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The history of firefighting in the United States dates back to the first volunteer fire department in the city of New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1648. A small stamp provides a glimpse into the nearly 380-year history of firefighting in the United States.

Early Firefighting

The Firefighting Story of George Washington, the “Father of Our Country”
In January 1608, a fire broke out in Jamestown, the first British colony in North America. Since then, farmers and wealthy people in Boston and Philadelphia have formed volunteer firefighting organizations. George Washington, the “Father of our Country,” was a volunteer firefighter and actively participated in firefighting and rescue work; in 1775, he donated an engine to the Friendship Fire Company in Virginia and became a volunteer firefighter.
Today, more than 85% of U.S. fire departments are still made up entirely or partially of volunteers, and there are nearly 1 million volunteer firefighters across the country.
The Earliest New York Fire Department
In 1648, when the city of New Amsterdam was under Dutch control, then-Governor Peter Stuyvesant issued the first fire prevention ordinance in North America, appointed fire inspectors and volunteer firefighters, and formed the earliest volunteer fire department. after being taken over by the British in 1664, the city of New Amsterdam was renamed the city of New York. in May 1731, the city of New York purchased from the British two hand-powered fire pumps from England in May 1731, and formed two volunteer fire stations in New York, with all adult citizens serving as part-time firefighters.
In December 1737, New York City set up the first volunteer fire department with 35 volunteer firefighters. 1835, New York City set up the world’s first professional fire department, which started with only four people. 1836, this fire department increased to 40 people, and formally incorporated into the city police force. 1865, March, New York City and the city of Brooklyn were merged to form the Metropolitan District, which was dedicated to the establishment of the Metropolitan Fire Department, ending the volunteer firefighting system. which ended the system of volunteer firefighting.
“Franklin, the Father of American Firefighting
In 1736, American politician and inventor Benjamin Franklin established the Union Fire Department in Philadelphia, which is recognized as the first organized fire department in the United States, and many of its specifications have become the reference standard for North American volunteer fire departments.
In 1752, Franklin also founded the first fire insurance company in the United States, the Philadelphia House Insurance Company, which, similar to the British House Fire Insurance Company, provided fire protection services only for residents who purchased house fire insurance. Franklin is known as the “Father of American Firefighting” for his contributions to the creation and development of volunteer fire departments and fire insurance companies in North America.

4 New York Fires

From 1776 to 1911, four far-reaching fires occurred in the U.S. These fires were the result of rapid economic development in the U.S. and warned Americans to pay more attention to fire safety. After the fires, the U.S. established the National Fire Insurance Chamber of Commerce to study and investigate the causes of fires and develop fire prevention measures and fire codes.
The First Great Fire of New York in 1776
Coinciding with the American War of Independence, the Second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, and ratified the Declaration of Independence, which became the anniversary of American independence. However, in the Battle of Long Island on August 27 against the British, the Continental Army under George Washington was again defeated.
On September 21, 1776, a fire suddenly broke out on the southeast side of New York City and spread northwestward with the southeast winds, almost destroying the entire city. The fire caused damage to 10 to 25 percent of the city’s buildings, and the first Trinity Church, built in 1698, was destroyed.
After the fire, pro-British and revolutionary factions accused each other of arson. The British army interrogated more than 200 people but found no suspects, and on September 22, the British army captured Nathan Hall, a spy for the Continental Army, identified him as the arsonist and sentenced him to death by hanging for espionage. Another theory is that the fire was purely accidental, mainly due to the large number of wooden buildings in New York at the time, which led to multiple fires that spread rapidly.
The Second Great Fire of 1835
On December 16, 1835, a fire broke out in New York, starting in a warehouse in Manhattan. Strong winds were blowing in New York and the fire spread quickly. The severe winter cold caused the city’s water pipes and rivers to freeze, making it extremely difficult to fight the fire. The fire lasted one day and the Wall Street neighborhood was the hardest hit, with 648 stores, as well as a large number of historic buildings left over from the British colonial period, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Dutch Church burned down in the fire. The fire destroyed 700 buildings in 17 blocks, 2 people were killed, and the economic loss was about 20 million dollars.
The fire caused 23 of New York’s 26 fire insurance companies to go out of business. The New York Stock Exchange burned down, but the trading records were salvaged by a Stock Exchange employee, which allowed the Exchange to recover quickly. The Great Fire contributed to New York’s complete departure from wood-frame construction, the further improvement of the city’s water supply facilities, and the rapid development of New York’s professional fire department.
The Third Great Fire of 1845
On July 19, 1845, a fire broke out in New York City at the Van Doren Oil Dealers and Stearic Candle Manufacturers Building. The building specialized in whale oil and candles, and as the fire progressed, the flames spread to a wide street warehouse where saltpeter was stored, causing a massive explosion. The fire lasted more than 10 hours, killing four firefighters and 26 citizens and destroying 345 buildings in New York’s financial district.
1911 Triangle Underwear Factory Fire, New York
On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the high rise of the Triangle Lingerie Factory in Washington Square, New York City, killing 146 workers.
The Triangle Lingerie Factory had nearly 500 workers who worked at least 12 hours a day. The owner locked the doors to the building and the emergency lifeline to prevent workers from deserting and stealing during work hours. When the fire broke out, the workers were unable to escape.
The Triangle Lingerie Factory fire shook the nation and triggered the Perkins New Deal, which was a turning point in the protection of labor rights in the United States. The fire is known as the fire that awakened the conscience of Americans and changed the history of the United States.

Changes in the fire management system

Establishment of Fire Management System
In 1967, in view of the serious fire situation and accident casualties, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the Fire Research and Safety Act, the first proposed the establishment of the National Fire Prevention and Management Agency. 1974, and through the Federal Fire Prevention and Management Act, the establishment of the National Fire Prevention and Management Administration in 1975, under the management of the Department of Commerce. 1979, Jimmy Carter President renamed it the Federal Fire Administration into the federal government’s newly established Emergency Management Agency management. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter renamed it the Federal Fire Administration (FFA) and placed it under the administration of the federal government’s newly created Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
In 2001, after the “9-11” incident, the United States to improve the emergency management system. November 25, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush Jr. signed the “Homeland Security Act,” the integration of 22 federal agencies, the formation of a huge Department of Homeland Security. This was the largest reorganization of government agencies in the United States since the establishment of the Department of Defense in 1947. The Federal Fire Administration and the General Emergency Management Agency into the Department of Homeland Security, the establishment of the Director of Fire Services, directly under the management of the Department of Homeland Security.
Fire Administration
Based on the U.S. federal system, the federal, state, and municipal fire departments have no affiliation with each other, and they are responsible to their respective governments.
The Federal Fire Administration (FFA) is responsible for liaison with local fire departments, as well as education, training, research, and information and statistics. Each state has a fire department (mostly called a fire marshal’s office), most of which are independent and directly under the local government, and are mainly responsible for the development of state fire codes, public safety education, personnel training and certification, fire prevention in state facilities, fire research and statistics, and guidance for municipal fire protection work. Larger municipalities have fire departments (fire stations) that are responsible for specific firefighting activities in their jurisdictions, and about 60 percent of fire departments also provide medical ambulance services. Some smaller municipalities have a joint or trustee system for fire protection, where multiple municipalities work together to form a single fire department or directly fund the fire departments of nearby larger municipalities to take over responsibility for them.
According to the Federal Fire Administration, there were 27,192 registered fire departments in the United States in 2017, or about 91% of the total number of fire departments in the country; registered fire departments had 50,860 fire stations under their jurisdiction.
Social firefighting organizations
American civil society attaches great importance to fire prevention. There are many social fire protection organizations, mainly the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and so on.
The NFPA was founded in 1896 as a non-profit social fire protection organization. 1895, a number of citizen representatives gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, to discuss key technologies such as automatic sprinkler systems, prompting the formation of the NFPA. The American Fire Protection Association is open to the world, with more than 75,000 individual and group members in more than 100 countries and regions around the globe. Members include individuals, fire departments, but also fire insurance companies, manufacturing associations, trade unions and organizations such as the Association of Engineers. The U.S. Fire Protection Association has formulated more than 400 fire protection technical standards, of which 380 have been recognized by the U.S. states and standards committees as mandatory technical regulations, and have been adopted by many countries in the world for a fee.