidwood as Master of the Fire Engines. Braidwood was later appointed chief of the London Fire Engine Establishment.

Development of the fire engine

The first steam-powered pump appeared in 1829. Braidwood was not very impressed with it preferring to use the tried and tested manual pumps. By the mid 1800s however, new improved steam pumps were available and these were 'put on the run' (to use fire service jargon) in most large fire stations. Still horse-drawn, these machines had quick-steaming boilers, often kept warm when on standby at the fire stations by lighted gas rings placed in the fire box.

Upon receipt of a call, the engineer would light up a coal fire whilst the horses were attached using a quick-hitch harness. The firemen donned their brass helmets, fire tunics and boots and climbed aboard, hanging onto brass handles fixed to the body of the fire engine. Early fire engines had no warning bells or claxons, so the firemen would clear a way by shouting as they proceeded to the fire. Fire calls became known as 'shouts', a term still widely used in the fire service today. At the fire, water was pumped through leather hoses and delivered through long jets known as branches. Water was obtained from hydrants fixed into the water mains or sucked from streams or rivers.

Eventually the first motor driven fire engines appeared and these quickly took over the front line firefighting duties. Some steam fire engines lingered on until the early 1940s, although now hauled by motor vehicles rather than horses. Fabric hose replaced leather and a national standard for standard hose and hydrant fittings allowed fire appliances from anywhere in Britain to work at any location.

These fire pumps needed considerable maintenance to keep them in good working order. Despite the use of air vessels to dampen the pulsating flow from the pump, the constant 'kick' of the hose quickly fatigued firefighters. Centrifugal pumps gave a constant flow of water and were better able to respond to flow changes in the firefighting streams. By the late 1930s most reciprocating pumps had been phased out of service. Modern centrifugal pumps are capable of delivering up to 4500 litres of water per minute at 6 bar pressure.

Using the right medium

Water is not suitable for all fires. Fire involving liquids that are lighter than water, like oil, require the use of foam. Foam is created by mixing a foam compound with water and discharging it through a device that will also add air into the solution to make a foam. The foam floats on the surface of the oil to form a fire-resisting blanket. Early foam compounds were made from animal blood and were extremely unstable. The compound had to be kept in airtight containers and had a limited shelf life. Modern foams have eliminated the problems of earlier compounds although the foam is still produced at the fire in much the same way.

Because water can conduct electricity, it's not suitable for fires involving high voltage electricity. CTC (carbon tetrachloride) was once used for electrical fires. The vapour given off from the liquid quickly excluded oxygen in the vicinity of the fire, causing it to go out. But It could also cause long-term physical damage to those exposed to CTC vapour. So a new material, Halon, was developed. This had virtually the same fire extinguishing qualities as CTC but without the health hazards. However, it was recognised as ozone depleting and is now only used in exceptional cases.

Rescue

Firefighting includes the rescue of people trapped in a building by fire. People trapped on upper floors used to be encouraged to leap from windows into sheets held taut by firefighters and others on the ground. For lower storeys, interlocking scaling ladders were used to get people out.

In the 19th century, wheeled escape ladders could be found stored on street corners ready for use by the public. These heavy ladders, mounted on a cartwheel chassis, could be wheeled against a burning building and extended up to 15 metres to reach people trapped by fire. Later, escape ladders were carried on fire engines. The 'pump escape' was often the first appliance to be dispatched to a fire in a building. Some escape ladders had a canvas chute slung under the ladder, down which people could slide rather than negotiating the ladder itself. The last escape ladders were phased out of service in the mid 1980s.

The turntable ladder was developed for use with higher buildings. At first they were hand operated. Later versions were driven by the vehicle road engine, mechanically or by hydraulic systems. The ladder frame, mounted on a turntable, can be rotated through 360° and can be elevated to near vertical. Normally, the ladder could be extended up to 30 metres although some larger devices could reach up to 45 metres. The ladder was in up to five extending sections and was trussed so that it did not need to be leant against a building to be used. A hose line could be run up the ladder to feed a monitor at the head. This was a useful way of projecting a large jet of water into the heart of the fire.

Turntable ladders were later joined by hydraulic platforms. These consist of a cage mounted on two articulated arms, which can be elevated hydraulically to raise the cage. This most useful firefighting tool has the advantage that it is in the control of the firefighter in the cage at the top and does not rely on an operator at ground level.

Firefighter safety

Modern workplace safety requirements apply to firefighting just as in any other work environment. The dangers inherent in firefighting are minimised by vigorous training. The physical dangers are reduced by the use of protective equipment.

Breathing apparatus allows firefighters to work in an atmosphere that would otherwise not support life. Early forms of self-contained breathing apparatus circulated pure oxygen to the wearer through a reservoir or bag. The exhaled carbon dioxide gas was absorbed by a chemical, with oxygen added to replace that consumed by the user. Modern breathing apparatus uses compressed air.

Interestingly, for all the technological advances that have been made in firefighting down the ages, water remains the best firefighting medium available today. And just as in Roman times, firefighting is about getting water onto the fire quickly. As an American firefighter was heard to say, firefighting is all about getting the wet stuff onto the red stuff.

Find out more

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites

Websites

CACFOA: The Professional voice of the UK Fire Service
www.fire-uk.org
Website of the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers' Association (CACFOA) – the foremost organisation for fire officers in the UK. It has all the information you need regarding the British Fire Service.

The Fire Service College
www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk
The Fire Service College provides unique facilities for both practical and theoretical firefighting, fire safety and accident emergency training.

Fire Industry Association
www.fia.uk.com
New trade association formed by the merger of Fire Extinguishing Trades Association (established 1916), trade association of companies responsible for manufacture and maintenance of portable fire-fighting equipment, and British Fire Protection Systems Association (established 1966), the coordinating body for the UK fire systems industry.

Fire Safety Development Group
www.fsdg.org.uk
This website has information on a range of fire related issues, including workplace regulations for fire safety.

Fire Tactics
www.firetactics.com
An informative site discussing the different tactics you can use to fight fires. It might save your life.

Fire Kills
www.firekills.gov.uk
Government website aimed at tackling fires in the home with information on cooking safety and electrical safety, among other things.

UK Fire Service Resources
www.fireservice.co.uk
Not only gives the public an insight into the work of the UK Fire and Rescue Service, but provides an online resource for serving firefighters of the UK.

top ^