We've had a Fire Station since the 1850's, starting out with a hand drawn pump and then later advancing to horse drawn steam pumpers in the early 1900's.  All of these devices required some form of notification of the fire; usually a church bell or steam whistle.  The steam pumper had to be moved by horses, which were often being used by a road gang.  The horses were gathered and brought back to the station to pull the equipment out of the station.  Workers then lit the fire in the boiler and then traveled to the fire.  Obviously, they weren't able to save a lot of buildings, but they were able to control the spread to adjoining buildings and fields.

 

Before fire brigades, buildings were smaller and not as close together.  There were  also fewer trees which helped control the spread of fires.  If a building caught on fire, there was little that could be done.  Clear cutting of forests was not only done to provide building materials, fuel for homes and foundries, but also as means to control the spread of forest fires.  Can you imagine a forest fire today with no fire department or hydrants available?

 

Respectfully submitted, David Moore