Molly Williams (fl. 1818) was the first known female, and first known black, firefighter in the United States. [1]
An African American, she was a slave [2] of the New York City merchant Benjamin Aymar. She was affiliated with the Oceanus Engine Company #11 in lower Manhattan. During her time in the company, she was called Volunteer No. 11. [3] Williams made a distinguished presence in her sturdy work clothes of calico dress and checked apron. Her service was noted particularly during the blizzard of 1818. Male firefighters were scarce due to a cholera outbreak, [4] but Williams took her place with the men on the dragropes and pulled the pumper to the fire through the deep snow. [5]
When asked, Williams always replied: "‘I belongs to ole ‘Leven; I allers runs wid dat ole bull-gine.’" [6]
Easton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,605. Easton contains the historic district of Aspetuck and the Plattsville census-designated place. It is a part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, the New York metropolitan statistical area, and is bordered by the towns of Fairfield to the south, Redding to the north, Weston to the west, and Monroe and Trumbull to the east.
A firefighter is a first responder trained in firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires that threaten life and property, as well as to rescue persons from confinement or dangerous situations. Male firefighters are sometimes referred to as firemen.
A fire department or fire brigade, also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression services as well as other rescue services.
The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fire Suppression Services, Specialized Hazardous Materials Response Services, Emergency Medical Response Services and Specialized Technical Rescue Services in the entire city.
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond to emergency calls for long periods of time, and are summoned to the fire station when their services are needed. They are also expected to attend other non-emergency duties as well.
Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural firefighting and wildland firefighting. Specialized training includes aircraft firefighting, shipboard firefighting, aerial firefighting, maritime firefighting, and proximity firefighting.
Elizabeth Hitchcock Coit was a patron of San Francisco's volunteer firefighters and the benefactor for the construction of the Coit Tower in San Francisco, California.
Bunker gear is the personal protective equipment (PPE) used by firefighters. The term is derived from the fact that the trousers and boots are traditionally kept by the firefighters bunk at the fire station to be readily available for use.
As firefighting has a rich history throughout the world, traditions in this profession vary widely from country to country.
The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of the first Roman Emperor Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire pump in the third century BC, which was later improved upon in a design by Hero of Alexandria in the first century BC.
A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department.
Firefighting has historically been a predominantly male profession throughout the world. However, since the 1970s, women have made inroads in both professional and volunteer fire departments in multiple countries. In modern times, women have served in a variety of fire service roles including as fire chiefs. Nonetheless, they comprise less than 20% of firefighters even in the countries where they are best represented.
Cathay Williams was an American soldier. An African-American woman, she enlisted in the United States Army under the pseudonym William Cathay. Williams became the first female to enlist and the only documented woman to serve in the U.S. Army while posing as a man during the Indian Wars.
Firefighting in the United States dates back to the earliest European colonies in the Americas. Early firefighters were simply community members who would respond to neighborhood fires with buckets. The first dedicated volunteer fire brigade was established in 1736 in Philadelphia. These volunteer companies were often paid by insurance companies in return for protecting their clients.
Amber Bowman is a female firefighter who has captured the world championships at the World Firefighter Challenge in 2012 and 2013. Of note, she captured gold in all four disciplines of the event: female individual, female tandem, coed tandem and relay events. Such an accomplishment makes her the first female to have won the gold in all four categories and the first competitor to have won consecutive golds in all four categories. As a rookie at the 2011 FireFit championships, she won world championships in the female individual and female tandem combat challenges. This was the first time in the history of the competition that a female rookie won a world championship.
The Vulcan Society, founded in 1940, is a fraternal organization of black firefighters in New York City.
The Stentorians are a fraternal organization of African American firefighters, based in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 1954.
Portland Fire and Rescue, also known as the Portland Fire Bureau, and sometimes unofficially as the Portland Fire Department, is the principle fire suppression, prevention, and rescue agency of the City of Portland, Oregon, United States. The department is the largest fire protection and emergency medical services provider in the state of Oregon, responsible for an area of 151 square miles (390 km2), serving a population of over 635,000. Oversight of Portland's bureaus shifts among the five City Commissioners. As of 2023, Mayor Ted Wheeler has assigned the Fire Bureau to Commissioner Rene Gonzalez. The current fire chief is Ryan Gillespie, who replaced former chief Sara Boone after she retired in 2023.
During the Roman Republic, there were watchmen that served as firefighters. They used water buckets to put out fires and axes to tear down buildings near the fire in order to prevent the fire from spreading. The aediles and tresviri nocturni were also employed to fight fires. Roman Emperor Augustus created the Vigiles. The Vigiles were an organization of freedmen that fought fires. They would use buckets and water pumps. Emperor Nero also created "bucket brigades" to help fight fires.
