9/11 Memorial To Open To Night-time Visitors This Year

Posted by Feld Fire on 9/3/2014 to Fire Fighting History

This year on September 11, the 9/11 Memorial Plaza will open at night to the general public for the first time on the anniversary of the attack. In the 13 years since the Al Qaeda terror organization headed by Osama bin Laden flew two 747 passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in TRiBeCa, hundreds of volunteers and paid employees have reclaimed the crash site in honor of the 2,606 New York victims of the attacks, along with some 372 passengers on board the aircraft, 341 NYC firefighters, 62 police officers, and 10 paramedics and EMTs. The nation has seen an invitation-only memorial service televised every year on the date, and the reading aloud of all of the victims' names, including those who perished at The Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

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Lessons from Yarnell Hill

Posted by Feld Fire on 7/2/2014 to Fire News

It was just a little more than a year ago that 19 firefighters were killed by the Yarnell Hill wildfire in central Arizona. Only one member of the Granite Mountain hotshot team survived the tragedy, which is the largest single loss-of-life event for firefighters since Sept. 11, 2001.

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Famous Female Firefighters Throughout History

Posted by Dupree on 1/15/2014 to Fire Fighting History

The history of female firefighters is much longer than one might think. Women have joined their male counterparts to battle blazes for nearly 200 years. Here are the stories of five famous female firefighters.

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The Evolution of Mobile Fire Apparatus

Posted by Bryan on 1/3/2013 to Fire Equipment

The first mobile piece of fire apparatus was a hand drawn pump developed in the 1700s. This early pump was used to augment the efforts of the bucket brigade. These portable pumps delivered water to a fire more steadily and with more force, but had their drawbacks. The physical demands of using such equipment had to be at least equal to the physical strain of filling and passing buckets up and down a line as quickly as possible.

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Waldo Canyon Fire

Posted by Joe on 11/21/2012 to Fire Fighting History

The Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs, Colorado, the largest in Colorado’s history, started on June 23, 2012.

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A Brief History of American Firefighting

Posted by Joe P. on 6/28/2012 to Fire Fighting History

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.

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A Brief History of Volunteer Firefighting

Posted by Bryan on 6/28/2012 to Fire Fighting History

Many of our towns and cities are protected by firefighters like your and me; they provide fire protection and other emergency services to the local citizens and do so not for a paycheck, but for a sense of community

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Fighting Fire With Fire: A History

Posted by Bryan on 5/16/2012 to Fire Fighting History

The phrase "fight fire with fire" means to respond to any type of attack with force equal or similar to the attacker; however, the saying originated with a more literal connotation. While using controlled fires dates back thousands of years, the idea was brought to the United States during the 1800's.

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