WPBFD History

PREFACE Fire is a good servant but a terrible master. Benjamin Franklin An early human around the time of 1,000,000 B.C. cowered in fear as great white flashes and trembling claps of thunder roared from a darkened sky. A nearby tree instantaneously erupted in a bright red and orange glow. Soon other trees and shrubs were consumed by the flickers of the evil breath. Mankind had been introduced to what he then believed was an all powerful master, fire. It was not until about 500,000 B.C. that man learned how to turn fire into his servant. Archeological diggings have uncovered charred wood and bones dating to that era. Fire greatly improved the lifestyle of man's primitive existence by providing heat and light. Man learned how to use fire as both a weapon and a defense against his enemies. It was used to illuminate the darkest depths of the caves where he sought shelter and to cook food that before had been inedible. Fire was one of the basic tools that allowed early man to be mobile, venturing into otherwise uninhabitable areas of the earth. It was a factor leading to the cohesiveness of the family unit, allowing groups to survive as they wandered into the unknown carrying precious embers to make fire when they reached their destination. By 7000 B.C. fire was being used for slash- and-burn purposes. This provided an easy way to clear brush in order for the land to be tilled. Greater quantities of grain and other foods were made available by this technique. Fire was put to other uses around the year 3000 B.C. Man learned to fire pottery, smelt copper, and combine copper with tin to make bronze. These advanced techniques provided new arms that gave armies a great advantage over their enemies in warfare. Smelting of iron came some two thousand years later in about 1000 B.C. This again brought power to those who knew the secret. When the Greeks were at the pinnacle of their power around 350 B.C., fire was considered one of the four essential elements of life and all matter. Earth, water, and air were the other three elements that were believed to have been used by the gods to create the world. Greek mythology held that the world had been without fire until Prometheus, one of the lesser Greek gods, decided to improve mankind's condition.

When Zeus, the ruling Greek God, proclaimed that humans must eat their food raw, Prometheus took pity and stole the divine fire from the heavens and gave it to man. For this defiant act Prometheus was fettered to a rock in a remote area forever. The first recorded organized firefighting force was established by Augustus Caesar in the year 24 B.C. A night patrol was instituted to check for fires and alert the citizens when fire was discovered. Some 600 slaves were stationed near the city gates to protect the citizens. A serious fire in 6 A.D. proved that the slaves were not inclined to risk their lives for their masters. Augustus organized a new group known as vigiles or watchmen. These free men were commanded by a "praefectus vigilium" who answered directly to the emperor. The vigiles were paid from the public treasury with moneys from increased taxes. In England around the year 1000 A.D. a similar watch service known as a "curfew" was established. Curfew came from a French word meaning to cover or extinguish fires by a certain nighttime hour. An ordinance decreed at what hour all fires had to be extinguished. A watch was maintained after that hour to ensure compliance and check for the outbreak of fire. The first written ordinance pertaining to fire safety was enacted after the London fire of 1212. King John's decree provided some protection against the spread of fire from one building to another. This "exposure hazard" is still a concern of firefighters today. The first serious fire in America occurred in Jamestown, Virginia, on January 7, 1608. Only months after the settlement had been established, the colonists found their meager cabins and provisions consumed in fire. The loss resulted in many deaths that winter from hunger and exposure. The tradition of a night watch continued in colonial America. The rattle watch, so named because of the rattling device used by the watchmen, alerted sleeping towns when fire broke out. The first fire prevention code in America was instituted by Governor Peter Stuyvesant of New Amsterdam (today known as New York). The code, which was passed in 1648, prohibited the building of wood or plaster chimneys. Four volunteer fire wardens were appointed to enforce the new law and inspect chimneys to make sure they were kept clean. Those with faulty chimneys were levied fines. The

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