So i dug up a book about the colonial era. Neighborhood volunteer fire companies were rewarded for putting out the flames by tavern keepers with free booze. Soon enough, the firemen would be drunk and fighting each other for the booze instead of putting out the fire. With guys working and dying for free, there was no accountability. It's one of the reasons paid departments came into existence. Cincinnatti, of all places, is the first paid department in 1853. Providence was second in 1854. Boston soon after, NYC in 1865. Ours, Pawtucket, went paid in 1874. It's the 19th oldest paid department in the U.S. In the early 1800s, cities originally used hollowed out logs as underground pipes to get water from the reservoirs or cisterns to people's houses. Soon enough, because of the horrendous fires in Boston and Providence, where whole neighborhoods would disappear in flames, 20-60 buildings at a time, the fire department eventually cut into these logs and installed "plugs" (precursor to modern hydrants) to be pulled and to allow them access to water if needed. Every resident was ordered by law to have two leather buckets filled with water at all times. These were to be carried to fires and dumped into the earliest engine comapnies if needed. The IAFF sent me a great video of the olden times .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PRuUnGQTXM .
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AuthorTom Trabulsi was born in the Midwest, attended high school in Rhode Island, and graduated from Boston University with a degree in American History. He was a bike courier in Boston and New York City, worked construction in the mountain west and east coast, and is currently a firefighter in a northeast city. Archives
August 2022
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