CITY ON FIRE
Fire swept through the city of Detroit in the early 1800's due to its great number of wooden buildings and how close together they were to each other. The earliest firefighting method was firefighting by committee meaning that everyone in the community had an obligation to help put out the fires. According to Tim Sherer, the people of Detroit back in the early 1800's were not very well equipped or educated in fire science. They would go about putting out the fires with long poles with a swab on the end which was essentially a modern day mop, and they would mop the fires out(1).
Fire swept through the city of Detroit in the early 1800's due to its great number of wooden buildings and how close together they were to each other. The earliest firefighting method was firefighting by committee meaning that everyone in the community had an obligation to help put out the fires. According to Tim Sherer, the people of Detroit back in the early 1800's were not very well equipped or educated in fire science. They would go about putting out the fires with long poles with a swab on the end which was essentially a modern day mop, and they would mop the fires out(1).
The Birth of Fire Stations
In 1825 the city of Detroit organized its first couple of fire stations, and by 1830 they had acquired 3 primitive fire engines. Rather than working together most of the time the fire stations would compete against each other to see which one was best. For example sometimes when there was no real fire someone would would start one just to see which station would arrive first(1). The arrival of fire stations to the city, since there were so few, did not take away the citizens obligation to help put out fires. The citizens were upset with their ongoing obligation to have to put in the effort to put out the fires with their mops when they knew there was 3 fire engines in the city. Some who refused to help found themselves with $5 fine and sometime even two weeks in prison.
1. Sherer, Tim. "Surviving in Frontier Detroit." The Great Lakes Review 8.1 (1982): 14. Web.
In 1825 the city of Detroit organized its first couple of fire stations, and by 1830 they had acquired 3 primitive fire engines. Rather than working together most of the time the fire stations would compete against each other to see which one was best. For example sometimes when there was no real fire someone would would start one just to see which station would arrive first(1). The arrival of fire stations to the city, since there were so few, did not take away the citizens obligation to help put out fires. The citizens were upset with their ongoing obligation to have to put in the effort to put out the fires with their mops when they knew there was 3 fire engines in the city. Some who refused to help found themselves with $5 fine and sometime even two weeks in prison.
1. Sherer, Tim. "Surviving in Frontier Detroit." The Great Lakes Review 8.1 (1982): 14. Web.