History of Fire Fighting Firefighting is a professionalism that requires courage, dedication and commitment from those who are involved with it. Firefighting began in ancient Egypt and spread to the West into Europe and America. The history looks at the pioneers, its evolution and the improvements innovation has brought in. Firefighting originated from ancient Egypt, with evidence of earliest accounted firefighting equipment supporting the claim. The equipment was a pump, built by Ctesibius in the third century. He hailed from Alexandria and was one of the people who began to battle fire (Evan 13). Marcus Licinius Crassus was the first to come up with a fire brigade that was made up of 500 members. He grew in a wealthy family and further enriched himself by providing firefighting services at a cost. Marcus’ idea triggered Augustus, the Roman leader at the time, to create a similar brigade that would be made up of men who are ready to fight fire without the notion of making money (Evan 13). These firefighters under Augustus ' brigade were mainly slaves, which was the reason they were not paid for their services. They were referred as ‘Vigiles ' or bucket brigades as their technique was passing around buckets filled with water, to contain fire …show more content…
In conclusion, firefighting started from a humble background in ancient Egypt with the simple gesture of building of a pump. From there, ideas grew, and more innovations discovered that has made it an outstanding professionalism it is today. The important role that firefighting plays in the society has seen it transform over the centuries since the third century. Cities have in the past been devastated by fire outbreaks with examples being London and major cities in America. It is safe to say, if those cities had not reconsidered the importance of firefighters, then they would have seized to exist. To prevent such occurrences in the future, innovations that seek to improve the capabilities of firefighting should be