Changes

Firefighting began to be a focus only with the rise of very large cities such as Rome. Earlier cities, such as those in Mesopotamia or the Indus, likely developed ad hoc firefighting departments and respondent to events. As with other institutions, however, the history of firefighting is complicated and influenced by major technical and social change that occurred in different centuries.

==Early History==

Early fighting developed in the early urban societies of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus. Very likely, however, these were not dedicated fire departments but rather as volunteer or paid individuals who would be responsible in assembling a crew and extinguishing a fire in the city. Few archaeological remains have attested to such firefighters, but laws, such as those from Hammurabi's law code, indicate they existed. There was a law that stated that a firefighter who stole from a burning house that he was responsible for would be punished by death by being thrown into the fire. The law makes it clear though that it is a volunteer that the law applies to. This does not mean there were no paid firefighters but it could mean volunteers may have volunteered because fires gave opportunity for theft.<ref>For more on early laws concerning firefighters, see: VerSteeg, R. (2000). Early Mesopotamian law. Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press, pg. 114.</ref>

==Medieval History and Early Modern History==

Technical and social changes for much of the Medieval period were limited in relation to firefighting. This meant that the concept of using watchmen who would respond and call other watchmen or volunteers to then respond to the fire largely persisted in the towns and cities of Europe and other regions. Pumps and wagons were sometimes used, but technically these were not much different from ancient periods. Most of these watches were locally administered by neighborhoods or districts in cities. However, in the 16th century, with the increasing population of cities such as Paris, we begin to see more centralized watchmen who were responsible to the king and central authorities directly.<ref>For more on watchmen, see: Johnston, R. A. (2011). All things medieval: an encyclopedia of the medieval world. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, pg. 449.</ref>

Napoleon may have been the first ruler to develop a public fire brigade that was funded by the state. The first professional firefighters appeared to have been former military personnel and they served as the first full time employees in firefighting. The city of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1853 was the first city in the United Stated to developed the first public funded fire department. In the United States, similar to Britain and other European countries, firefighting was largely privatized and controlled by insurance companies. The London Fire Engine was established in 1833, reflecting the need to centralize firefighting across an increasingly expanding city. However, this was nothing more than a fire department for insurance companies that were only minimally financed by the insurers, where 13 stations serviced the entire city of London. It took the 1865 the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act to finally create a formal fire department in the city that was funded with public money, creating the first public fire department for the city.<ref>For more on firefighting in the 19th century, see: Green-Hughes, E. (1979). A history of firefighting. Ashbourne [Eng.]: Moorland Pub.</ref>

==Modern Developments==

==References==