Fire lights – not the kind you cosy up to in the winter!
Fire lights can be the nice soft glowing light we have at a fireside in the dark winter nights. But Fire lights are surprisingly used on fire trucks and engines.
The first ever fire pump is thought to have been around the 2nd century B.C. Yes, you did read that right. Ctesibius of Alexandria is credited with the invention of the fire pump and a possible force-pump was used for a fire engine in Alexandria. The next possible fire pump was used during the 16th century in Augsburg. After that it is mentioned as being used in Nuremberg in 1657. These very early forerunners of our fire trucks would have had no lighting of any kind and they were used purely as a means to get water to a blaze. In 1655, a book of inventions mentions a fire engine that was used to raise water 40 feet!
Boston had its first fire engine in 1654, followed by Philadelphia in 1719 and then later still was New York’s first fire engines from London, which were first received in 1731. It wasn’t until 1743 that Thomas Lote built the first American made fire engine. In 1737, the NYC volunteer fire department was formed, and the skill and manpower needed to be effective fire fighters was huge. This huge skill and manpower use prompted the introduction of a more formal fire company by Benjamin Franklin. Still these engines were operated by manpower alone and they were basically water pumps with no Fire lights or siren.
It’s certain that until the mid 19th century the majority of fire engines were moved and managed by manpower alone. The introduction of horse drawn fire engines improved things and went a long way to making response times shorter. In 1841 in New York the first self-propelled steam fire engine was built. However, the introduction of such a machine was not popular with the fire fighters of the day and they carried our acts of sabotage, which led to it being discontinued. It wasn’t until the early 20th century when motorized engines were introduced that Fire lights became commonplace.
During the 20th century the use of motorized fire engines continued, fire fighters had to sit or stand on the outside of the vehicles exposed to the weather. Obviously, this was extremely dangerous and many fire fighters lost their lives when they were thrown from the moving vehicles. The history of fire fighting is certainly an interesting and varied one and the machines used in the early days whilst they did their job weren’t a patch on today’s machines. Fire lights are now considered essential equipment and all fire department vehicles from the largest to the smallest have some kind of emergency and warning lights on them.
A fire truck without Fire lights is like a thanksgiving without turkey there would be something missing. Fire lights are the advance warning along with the siren that the fire truck and other vehicles are approaching and we need to get out of their way or move over on the highway when we need to pass them. The importance of lighting on fire vehicles can’t be underplayed and it is inconceivable to think of a fire truck without the huge bank of flashing lights and strobe that we so often see. Fire lights aren’t for cosying up to they are for taking notice of.
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