Early Fire Protection
Volunteers, Patriots & Competitors
Fire Equipment
PPE
Fun Facts
100
Early fire fighting technique in which people formed two lines between a fire and a water source. One line (usually men) would pass water to the fire and the other (usually women & children) would return the empty containers.
What is a Bucket Brigade?
100
An active member of a fire department who may not receive monetary compensation for his/her time spend performing fire fighting operations.
What is a Volunteer Firefighter?
100
A tool used by firefighters to dismantle a bed.
What is a bed key?
100
Device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling harmful air contaminants. The two main categories include air purification and air supplied.
What is a respirator?
100
The material used to make the first fire poles.
What is wood?
200
Congestion, thatched roofs, narrow streets and wooden buildings.
What were the greatest fire hazards in 17th century England?
200
He is known as the Father of the Fire Service and Fire Insurance. He helped establish The Union Volunteer Fire Company in Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Contributionship of the Assurance of Houses from Loss by Fire.
Who is Ben Franklin?
200
A device used to pull combustible roofing materials such as thatch from burning buildings. Because they were carried on early ladder trucks, these trucks became known as "hook and ladder" trucks.
What is a fire hook?
200
The acronym is SCBA
What is the acronym for Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus?
200
The term used to refer to the youngsters employed by firefighters to rush to a fire plug and place a barrel over it- to ensure they got "first" water on the fire.
What is "plug-uglies"?
300
A distinctive metal or wooden marker once produced by insurance companies for identifying their policyholder's buildings.
What is a Fire Mark?
300
Rowdiness, competition, ethnic and social issues
What is the problem with volunteer firefighters?
300
A wooden plug inserted into holes drilled into early wooden water main systems, when the plug was removed, water could be obtained for firefighting purposes. These were eventually replaced with fire hydrants.
What is a fire plug?
300
The common, natural fiber that was used to make early protective clothing.
What is wool?
300
Profanity, intoxication, talking politics, smoking or chewing in the engine house, not wearing the badge and cap, not returning to the house with the engine after a fire, absence from regular meetings or regular engine washings
What are things firefighters were fined for?
400
The city that established America's first fire department in 1717 after experiencing a number of terrible fires.
What is Boston?
400
Equipment carried by the Fire Masters, men who patrolled the community from early evening till dawn in New Amsterdam (1647). They were used to arouse people in the event of a fire.
What is a rattler? (wooden noisemaker)
400
This instrument was originally used to amplify an officer's voice on the noisy fire ground. Eventually it came to signify rank in the fire service. Five of these crossed would signify the highest possible rank.
What is a bugle?
400
Fiberglass, plastic, NOMEX, and PBI Gold polibenzimidazole are the most common examples.
What materials a used for today's PPE?
400
aka PSAP- A facility or location at which 9-1-1 calls are answered either by direct calling, rerouting, or diversion.
What is a Public Safety Answering Point?
500
A large, uncontrollable fire covering a considerable area and crossing natural fire barriers such as streets, usually involves buildngs in more than one block, requires major resource commitments and causes a large loss.
What is a conflagration?
500
In 1811 the New York Volunteer Fire Department became the first fire department to operate under this type of system.
What is a unified command system?
500
A modern version of the fire hook.
What is a pike pole?
500
Worn by firefighters in the 1820s these were designed to keep burning brands off the firefighter's necks.
What is a fire helmet?
500
The reason most telegraph alarm systems were discontinued.
What is the telephone?
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