As early as the 1600's the American Colonists recognized the need for an organized firefighting crew. Unfortunately it took a fire wiping out over half to town for them to come to the realization of their need for firefighters.

Early Colonists didn't have the luxury of firetrucks like we do today, instead they relied on the old fashioned bucket brigade to pass water filled buckets from firefighter to firefighter. These early firefighters had their work cut out for them. It was hot and tiring to pass these buckets from person to person.

Today, modern firetrucks have made it much easier for firefighting to be successful. As we celebrate our nations birthday on the Fourth of July you'll see many fire departments preparing their trucks to be ready to go at a moments notice. The Fourth of July is an excitement filled day for everyone to celebrate with fireworks, unless you're a firefighter in which case you're preparing for any emergency.

Firefighting has come a long way since those early days in the 1600's. In the early 1800's a steam powered water pump was developed by inventors in England. This changed everything by requiring less man power, it soon became much easier to fight fires.